Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 81.45
Liaison Lindsey Lyons
Submission Date March 1, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Dickinson College
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Lindsey Lyons
Assistant Director
Center for Sustainability Education
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Total number of employees (staff + faculty, headcount):
983

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting):
983

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
100

Name of the employee educators program:
Eco-Reps

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
983

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
The program strives to create a community of leaders in sustainability who in turn work to empower others to make sustainable changes in their lives and in their communities through peer education, programming, and outreach. The program empowers Dickinsonians to represent and lead a community of their choice to become more sustainable and foster connections. In 2015, the program expanded to include faculty and staff because of their lasting impact at the college. Any faculty or staff member can be an Eco-Rep. The Center for Sustainability Education hosts custom trainings and Sustain IT workshops for the Eco-Reps who in turn educate other faculty and staff in their departments or offices. Examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities include composting, e-waste, plastic bag and battery collection and recycling. Other examples include recycling education programs amongst the housekeepers, waste reduction programs amongst the department coordinators, and departmental participation in the Dickinson Energy Challenge.

A brief description of how the employee educators are selected:
Employee education are asked to complete an online application form to apply. At this point, all that apply are selected.

A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
A five-hour training session is required for all new Eco-Reps at the start of each semester. Returning Eco-Reps attend the second half of the training (3 hours) where new material for the upcoming semester is presented. The Eco-Reps Coordinator (student intern) and the Assistant Director of the Center for Sustainability Education conduct the training, oftentimes bringing in topic experts or panelists. All Eco-Reps are provided with a manual that includes all policies and program procedures. During the training session, Eco-Reps are provided an overview of their responsibilities, general knowledge about sustainability programs at Dickinson, and programs they are required to manage. They also have time to network and begin planning their programs for the semester. Training is also provided throughout the semester and is administered at the Eco-Reps mandatory meetings. The Center for Sustainability Education hosts the Sustain IT Workshop series to provide continuing education opportunities to Eco-Reps. This series is designed to create action on an issue of concern through education, networking, and prioritization. Students, faculty and staff participate to learn, discuss current practices and ideas for improvement, and then identify action items that can create positive change towards a more sustainable campus. Eco-Reps are encouraged to attend, but all are welcome. Previous themes have included waste minimization, composting, water conservation, green crochet, Dickinson's Energy Dashboard, energy conservation, plastic bag recycling, candle-making, Green Devil Certification, social justice, biking and creating action.

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 Eco-Reps Program is fully supported and administered by the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE). Each Eco-Rep receives a $25/semester program planning budget that they can use independently or pooled together with other Eco-Reps or with departmental funds. The CSE Assistant Director provides time and technical assistance to the program, and serves as the liaison to faculty and staff Eco-Reps.

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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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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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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
In Fall 2015, the Dickinson Eco-Reps program was redefined entirely. Now open to students, faculty, and staff, Eco-Reps can now serve as peer educators for sustainability in a community of their choice (residential space, team, club, office, department organization etc.). Providing all campus communities access to the Eco-Reps program, strengthening the sustainability education workshop series, and creating forums for students, faculty and staff to work together on these issues has taken the program to the next level and provided a forum for faculty and staff to connect to sustainability.

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.