Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.56
Liaison Alan Turnquist
Submission Date July 8, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Michigan Technological University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.14 / 4.00 Jay Meldrum
Executive Director of Sustainability
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
7,203

Total number of students enrolled for credit that are served (i.e. directly targeted) by a student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting to the extent feasible):
250

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
3.47

1st Program 

Name of the student educators program:
Alternative Energy Enterprise

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
7,203

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
The Alternative Energy Enterprise is a multidisciplinary class which is part of the Enterprise program and run out of the Chemical Engineering department. The goal of AEE, which has evolved to include Sustainability over the past 10 years, is to educate the campus community in the applicability of alternative and renewable energy sources as well as sustainable practices. The AEE students disseminate their information through presentations and posters at various campus events. This includes K-day (Keweenaw Day) where students meet with students usually in a park setting and celebrate the first week of school. They also participate in Design Expo, where students of various disciplines show off their research in the fall semester.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected:
AEE is part of the Minor in Sustainability. The student educators are approved by instructor. The students are interviewed by the Advisor before entry in this class. Once a member, the students decide on the leadership team and continue to recruit new members for interviews. A passion for Sustainability is a major requirement.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
Students receive formal training by instructor to engage with peers and disseminate their knowledge and findings. An example of this: student educators provide informational tutorials that are available to all students. Students in GCE are mentored by their advisor. The Enterprise program, which AEE belongs to has modules taught experts in various soft (non-engineering areas) like organizing, time management, and Six-Sigma.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination):
The institution $2000 per semester for each enterprise. This money goes to supplies and tools for students. Additional funds include $50 per student for miscellaneous needs to the enterprise program. AEE also receives external donations.

If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:

2nd Program

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

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
7,203

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
Students live in the sustainable demonstration house and conduct sustainable improvement projects. They collect data and present findings that are available to entire university as well as surrounding community.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
Students are selected by the SDH board to live in the house for as long as the board lets them. Housing is excluded to sophomores and juniors with the hopes they will live there for two years conducting sustainability improvement projects.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
Students receive formal training by instructor of the Alternative Energy Enterprise to engage with peers and disseminate their knowledge and findings.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):
Funding comes from students' rent to live in the SDH. All is the rent money is spend specifically on the SDH project. Additionally the SDH receives external donations, cash and in-kind donations. To date the SDH has received over $100K in cash and in-kind donations.

If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:

3rd Program 

Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Green Campus Enterprise

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
7,203

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):
The Green Campus Enterprise Class is a one credit class where students dive into teams and look for ways to engage the campus students in ways to make Michigan Tech more sustainable. Examples include recycling initiatives in the dorms, they assist in the calculation of the Greenhouse Gas Emission of the University, and they look for ways to implement renewable energy alternatives like solar and wind. Results of their studies are delivered in reports and presentations given throughout the year. Their signature event is the Green Talks given each year in the Fall. Students may also do larger projects as part of their Capstone Senior Design project for which they receive 2 credits per semester.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
GCE is part of the Minor in Sustainability. The student educators are approved by instructor. Students are interviewed by the Advisor before entry in this class. Once a member, the students decide on the leadership team and continue to recruit new members for interviews. A passion for Sustainability is a major requirement.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):
Students in GCE are mentored by their advisor. The Enterprise program, which GCE belongs to has modules taught experts in various soft (non-engineering areas) like organizing, time management, and Six-Sigma.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (3rd program):
The institution $2000 per semester for each enterprise. This money goes to supplies and tools for students. Additional funds include $50 per student for miscellaneous needs to the enterprise program. GCE also receives external donations.

Additional Programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of students served and how student educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:
The Built World Enterprise (BWE) addresses challenges typically solved by civil and environmental engineers, including designing infrastructure and solving waste management problems. This program is also part of the Enterprise program which sits under the Pavlis Honors College. Although Pavlis has other non-sustainability associated programs the four listed here are the most relevant the this section of STARS. All deal with peer-to=peer education projects. These students are trained similar to the above programs and receive the same funding formula plus external donations.

Optional Fields 

Total number of hours student educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually (all programs):
100,000

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.