Oregon State University
EN-6: Employee Educators Program

Sustainability Advocates either volunteer and are approved by a supervisor or are appointed by their department head. Employees with a personal passion, not necessarily a professional responsibility, for sustainability are selected (although having both characteristics is ideal).

Once selected, Advocates sign a registration form committing them to be the conduit between the OSU Sustainability Office and their department. Advocates are briefed on the roles and responsibilities involved in being an Advocate and commit to attending at least one session per year where training is included. Training covers basics of sustainability organization and resources offered at OSU including: - how to share awards, scholarship and other financial opportunities with OSU students - what sustainability best practices are occurring in other OSU departments and at other schools - what policies and programs affect sustainability in their department's work or purview - what is going on in the community around sustainability, and how to get non-Advocates engaged in off campus activities - certain sustainability competence or skill-building training. Sustainability Advocates typically have a guest speaker at each of their quarterly meetings who goes in depth about some skill, information, or topic of interest and relevance to the group.

OSU provides all costs associated with Advocate meetings and activities. It funds training materials and zero waste lunch costs for Advocates at the quarterly meetings, and provides incentives for Advocates to participate in specific programs. It also funds staff time and facility costs for any meetings.

OSU periodically uses Northwest Earth Institute course materials and modules for employee training and education about sustainability, and encourages self-formed discussion groups based on NWEI's platform. There is not a specific, institutionalized method for this training at this time so it is considered informal.