Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	57.66
Liaison	Michael Kensler
Submission Date	Jan. 23, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Auburn University
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	0.70 / 3.00	Jennifer Morse Administrator: Outreach and Communications Office of Sustainability

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Total number of employees (staff + faculty, headcount):

5,873

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting):

1,375

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer educator program:

23.41

1st Program

Name of the employee educators program:

Peers Network

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):

1,375

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:

Employee Ambassadors represent units across the university. The Office of Sustainability trains the Ambassadors to affect change, and then this network of changemakers works in their respective areas to help Auburn University achieve its sustainability goals, particularly in relation to the university’s day-to-day operations. Ambassadors are required to attend 3 trainings, and 8 Lunch and Learns during their two-year commitment, in addition to leading a change initiative in their unit. Ambassadors are paired with a student intern who is their official Office Liason during the time of the students' internships.Each unit participates in a unit assessment that looks at sustainability-related behaviors. Office Liasons are available to help research options and answer questions that the Ambassadors are interested in. An example of peer-peer outreach activities include pulling together purchasers and decision makers to change purchasing habits, such as switching to purchasing recycled-content paper. The Office of Sustainability also created off-the-shelf campaigns for the Ambassadors to choose from that they can roll out in their units. These campaigns include a topical brief of the subject area, an overview with a suggested timeline, prewritten emails, graphics, GIFs, videos, and web pages to both educate and inspire the Ambassadors and their unit.

A brief description of how the employee educators are selected:

For this pilot year of the Peers Network program, we reached out to units and individuals who have shown an interest in sustainability. During the creation of the program, we solicited volunteers from the Administration and Professional Assembly to review and provide feedback on the program, which also generated some applicants. The majority of applicants were self-selected into the program, and a couple were chosen by his/hre supervisor. Applicants fill out the initial application and get permission from their supervisor, and then sign a Memorandum of Understanding, which is also signed by the supervisor and a representative from the Office of Sustainability. After a meeting between the Ambassador, his/her Supervisor, and Office of Sustainability staff to clarify expectations and ensure commitment, the Ambassador was officially selected to participate in the program.

A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:

The Ambassadors attend 3 mandatory trainings of 4 hours each where they learn about key aspects and concepts of sustainability, behavior change, systems thinking, and sustainability practices and efforts at Auburn.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination):

The Office of Sustainability has two employees that administer the program as part of their job duties with an allocated budget of $4,100.00. In addition, the Ambassadors, through their supervisors approval and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, have permission to take time within their regular work week to fulfill the duties of the Ambassador for their unit.

If reporting employees served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:

2nd Program

Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):

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Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount) (2nd program):

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A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):

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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):

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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):

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A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):

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Additional Programs

A brief description of all other employee peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of employees served and how employee educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:

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Optional Fields

Total number of hours employee educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:

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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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