Keene State College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

KSC Eco-Reps are a student-led, peer-to-peer education program, with a mission of teaching the campus community about sustainability, both on campus and in general. The Eco-Reps employment program within the Office of Campus Sustainability emphasizes education and student leadership. One example of leadership training is that new Eco-Reps are trained by more senior and experienced Eco-Reps. The more experienced Eco-Reps are elevated to the position of “Eco-Rep Student Leader”, and these students conduct new-hire trainings, run the weekly Eco-Rep meetings, and mentor newer Eco-Reps throughout the duration of the school year. The Sustainability Engagement Coordinator meets weekly with the Eco-Rep Student Leaders to set the week’s agenda, discuss upcoming events or programs, and help the Student Leaders to troubleshoot any problems. The Engagement Coordinator participates in and contributes to the weekly Eco-Rep meetings. Eco-Reps conduct a wide range of outreach actions targeting all undergraduates through Dining Commons, Student Center, Residential Hall, Commencement, and classroom activities. Example activities include: The Single-Use Switch campaign, Recyclemania, The Conservation Celebration, both large and small on-campus events and movie nights, food waste audits, trash/recycling audits, campus-wide trash clean ups, re-use room management, residence hall programs (e.g., outreach posters, brochures, bulletin boards; RA/RD sponsored talks; dorm storms) and many other outreach activities such as tabling at many high-profile campus events. Additionally, several student employees in our Eco-Reps and ROCKS programs were tasked with designing, creating, and getting approval from the President’s Cabinet for new, visually descriptive recycling and compost educational signage. This new signage was well received by the KSC Administration and student body and has been placed in every area of campus where waste disposal bins are placed.

The target audience of the KSC Eco-Reps program is all undergraduate KSC students. Many first-year and sophomore students live on-campus, while many junior and senior students live off-campus. The Eco-Reps target both demographics by conducting programs across campus, including in the Student Center, Residence Halls, the Dining Commons, and more.

ROCKS is the student-run campus recycling program. ROCKS students conduct peer-to-peer education on correct recycling practices through residence hall programs, tabling, and making signs and other outreach materials. Pre-COVID, the ROCKS students would organize a campus waste audit, where they would put a load of trash on the Student Center lawn, in a very public place on campus, and sort through it. This was an excellent visual to remind the campus community that many of the items that end up in the trash are actually recyclable. Through their jobs collecting recycling from residence halls daily, they also provide informal education and modeling. There are several formal training sessions at the beginning of every semester that ROCKS students must attend. These are led by the Recycling Coordinator and the KSC Health and Safety Coordinator. Students learn safety skills, materials handling, as well as outreach and leadership skills. There is also a ROCKS employee manual the students must study. Additionally, several student employees in our Eco-Reps and ROCKS programs were tasked with designing, creating, and getting approval from the President’s Cabinet for new, visually descriptive recycling and compost educational signage. This new signage was well received by the KSC Administration and student body and has been placed in every area of campus where waste disposal bins are provided. In light of the new risks presented by COVID-19, the Office of Sustainability has enacted rigorous safety standards and practices meant to protect our ROCKS students, while still allowing them to complete the crucial role of collecting the campus’s recycling and compost. Not only are all ROCKS student employees provided with full body PPE including N-95 masks, face shields, 2 layers of gloves, and protective uniforms, but we have also recently hired a full-time staff person to supervise and support the ROCKS students throughout their daily collection routes.

The target audience of the ROCKS program is the same as the Eco-Reps program, which is all other undergraduate KSC students. The ROCKS program also collects recycling from faculty and staff buildings and offices, as well. These two programs work in concert with the aim of advancing the culture of sustainability at KSC. While the ROCKS students collect recycling throughout the residence halls on campus, they are engaging with the students who live on campus, mostly first-year and sophomore students. Additionally, the ROCKS students are a visible presence, whether they are moving recycling toters around campus, or driving the ROCKS truck around the campus community. They are a visible reminder of the robust, student-led campus recycling program.

The Green Bikes program is an innovative, student led program, with the goal of providing a safe bike, free of charge, to any KSC community member who wants one. This program salvages bike parts from second-hand, donated, or discarded bicycles, and gives them a new life. Green Bikes employees focus on bike maintenance and repair, bike distribution to the campus community, and on educating community members on safe and respectful bike usage. The KSC Green Bikes program has always been staffed by KSC student employees and managed by a part-time Green Bikes coordinator staff member. Because of recent budget changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Green Bikes Coordinator position has been eliminated, in favor of pivoting to a student-led model. The Green Bikes student employees have risen to the occasion beautifully, implementing a robust new training module, organizing a complete cleanout and reorganization of the KSC Green Bikes shop, and continuing to build strong relationships with campus partners.

The target audience for the Green Bikes program is the entire campus community, including staff, faculty and students.

Student numbers are reflective of the 2019-2020 academic year.