| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.18 |
| Liaison | Weston Dripps |
| Submission Date | Aug. 19, 2024 |
Amherst College
EN-3: Staff Engagement and Training
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.00 / 8.00 |
Weston
Dripps Director of Sustainability Sustainability |
3.1 Staff sustainability network or engagement program
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the sustainability-focused staff networks and engagement programs:
The Office of Sustainability hosts a Green Office program. The Green Office program is part of an ongoing effort by the Office of Sustainability to work closely with college offices to help them model and adopt sustainable behaviors, save offices and the college money, support our ongoing campus-wide sustainability efforts, and provide a chance for offices to showcase their green practices and garner recognition for their sustainability efforts. More than 40 offices currently participate in the program.
Participating offices complete an audit of their practices and receive a rating based on these performance (Gold, Silver, Bronze and Participant). A list of participating offices and their rating are available on the sustainability website. The Sustainability Office hires a student Green Office fellow who helps run the program and provides one on one support / consultation for those offices requesting assistance.
Each semester the sustainability hosts a lunch for the Green Office Liaisons to provide updates on office sustainability efforts, have a listening session for concerns and areas of opportunity, and create community among the participating offices.
Green Office Program: https://www.amherst.edu/about/sustainability/programs/green-office;
Does the institution have at least one staff network or engagement program focused on a topic other than sustainability that is advancing ecological integrity and/or racial equity and social justice?:
Narrative or website URL providing an overview of the staff networks and engagement programs that are advancing ecological integrity and/or racial equity and social justice:
The Office of Sustainability hosts a monthly Faculty / Staff Field Trip Series focused around promoting Campus As Lab and integrating experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum and co-curriculum. The program has run for the past couple years, and features 6 new campus destinations and programs each academic year. Although the focus is not entirely on social justice and/or racial equity, many of the trips have included an ecological integrity and/or social justice component including recent trips to the Civil War Tablets, the Boundless exhibit in the Mead Art Museum, the Emily Dickinson museum, the college archives, and the wildlife sanctuary, among others.
Faculty - Staff Affiliate Program: https://www.amherst.edu/about/sustainability/programs/affiliates
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
3.2 Sustainability-focused staff training
Description of and/or website URL for at least one of the institution’s sustainability-focused staff training opportunities:
As discussed above, the Office of Sustainability hosts a monthly Faculty / Staff Field Trip Series focused around promoting Campus As Lab and integrating experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum and co-curriculum. The program has run for the past couple years, and features 6 new campus destinations and programs each academic year. The trips are intended to introduce faculty and staff to a broad array of campus sustainability issues and opportunities for using campus spaces. Each session begins with an overview of the sustainability opportunity and typically short case studies of how faculty and staff are using these spaces in their classes and programs. Past trips have included a look at campus facilities data (energy, water, waste), the 500 acre wildlife sanctuary on the edge of campus, the sustainability office, the campus Book and Plow farm, and the campus dining hall. 154 different faculty and staff have attended this series.
Faculty - Staff Affiliate Program: https://www.amherst.edu/about/sustainability/programs/affiliates
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
3.3 Percentage of employees that participate in sustainability activities
Percentage of employees that participate in sustainability activities:
Approach used to determine the percentage of employees that participate in the institution’s sustainability activities:
Narrative outlining how employee participation in the institution’s sustainability activities was determined:
Based on the campus wide sustainability survey, 23.3% of staff reported that they have participated in at least one of the following:
- Green Office Program
- Faculty & Staff Sustainability Field Trip Series
- Tread Shed Bike Repair (@ Cooper Garage)
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.