Hope College
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

Since covid the WMSBF has hosted a number of their events in a virtual format so this allows more opportunity for staff/faculty to participate in these events because they do not need to travel to attend.
The college hosts online web training through SafeColleges which includes several environmental training modules; in particular one dedicated to energy conservation. All campus employees have been invited to take these as they desire.
The college also hosts an annual on-campus professional development day. In the past there have been sections related to recycling and general campus sustainability. Every year there are sections related to Diversity Equity and Inclusion. The most recent event was in February 2023 and there were 4 events focused on Cultural Intelligence (CQ). CQ, is a globally recognized way of assessing and improving effectiveness in culturally diverse situations. It’s rooted in rigorous, academic research conducted across more than 100 countries.
https://hope.edu/offices/frost-research-center/institutional-research/surveys/

A number of Hope College Green Team members participate in professional organizations such as AASHE, CURC, and the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (WMSBF) https://wmsbf.org/ and learn about professional development opportunities and share them with others around campus. The WMSBF holds monthly events where they cover specific topics related to operations, grounds, sustainable event planning, etc... Often the meetings will then come with credits towards their related profession.
Examples include: circular economy, packaging, museum operation and sustainability, and stormwater infrastructure. These types of professional development opportunities are then shared across campus with different departments and faculty/staff that may be interested.
Since covid the WMSBF has hosted a number of their events in a virtual format so this allows more opportunity for staff/faculty to participate in these events because they do not need to travel to attend.
As one of their first in person events they hosted an event about campus sustainability and the Hope College Director for the Office of Sustainability was one of the panelists. https://wmsbf.org/blog/2021/12/01/december-forum-to-discuss-sustainability-in-higher-education/
We have also encouraged our faculty and staff to attend meetings for groups like Michigan Green Healthcare Committee.
Four non-academic staff were interested in hosting honey bees on campus and this was approved by the administration. The staff have and continue to attend training provided by local, state, and national bee keeping associations.
Our grounds department team members often attend profesional development courses hosted by the EPA, Michigan's EGLE, and others about new protocols for more sustainable landscape design and maintenance.