Berea College
IN-25: Innovation B

Beginning in 2014-2015, the Office of Sustainability was granted a student labor force of 12 students, each working 10 hours per week. These labor positions are part of the Beera College no tuition promise guarantee in return for their labor time. The Office of Sustainability labor staff is an integrated team with coordinators overseeing specific aspects of sustainability including alternative transportation, sustainable purchasing, sustainable foods, waste diversion, training and events, compliance reporting, data tracking and analysis, web and graphic design, communications and marketing, communications support, energy and water reduction, training and events, and a student sustainability coordinator. Each of these positions include a job description and students are required to submit a resume and two references before an interview is granted to be considered for hire. The Office of Sustainability uses both the LEAN system to manage work as well as Dynamic Governance to govern how decisions are made. Each student has the right to issue a proposal for consideration that has resulted in numerous sustainable changes on campus such as launching a bike membership program, receiving funding to replace all recycling bins in residence halls for uniformity and consistency, installing bike repair stations, and furnishing Energy Star refrigerators to incoming first years to decrease the amount of energy and manufacturing needed year after year. These ideas "bubbled up" from the way in which the Office of Sustainability is structured (as a large, integrated team), eventually making it to leadership for funding approval of these proposals. The students are learning valuable job skills in that they learn how to delegate specific pieces to members of the team, develop a project plan, timeline and budget; and understand the value of being a committed team member so we succeed as a team. Sustainability at its best collapses silos, so we make sure we walk the talk in our own department. Job positions and descriptions uploaded below.

https://www.berea.edu/sustainability/staff/