Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.84
Liaison Jay Clark
Submission Date Feb. 12, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Maryville College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Adrienne Schwarte
Associate Professor of Design, Coordinator of Sustainability Studies Minor
Fine Arts & Sustainability Studies
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution coordinate one or more ongoing student, peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs that meet the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

Number of degree-seeking students enrolled at the institution:
1,213

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Environmental Initiatives Office

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (1st program):
1,213

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (1st program):

There are four students working in the Environmental Initiatives Office, and they are responsible for collecting energy use data in order to write the college’s first environmental initiatives report, which will be entirely student written and designed and made available to the entire campus and prospective students.


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

Two of the four student educators are current MC Scots Science Scholars, and they were given their positions as part of the S3 program. The other two were chosen through and application and interview process with Bruce Guillaume, the Director of Mountain Challenge.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (1st program):

The students tasked with collecting the data have gone through data-based training with Dr. Maria Siopsis, Professor of Mathematics, and the students tasked with writing the report were chosen largely due to the writing skills they already have, but they also meet with Bruce Guillaume weekly for further instruction.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (1st program):

This program is funded internally through a grant specifically targeted at increasing sustainability efforts on campus.


Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Sustainability Tour

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
1,213

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):

The Sustainability Tour is made available to all students, both current and prospective, and to the Maryville community. It is led by Mountain Challenge staff who take tour groups around the campus and go over the highlights within sustainability on campus, including but not limited to the Steam Plant, renovation of Anderson Hall, MC paper and electrical usage, the LEED Gold Certification of Crawford House, and the MC woods.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):

All of the student educators are Mountain Challenge staff who are selected through a shadowing process with Mountain Challenge over the course of a couple months and are invited to come on staff if they are seen to be valuable members to Mountain Challenge after participating in a wide variety of activities.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (2nd program):

Most of the Mountain Challenge staff are already heavily involved in sustainability efforts, but they do still receive training in the form of formal practicing of sustainability and walk-through training of the tour with Lead Staff members from Mountain Challenge.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):

The student educators are paid by hourly by both Mountain Challenge and Work Study grants.


Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Peer Mentors

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
430

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):

Each peer mentor is assigned approximately 15 students, and spends an entire week with their assigned students during fall orientation. After orientation, the peer mentor meets with their group of students twice formally, and at least once informally (for a fun program). The peer mentor stays in touch with their assigned students during the entire academic year.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):

They are selected through a written application, face to face interview with a panel, and a group process.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (3rd program):

An overnight retreat and 4 days of training on how to be an effective peer mentor, including guidance on how to be effective with outreach.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (3rd program):

The assistant dean of students serves as the advisor for this program. Each peer mentor receives a small stipend, and the college provides a budget for the retreat, supplies, training, and training materials.


Name(s) of the student educator program(s) (all other programs):
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Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by all other student educator programs:
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A brief description of the program(s), including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (all other programs):
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A brief description of how the student educators are selected (all other programs):
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A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (all other programs):
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A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (all other programs):
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Total number of hours student educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:
29,395

The website URL for the peer-to-peer student outreach and education program(s):
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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.