This page highlights some of the preliminary information from the Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire (2020) and Continuing Student Surveys (2018 and 2019), which inform the Environmental Stewardship Action Plan development process.
From recent Continuing Student Surveys
From the Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire (administered in 2020)
- Students and faculty/staff groups have differing perceptions of sustainability teaching and research occurring at JMU; students perceive ‘a little’ (average estimate 16% of faculty teach or do research on sustainability), faculty/staff perceive ‘a lot’ (average estimate 24%). (Answer options: ‘don’t know,’ ‘none,’ ‘a little,’ ‘quite a bit,’ and ‘a great deal’).
- Faculty participants stated that we need to work on outside-the-classroom education possibilities such as outdoor or off-campus learning opportunities, which would include experiences in the woods, a garden, a stream, and/or a meadow.
- Students mentioned that classes at JMU lack connections to the local community; proposed the addition of how JMU/surrounding community is dealing with sustainability issues to help conceptualize global issues like climate change.
Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World
