Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.20
Liaison Elaine Durr
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2024

STARS v2.2

Elon University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.95 / 4.00 Kelly Harer
Associate Director of Sustainability for Education and Outreach
Office of Sustainability
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Part 1. Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Number of students enrolled for credit:
7,207

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
4,785

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
66.39

1st program

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Eco-Reps

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
The Eco-Reps program is a peer education program dedicated to raising awareness of sustainability issues and encouraging environmentally, socially and economically responsible behavior. Eco-Reps educate their peers about environmental issues, such as population growth and waste generation, through Sustainable Living Lessons as requested by faculty and staff for appropriate classes. Each residential neighborhood has an Eco-Rep to assist with sustainability programming and awareness. Eco-Reps also offer Guided Campus Sustainability Tours by request of faculty and staff. During these tours, Eco-Reps point out sustainable operational features at Elon and encourage students to create sustainable habits to supplement these features. Eco-Reps also assist in the development and execution of various environmental sustainability awareness activities on campus. Outreach activities have included clothing swap-shops, DIY body scrubs, make your own sustainable cleaner and herb potting.
At the beginning of the fall semester the Eco-Reps have 15 hours of training over 3 days led by the Sustainability Intern and the Associate Director for Education and Outreach in the Office of Sustainability. There are three components to the Eco-Reps program: providing Sustainable Living Lessons and Guided Campus Sustainability Tours to classes (upon request), serving as a sustainability resource (via outreach and programming) for a residential neighborhood and contributing to and promoting Office of Sustainability events, such as Earth Week. The following topics are covered in the training: Elon's sustainability initiatives, an introduction to the Sustainable Living Lesson they will be giving to classes (additional practice sessions are scheduled after the initial training weekend), a brief overview of environmental justice issues (specifically in North Carolina), peer education and their role as a peer educator, how to communicate the climate crisis, consumerism, handling challenging situations (including role-playing), methods and strategies for providing outreach in their residential neighborhoods, how to plan an effective event and approaches to behavior change. To conclude training, Eco-Reps also participate in a low-ropes challenge course which facilitates bonding among the group and is also educational.
The Eco-Reps program is managed by the Associate Director for Education and Outreach in the Office of Sustainability along with a Student Coordinator (who is a paid intern in the Office of Sustainability). The Eco-Reps are paid for up to 6 hours/week at a minimum of $13.00/hr. Each Eco-Rep has a $150/year budget for use on programming in their neighborhood. The Eco-Reps program has 8 student positions.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Eco-Reps Program targets all students living on campus.

Number of trained student educators (1st program):
8

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
30

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
5

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
1,200

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):
Outreach Intern in Office of Sustainability

A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
The Outreach Intern works to educate student organization leaders about how to make their organizations more sustainable. This is done at the beginning of each semester during Student Life’s Student Leader Training in a session called “Creating a More Sustainable Student Organization” presented by the Outreach Intern and the Associate Director for Education and Outreach in the Office of Sustainability. The Outreach Intern is also available throughout the academic year as a resource to educate and encourage student leaders to adopt sustainable practices within their student organization. This includes office hours for the Outreach Intern in the Moseley Center (student union) Office, which are advertised via social media and signage on the office. During the office hours, student leaders can stop by to talk about opportunities to make an organization event more sustainable.

The Outreach Intern also manages the Environmental Student Organization Network (ESON), which brings together leaders from organizations related to sustainability to collaborate on events and projects. This group meets monthly and shares a student office in the Moseley Center.

The Outreach intern is hired, trained and managed by the Associate Director for Education and Outreach in the Office of Sustainability. Outreach Intern training occurs during the first week of employment and includes information about sustainability at Elon, environmental justice and effective outreach strategies. Training also includes important information about programs managed by the Outreach Intern, including the Sustainability Projects Database and Share the Ride NC. This position is paid for up to 15 hours/week at a minimum of $13.30/hr. The Outreach Intern has a $150/year budget for use on programming for student leaders, including those in the Environmental Student Organization Network. There is one Outreach Intern per academic year.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
The Outreach Intern targets all student organization leaders and all members of ESON organizations (Student Sierra Coalition, Garden Club and Net Impact).

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

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
30

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
9.50

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
285

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):
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A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
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Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
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Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
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Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):
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Additional programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
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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):
1,485

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.31

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The number of students enrolled for credit and total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program represent fall 2023. PRE-5 numbers represent fall 2022. Fall 2023 numbers were used for this credit to report the most recent program information and due to data availability for the 2nd program reported - Outreach Intern in Office of 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.