| Overall Rating | Platinum |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 86.35 |
| Liaison | Lisa Kilgore |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2022 |
Cornell University
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Sarah
Carson Director, Campus Sustainability Office FS - Energy & Sustainability |
Number of students enrolled for credit:
Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Name of the student educators program (1st program):
A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
Anabel's Grocery is "for students, by students." The program couples peer-to-peer educational outreach & engagement opportunities (e.g. student speakers on food insecurity, composting practices, cooking & nutrition), alongside managing a student-run grocery store which provides fresh produce at reduced rates to all Cornell students. The grocery store itself is an active peer-to-peer learning experience for volunteers and patrons (e.g. discussions on food insecurity, food waste, sharing recipes, and more). Anabel's peer-to-peer initiatives are open, accessible, and targeted to all 23,500+ students on campus, and run throughout the academic year.
Student educators are appointed to the Anabel's Grocery leadership team by enrolling in the course AEM 3385, where the student leaders receive training to become experts on peer-to-peer outreach and education around topics of food insecurity, food waste, composting, and more. The university provides physical space for the grocery store, and administrative coordination for the AEM 3385 course.
Students in the class receive credit to work in the store as well as train and manage committees that prioritize engagement with the rest of campus. One committee is Public Relations and Outreach, which manages the website, a blog, a recipe database, newsletters that discuss events in the store and recipes, and social media accounts. The Anabel's team hosts community dinners, educational panels, cooking classes, and more, available to all of campus.
Anabel's team leaders receive ample training on-site, and train a team of volunteers to conduct outreach and help run the store. Anabel's provides nutritious, affordable food for all Cornell students through a student-run grocery store on campus and offers educational programs that create a fun, inclusive, empowering community around quality food, food choices, wellness, and positive social change. Anabel's Grocery was created and designed by students with the support of Cornell staff and faculty, and has been operational for over 2 years. Anabel's is supported by the Center for Transformative Action and the academic course that supports development through research.
http://anabelsgrocery.org
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
Anabel's peer-to-peer initiatives are open, accessible, and targeted to all 23,000+ students on campus, including both undergraduate and graduate students, on-campus and off-campus.
The grocery store was paused in March 2020 through December 2020, as a result of the pandemic. Anabel's reopened in March 2021, with new & improved services like online shopping services and increased outreach & food justice education.
Number of trained student educators (1st program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
Residential Sustainability Leaders (RSLs) launched in Fall 2019. This volunteer student educators program (modeled after EcoRep programs) serves as a core peer-to-peer education network focused on sustainability at Cornell. RSLs form an action-oriented, problem-solving group who work to identify sustainability-related issues in residential facilities and across campus (e.g. cold water laundry initiatives). RSLs work closely with the Campus Sustainability Office, Housing & Residential Life, and West Campus House System to implement solutions to pressing sustainability problems in residential communities on campus (e.g. heating/cooling, water use, electricity use/plug load management). Open to students at every level. Serves all students, including on-campus and off-campus students, through initiatives like surveys, campaign outreach (e.g. reusable containers, recycling & terracycling initiatives, energy conservation), and more.
RSLs lead educational and engagement initiatives focused on individual and collective action, as well as institutional and structural changes. RSLs joined the Campus Sustainability Office in welcoming new students to the university during Opening Weekend, promoting sustainability-related Orientation activities, and teaching students how to navigate waste sorting on campus. RSLs promoted and actively participated in our Sustainability Scavenger Hunt, a friendly competition aimed to increase the number of sustainable actions people take in their everyday lives (where they live and learn on campus). RSLs partnered with North Campus Faculty Programs to develop a "Food and Film" Sustainability Film Series. RSLs worked to lead Earth Day programming (e.g. Earth Day EcoChallenge participation), and worked on developing a Green Room Certification to roll out for all students. RSLs participated in campus tabling events during the year, like the "Sustainability Holiday Pop-Up Market." RSLs also managed Terracycle buckets within their assigned residential communities, so students had access to additional recycling options.
In Fall 2020 & 2021, the RSLs hosted a campus-wide pumpkin composting event, where students could drop off pumpkins they received (typically from residential communities) to be composted at Cornell's compost facility.
RSLs also used Community-Based Social Marketing strategies to develop surveys for the broader student population. For example, in Spring 2021, the RSLs partnered with Cornell Dining to assess student use of reusable containers and utensils. This effort assisted Cornell Dining in ultimately deciding to offer free reusable containers & utensil sets for all students with a meal plan.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
Serves all students, including on-campus and off-campus students, through campus-wide campaigns like promoting proper usage of reusable takeout containers and campus recycling. Program has a primary focus on students living in on-campus residential housing.
Program was adapted during the pandemic to allow virtual engagement. RSLs continued meeting on a weekly basis, creating outreach materials, and hosted virtual and/or socially distanced events (e.g. post-Halloween pumpkin collection and composting event - which was initiated by RSLs after the Student Activities Office distributed over 1,000 pumpkins to students in October).
Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
Dilmun Hill is a student run farm that seeks to foster community and empower students through active engagement in ecological agriculture. Volunteers at Dilmun Hill serve as student and community educators, as well as maintain the daily operations of the organic farm. Dilmun Hill is open to anyone and is a place for experiential learning, group collaboration, research, and outreach.
Throughout the year, Dilmun Hill hosts work parties, inviting volunteers to join learn about sustainable agriculture practices. Student educators train their peers on how to grow and harvest crops, discuss organic farming and agriculture, and more. Dilmun Hill student leaders also harvest food and offer free produce to the Cornell Farmers' Market and Anabel's Grocery on campus. Dilmun Hill offers summer and fall CSA programs, and collaborate with various organizations on campus, such as MacDaniels Nut Grove (MNG). The student managers and steering committee members collaborate with the Organic Coordinator and Faculty Advisors to provide leadership in farm operations.
The student-operated organic farm offers peer-to-peer education in the form of tours, outreach events (including yoga sessions on the farm), tables at university events, and offers on-site classes for the Cornell community. Dilmun Hill runs an on-campus farm stand where they offer produce shares to students and interact with the community regularly throughout the year.
https://sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/campus-initiatives/food/dilmun-hill-farm
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
All students, plus the larger Cornell and local community. See description for more details.
Program was scaled back during the pandemic. Small crew harvested all food and donated to local food pantry, while continuing limited educational outreach programming.
Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):
A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
Residential Compost Managers
Each year, Compost Managers go through a one hour training, which covers the science of compost, how compost is managed on campus, climate & environmental justice, Compost Manager expectations, and peer education skills. Compost Managers manage a centralized kitchen compost bucket, and serve as compost managers for their whole residential community. They educate their peers on how to compost, communicate with the community about composting issues (e.g. contamination), and answer questions.
In Spring 2021, a modified "Residential Composters" course was offered via canvas for students to become trained composters. This enabled individuals to compost personal food scraps during the spring 2021 semester.
In Fall 2021, the Residential Compost program relaunched with 56 active Compost Managers providing peer-to-peer education for on-campus residential communities.
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Resident Advisors (RAs)
During August RA training, RAs are trained on concepts of sustainability and environmental justice. They learn ways students can live more sustainably within residential communities, and discuss concepts of sustainability with students during community meetings (e.g. single stream recycling) and events (e.g. using reusables).
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ECO House Leadership Program
https://cornell.campusgroups.com/ecov/leadership-and-involvement/
Active groups trained and advised by residential staff and returning student leaders. Groups create experiential learning opportunities for their peers around food, nature/outdoors adventure, art/creative construction, community service, greenhouse/growing produce, residential sustainability, and social justice engagement.
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ALS 2000: Leadership for Sustainability course
Cornell's original "EcoRep" educators program offers 3 academic credits for students to lead peer-to-peer education initiatives on campus. This course, ALS 2000: Leadership for Sustainability, trains students to develop and implement outreach and behavior change interventions focused on reducing energy in residential communities and lab buildings on campus. The course is co-taught by instructors from the Campus Sustainability Office, the Cornell Team and Leadership Center, and the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions.
The course develops leadership, project management, research, and behavior change skills needed to become effective leaders for sustainability and climate change solutions on campus and beyond. Students will acquire knowledge about the effects of energy use on climate change, and analyze which sustainable actions have the greatest impact on reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Students will learn to design, coordinate, and implement behavior change programs focused on reducing building energy use on campus in collaboration with campus partners. Students will develop their leadership, teamwork, and conflict management skills, and participate in active self-reflection to improve their understanding for how best to influence, motivate, and collaborate with people to improve sustainable outcomes for our world."
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EcoRep Orientation Leaders
https://experience.cornell.edu/opportunities/orientation-ecoreps
EcoRep Orientation Leaders spearhead the effort to educate all incoming first-year students and transfer students (~4000 students) about composting and recycling during New Student Orientation. These volunteers monitor composting and recycling stations at events and educate their peers about recycling and composting at each site. EcoRep Orientation Leaders are a subset of Orientation Leaders (OLs) recruited by the office of New Student Programs to assist with Opening Day and Orientation. Thus, they were recruited through the Orientation Leader application form; all interested volunteers were selected. EcoRep Orientation Leaders participate in a one-hour training, provided by the Campus Sustainability Office, preparing them to facilitate proper waste sorting at orientation events. The training occurs at the end of the broader Orientation Leader training. The EcoRep Orientation Leader program is organized by the Campus Sustainability Office (CSO) in partnership with New Student Programs (NSP). Development and delivery of training are provided by the CSO; logistics for training and recruitment are supported by NSP; EcoRep OL supplies are purchased by the CSO (e.g. blue tape, waste signage, gloves, t-shirts, paper bags for compost, compost liners); and the event coordination, scheduling, and on-site communication with EcoRep OLs is managed by the CSO (including a paid intern).
This program was paused during the pandemic, primarily since food was restricted at events.
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Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
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:
- Kim reviewed and updated numbers on 2/7/2022
- Kim reviewed and updated numbers on 2/12/2021
-65 RSLs
-75 Compost Managers
- CSO team (SZ, CA, SB, LK) changed total numbers on 2/10/21 to add several additional student educator programs, including:
Changed Anabels from 20 to 30, according to their website
Bumped up Dilmun Hill Farm # of hours
Discussed combining Dilmun Hill + Anabels into program 1 and adding interns as program 3, but did not do so yet.
Interns:
7 CSO Student Sustainability Engagement Interns - 10hrs /week
3 Sustainability Dining Interns - 10hrs/week
- Kim reviewed and updated numbers on 2/7/2022
- Kim reviewed and updated numbers on 2/12/2021
-65 RSLs
-75 Compost Managers
- CSO team (SZ, CA, SB, LK) changed total numbers on 2/10/21 to add several additional student educator programs, including:
Changed Anabels from 20 to 30, according to their website
Bumped up Dilmun Hill Farm # of hours
Discussed combining Dilmun Hill + Anabels into program 1 and adding interns as program 3, but did not do so yet.
Interns:
7 CSO Student Sustainability Engagement Interns - 10hrs /week
3 Sustainability Dining Interns - 10hrs/week
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.