Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.40
Liaison Dayna Cook
Submission Date Nov. 6, 2023

STARS v2.2

Northern Arizona University
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Danielle Linthicum
Conservation Programs Coordinator
NAU Office of Sustainabilty
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Total number of employees:
3,658

Total number of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
3,658

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
100

1st program 

Name of the employee educators program (1st program):
Energy Mentors Program: Sustainable Stewards

A brief description of the employee educators program (1st program):
Target Audience: All NAU staff and faculty

Mission/Impact Statement: Our mission is to empower NAU staff and faculty to embrace energy conservation in both their personal and professional lives. This program is designed to facilitate individual-level behavioral change for those interested in enhancing their sustainability knowledge and practices. It serves as the initial step toward becoming an energy mentor, as detailed in the second program. NAU employees can opt to either continue as Sustainable Stewards or take the extra step of becoming energy mentors, who play a pivotal role in influencing their peers.

Delivery Method: Faculty and staff members interested in participating attend a 1-hour training program, which can be conducted either in-person or virtually. Subsequently, these trained individuals champion sustainable energy consumption behaviors within their respective departments by normalizing such practices.

Content: The one-hour training session is mandatory for all prospective Energy Mentors. It provides an overview of the program, delves into the importance of addressing climate change, and elucidates how energy conservation contributes to NAU's climate goals. Additionally, it outlines three key behaviors to promote within their departments: turning off lights, unplugging electronics, and adopting sustainable commuting practices.

Personnel: Program Coordinator - Danielle Linthicum; Energy Mentors Training Facilitators - Danielle Linthicum and Abraham Henn

A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Sustainable Stewards Energy Mentor Program is designed to cater to faculty and staff members throughout the entire campus community. The motivation behind modifying this existing program stems from feedback provided by campus employees. They expressed a desire for a program that allows University employees to independently educate themselves on sustainability topics without the requirement to actively promote these behaviors to their peers.

Additionally, following their training, each Energy Mentor is awarded a badge that reads "Energy Mentor" to display on their office door or desk.

https://in.nau.edu/green-nau/energy-mentors/

Number of trained employee educators (1st program):
176

Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (1st program):
40

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (1st program):
0.50

Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (1st program):
3,520

Website URL where information about the employee educators program is available (1st program) :

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

2nd Program

Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Energy Mentors Program

A brief description of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Target Audience: All NAU staff and faculty

Upon completing their training as Sustainable Stewards, NAU employees have the opportunity to elevate their commitment by becoming Certified Energy Mentors.

Mission/Impact Statement: Our mission is to equip staff and faculty to become leaders in energy conservation within their offices and departments. The program operates on a peer-to-peer engagement model, where trained Energy Mentors actively promote sustainable energy behaviors within their respective departments. Our overarching goal is to significantly reduce energy consumption across the campus.

Delivery Method: Participating staff members undergo an additional 1-hour training program, which can be conducted either in-person or virtually. Subsequently, these staff members champion sustainable energy consumption behaviors within their departments through various strategies, including informational campaigns, behavioral prompts, behavior modeling, and engaging in peer conversations.

Energy Mentors receive Action Plans and Toolkits from the Office of Sustainability to distribute among their peers. Based on feedback from previous Energy Mentors, we have identified the need for concrete strategies in behavior change. To address this, we now provide promotional materials, email templates, and communication tactics in the form of Action Plans and Toolkits. Certified Energy Mentors will have standardized resources to distribute campus-wide, promoting positive behavioral change, knowledge sharing, and community building.

All Sustainable Stewards and Energy Mentors will receive quarterly newsletters following their training. These newsletters are designed to keep stewards and mentors informed about sustainability developments within NAU, sparking conversations and boosting confidence in discussing these topics.

Personnel:
Program Coordinator - Danielle Linthicum
Energy Mentors Training Facilitators - Danielle Linthicum and Abraham Henn

A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
The Energy Mentor Program is aimed at faculty and staff volunteers from various departments across the campus. These volunteers take on the role of educating their colleagues both within their offices and throughout the campus.

Following their training, every Energy Mentor receives a badge reading "Energy Mentor" to display proudly on their office door or desk. Moreover, they are tasked with sending out office-wide emails addressing sustainability issues relevant to their specific office area.

Number of trained employee educators (2nd program):
176

Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (2nd program):
40

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (2nd program):
0.50

Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (2nd program):
3,520

Website URL where information about the employee educators program is available (2nd program):

If reporting employees served by more than two programs, provide:

Additional Programs 

A brief description of all other employee peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
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Number of trained employee educators (all other programs):
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Number of weeks, on average, the employee educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
---

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (all other programs):
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (all other programs):
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Part 2. Educator hours per employee served by a peer-to-peer program

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (all programs):
7,040

Hours worked annually by trained employee sustainability educators per employee served by a peer-to-peer program:
1.92

Optional Fields

Website URL where information about the employee sustainability educators programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
All current Energy Mentors were trained before the program split. Therefore, there are only 176 unique individuals trained. These employees satisfy both Sustainable Steward and Energy Mentor requirements, therefore they are listed in both fields. Report counts from here forward are expected to diverge.

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.