Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.01
Liaison Lissette Hernandez
Submission Date July 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Florida International University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.02 / 4.00 Lissette Hernandez
Director
Parking and Transportation
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Number of students enrolled for credit:
56,592

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
680

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
1.20

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
FIU Office of Sustainability Nature Preserve Internship Program

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):

The FIU Office of Sustainability Nature Preserve Internship Program trains FIU students to be naturalists through hands-on field experience at the FIU Nature Preserve. Student naturalists are trained to do tasks such as identifying native plants, maintaining the walking trails, and removing invasive species of plants. Student naturalists learn about and contribute to the enhancement of the FIU campus through the restoration of the Pine Rockland, the improvement of the thriving hardwood hammocks, and the expansion of the butterfly gardens. They are also taught how to correctly use tools such as the Pullerbear Tree and Invasive Weed Puller. 
With this training, student naturalists assist the Sustainability Manager in running volunteer days at the FIU Nature Preserve. The different activities that take place during the volunteer days include trail maintenance, tree planting, and invasive species removal. Experienced student naturalists can also lead their own volunteer days at the Nature Preserve, which acts as a peer-to-peer education and outreach activity. During the volunteer days, student naturalists educate FIU students about the importance of Pine Rockland, hardwood hammocks, and wetland environments. These natural environments are present in different sections of the nature preserve. The talk that the student naturalist gives is focused on the area where the volunteers are working that day. 

Student naturalists in the internship program also share information about sustainability, ecological restoration, and plants with FIU student volunteers. In addition, FIU student volunteers can learn about different opportunities to get more involved on FIU’s campus, including joining sustainability clubs and applying for an Office of Sustainability internship. 
 


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):

FIU Office of Sustainability Nature Preserve Internship Program’s nature preserve volunteer days main target audience are FIU students. Other individuals within the FIU community, including faculty and staff, are also invited to attend the nature preserve volunteer days led by the Office of Sustainability Nature Preserve internship’s student naturalists.


Number of trained student educators (1st program):
10

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
50

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
10

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
5,000

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
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Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
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Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
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Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
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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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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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Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
5,000

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
7.35

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:
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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.