Michigan State University
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

MSU HR: MSU has several online professional development resources, and hosts classes every week for employees to improve their work performance, learn new skills, and develop their expertise in the workplace. This includes the ElevateU program, which is available to all MSU employees. The ElevateU platform includes the following sustainability modules: Building a Strategic Commitment to Sustainability; Weighing Risks and Opportunities of Implementing Sustainability Initiatives; The Effects of Environmental Change on Business; Home Office: Greener Spaces; and Workplace Management: Corporate Social Responsibility. In addition, the Office of Sustainability has been working with MSU Extension to create Sustainability Leadership module for MSU employees. A pilot version of the module is available on MSU's internal D2L service.
https://www.hr.msu.edu/professional-development/support-staff/
http://www.hr.msu.edu/professional-development/elevateu/

Student Life and Engagement (formerly RHS): SLE is one of MSU's largest divisions, and sustainability is written into the division's mission statements through its commitment to the values of spirit of partnership, effective communication, commitment to staff and guest experiences, and mindset of innovations. SLE also holds staff professional development that is heavily centered around sustainability. Annually, RHS holds Celebrate State, which is required by all SLE staff to attend and covers new policies, updates, new sustainability practices and diversity training, and changes made in the dining and housing areas of campus that staff should be aware of. SLE Food Stores are also trained regularly on new sustainability purchasing practices. The Sustainability Officer in SLE presents every other year to discuss sustainability policies, procedures, and training for all staff at all levels. Every semester, the Sustainability Officer carries out individual staff sessions for different SLE departments to update them on sustainability practices and policies that are site-specific to those units. https://rhs.msu.edu/sustainability

Infrastructure and Planning Facilities (IPF): IPF spans several areas of campus, and most IPF employees are educated in sustainability practices. Those who work at the Recycling Center and Surplus Store on campus all go through professional development as sustainability practices at the university change, and the recycling center employees, including all haul drivers, also receive professional development in this area. All staff in LEED certified buildings on campus go through workshops that teach them to follow sustainable office practices. The MSU Custodial Services crew is trained in High-performance cleaning which focuses on sustainability, and these products change and develop regularly, required staff sustainability updates to keep the service as sustainable and efficient as possible.

The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (formerly Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives) offers staff dialogues for employees at MSU to discuss diversity, challenging topics, and ways to cope with such issues on campus. These are open on a monthly basis to all faculty and staff at MSU: http://www.inclusion.msu.edu/education/intercultural-dialogue1.html. Several other staff training opportunities are available pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion. Refer to PA-7 for details.

The Office of Sustainability routinely supports students and employees in attending professional sustainability conferences such as AASHE's annual conference; NACUFS, USGBC, AUCHO-I, Michigan Innovation Business Council, and the Michigan Sustainability Conference.

The Office of Sustainability maintains an institutional membership to the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. Any employee or student is eligible for a free membership. The WMSBF offers multiple educational opportunities including webinars, networking events and seminars.

All employees at the Surplus Store and Recycling Center participate in the TRUE Advisor Certificate Program with costs covered by the institution. https://true.gbci.org/true-advisor

Other external training opportunities for students and employees include LEED Green Associate Training and International Society of Sustainability Professionals training. The Office of Sustainability holds an institutional membership to ISSP and supports students and employees interested in pursuing ISSP certifications.

In addition to these opportunities, MSU also hosts numerous speakers, workshops, conferences, and work development sessions from outside and external groups. Each college hosts different workshops for their students, faculty, and staff, and due to divisional separation and college separation within the university, this data is not consistently logged. MSU is constantly hosting visitors to develop its staff, students, faculty, and employees professionally, and many of those opportunities are in sustainability.

In SLE (formerly RHS), sustainability is engrained in the divisional mission statement and values, and each employee's review features descriptions of these values and requires the employee to describe how their efforts in their work fulfill these values. In Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, the mission statements and values of the division echo MSU's land-grant goals of environmental stewardship, while also promising transparency, effective communication, and value in teamwork. IPF's employee reviews also prioritize their division's values, and the sustainability employees in the division are reviewed for their effectiveness in the area as well.