Green Mountain College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The Sustainability 2020 Student Worker training session was held during the fall of 2016 for all student workers. The director of sustainability, director of the office of career and personal development, and the sustainability office student manager ran the training sessions to educate the students about the College's sustainability initiatives, how to engage in those initiatives, and how to educate their peers about the initiatives. Resident assistants attended this training and also received additional training over the summer that is specifically designed for RAs. Examples of sustainability-related outreach activities include sewing and patching, local food sampling, sustainable holiday planning, floor-wide clothing swapping, recycling, sustainable living, and paper-making.

All students who are hired as work study students or student workers were invited to attend the fall training sessions. Participating departments were diverse, included Student Financial Services, the Learning Center, the Sustainability Office, Student Involvement, and Computer and Technology Services.

The primary way student educators were trained through this program is through the fall training session. During this session, which lasted two and a half hours, students first listened to a presentation on “sustainability 101,” which familiarizes them with all of the College’s current, major sustainability initiatives and gives them an opportunity to ask questions about these initiatives. This trained participants to be a first line of defense for spreading information about sustainability efforts on campus and dispel myths that oversell or undersell the impact of the programs. Students were then asked to list all the ways they’ve personally and professionally helped advance sustainability goals on campus. This list was used as an impetus for small groups to begin making lists of departmental goals for the year. Groups were then provided with poster paper and asked to develop departmental goals. Students were asked share these goals with their supervisors and institutionalize them into their official duties for the year and a list of goals were sent to all supervisors. Students were taught how to incorporate their work-related sustainability activities into their resumes when they succeed at accomplishing them and a panel discussions featuring senior students highlighted how they have utilized their sustainability-related work during interviews, networking and on their resumes. Resident Assistants received additional training before the fall and spring semesters in order to be prepared to educate residents about sustainability. These training takes place in August before the new students arrive on campus and in January before the return of students for spring semester. Training covered the existing sustainability systems and sustainability goals so that RAs can help new students participate in these systems and feel motivated to help the College reach its goals. The training also included sustainability ideas that could be incorporated into their floor programs that they carry-out for residents. Examples of past sustainability-related floor programs have included sewing and patching, local food sampling, sustainable holiday planning, floor-wide clothing swapping, recycling, sustainable living, and paper-making.

The director of the Sustainability Office, sustainability office student workers, and director of the Office of Career and Personal Development developed and coordinated the Sustainability 2020 Student Worker Training. Funding was allocated from the student worker salaries to pay for their time participating in the training. The director of the Sustainability Office and sustainability office student workers developed and coordinated the resident assistant training at the beginning of each academic year. Throughout the year, the Sustainability Office provides additional guidance and consultation upon request.

The performance year for this credit is FY 2017.