Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.42
Liaison Jen Jones
Submission Date Feb. 18, 2020

STARS v2.2

College of Charleston
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.70 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Number of students enrolled for credit:
10,545

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
2,633

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
24.97

1st program

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Sustainable Greek Program

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
Through its dynamic and robust student mentorship program, the Center for Sustainable Development often challenges student interns, typically individuals already immersed in campus Greek Life, to build relationships with and educate leaders and members of fraternities and sororities on sustainable practices, solution-oriented thinking and diverse and inclusive behaviors.

The Sustainable Greek Program intern recruits members from each Greek chapter to serve on a Sustainable Greek committee that helps implement sustainable practices, including ensuring events are zero waste or that food is sourced locally and sustainably. For example, oyster roasts held on our campus can provide a meaningful opportunity to educate Greek members on the importance of harvesting oysters sustainably and recycling oyster shells for future habitat and shoreline restoration in Charleston Harbor.

The Sustainable Greek Program intern also organizes a variety of field trips to local nonprofits and community partners, such as GrowFood Carolina (South Carolina's first food hub) and the Medical University of South Carolina's Urban Farm. He/she/they coordinate similar sustainability focused activities, including food drives for our campus food pantry and clothing swaps during annual, campus-wide Sustainability Weeks.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Sustainable Greek Program targets student members of the the College's nationally-affiliated 15 sororities and 13 fraternities and collaborative partners underneath the Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Panhellenic Association, the Higdon Center for Student Leadership and two honor societies (Order of Omega and Rho Lambda).

Number of trained student educators (1st program):
2

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
24

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
8

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
384

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):

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

2nd program

Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Urban Garden Apprenticeship Program

A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
The Urban Garden Apprenticeship Program is led by a student intern affiliated with the Center for Sustainable Development. He/she/they recruit student peers to work as apprentices and lead educational and sustainability focused trainings to support the cultivation of urban gardens on campus. Student educators receive training from experts in sustainable agriculture and urban farming on campus.

Engaged students learn about traditional and alternative farming practices, such as hydroponics and aquaculture, and connect with sustainable food leaders in the community from the nonprofit, for-profit, higher education and government sectors. Outreach activities include farm tours, farm work days, professional development coaching and mentoring, nutritional workshops and cooking demonstrations, and applied practice in planting and caring for urban gardens that produce fruit and vegetables for the campus community. Garden apprentices are expected to support the weekly maintenance of four urban gardens.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
The Urban Garden Apprenticeship Program targets undergraduate and graduate students interested in gaining experience and knowledge in sustainable agriculture, sustainable food systems, urban farming, composting and food waste, and food distribution.

Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
2

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
24

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
15

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
720

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):

If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:

3rd program 

Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Zero Waste

A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
The Center for Sustainable Development has two interns focused on zero waste - a zero waste events lead intern and an outreach and education intern. The zero waste events intern leads multiple trainings each semester to educate fellow students on the basics of zero waste events on the College’s campus. In addition, the intern recruits and trains volunteers to support upwards of 25 zero waste events each semester. The intern develops and maintains zero waste event training documents and resources that are used by student organizations across campus. Once trained by the Center’s intern, students are empowered to host their own zero waste events by checking out a zero waste event kit. Students and organizations across campus can check these out for free and host their own zero waste event.

The Outreach and Education intern hosts peer-to-peer trainings on how to properly recycle on campus and leads the residence hall recycling program. This intern is responsible for checking out recycling bins to students and educating them about how to properly recycle in their dorms.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
The Zero Waste interns target undergraduate and graduate students, as well as student organizations in order to educate these campus members about recycling, zero waste events, how to get involved and why these programs matter.

Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
2

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
24

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
10

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
480

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):

Additional programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
---

Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
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Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
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Part 2. Educator hours per student served by a peer-to-peer educator program

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
1,584

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.60

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.