Luther College
EN-8: Employee Orientation

All new staff are expected to attend a new employee sustainability orientation. Orientations are offered on a monthly basis and are led by the Center for Sustainable Communities. This one hour presentation provides an introduction to the concept of sustainability and provides history of sustainability at Luther with a special emphasis on how students have been change agents throughout time. The orientation covers content related to renewable energy production, energy conservation, energy efficiency, zero waste goals, alternative transportation, food waste reduction programs, land stewardship and our work in the community. We make explicit the connections between environment, economy and equity and encourage new employees to keep this comprehensive definition of sustainability in mind as they begin their work on campus. New employees receive stainless steel coffee cups, Klean Kanteen water bottles and reusable to-go containers as welcome gifts and tools to help them live more sustainably on campus. All new faculty attend an hour-long session where they learn about community-based research and sustainability course development opportunities. Most years faculty also go on a sustainability tour of the Luther College campus as part of orientation. During this tour faculty learn about energy, waste, food, land use and become familiarized with Luther's definition of sustainability.