Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.55
Liaison Michelle Larkins
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Pacific University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.96 / 4.00 Michelle Larkins
Director of the CSS
Center for a Sustainable Society
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
3,919

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):
1,924

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
49.09

Name of the student educators program:
resident assistants

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
1,000

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:

Resident Assistants (RAs)
RAs are full-time students who live and work in the residence halls to support students in their academic, social and personal growth. As employees of Residence Life, RAs work to build a sense of community and respect among students, help manage housing operations, and enforce University policies and community standards. They plan and promote educational and social hall events to contribute to student and community development, such as guest speakers, group discussions, and fun activities. Carefully selected and thoroughly trained, RAs are good resources for students when they need help or support. They can assist students in connecting with many campus services and resources.

Senior Resident Assistants (SRAs)
SRAs are specially selected veteran RAs. In addition to all responsibilities of the RA position, SRAs assist the Area Coordinators in staff selection and training, Hall Council advising and administrative tasks.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected:

Interested students may apply, and are interviewed and selected by Resident Life Staff.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:

The RAs undergo rigorous training before taking on any responsibilities.


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):

Area Coordinators are hired in part to oversee a group of RAs and help them in their tasks. Additionally, RAs are provided training each year. There is also a budget provided for programs that RAs wish to implement.
See info here: https://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/offices/residence-life/ra-applications


Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
B-Street Farm

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
1,924

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

The B Street Farm employs intern and farm assistants who participate directly in the growing of food, and in providing tours and demonstrations to the wider community. We are frequently visited by local schools, and many of our programs focus on stewardship education.


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

The B-Street Farm Manager and the Director for the Center for a Sustainable Society interview all candidates. Selections are made based on commitment to local foods, and outreach demonstrated in student interview.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):

On the job training from permaculture certified farm manager is provided to hired students.


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):

Work-study funding and/or salaries paid with the Center for a Sustainable Society funds.


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

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
1,924

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

The mission of Campus Wellness is to promote the social health and well-being of Pacific students through comprehensive educational programming and support services. We strive to prevent interpersonal violence on our campus, promote harm reduction around drug and alcohol use, and decrease stress to improve the quality of life and overall well-being of Pacific students.

Services Include:

Sexual violence prevention
Healthy relationship promotion
Harm reduction around drugs and alcohol
Positive body image programs
Stress Management


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

Students must first take the pre-requisite class SW/PH 220 Peer Health Education Spring Term or CIV 255 Advocacy and Prevention in January. They can then apply. The Campus Wellness Coordinator oversees the application process.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):

CIV 255 Advocacy & Prevention introduces students to a variety of wellness topics related to health education. These topics include alcohol and other drugs, healthy relationship promotion, sexual and relationship violence prevention, stress management and other relevant wellness issues. This course provides opportunities to go into Forest Grove High School and facilitate workshops on healthy relationships, and further prepares students for an active role as a wellness educator.


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):

Funds are provided to support the various programs and student educators that Campus Wellness oversees.


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 Center for a Sustainable Society (CSS) employees student sustainability coordinators to organize and run campus wide (1924 students) educational and fun programming.The center focuses on various aspects of sustainability: reusable mug library (established a reusable mug rack right outside of the campus Starbucks where students and staff can borrow and return hot and cold coffee mugs to reduce the amount of non recyclable Starbucks cups in our waste stream); clothing swap (collected clothing donations from students and staff and held a two day event open for Pacific University members to take what they need. This event was aimed at educating people on our overconsumption habits); local food fair (an event composed of local organizations focused on food justice, including access, food waste, and environmental threats); Earth Week (collaboration with other campus clubs and organizations promoting community outreach); composting (introduced residential composting program for students that live on campus, promoting food waste reduction); educational short film (mutli-stage video project documenting and creating discussion on sustainability throughout campus. Videos have been recorded and will be shared during the 2018-19 school year.); educational movie screenings (), waste audit (worked with Washington County to obtain data of the amount and types of waste in the waste streams on campus. Trash was collected from various campus building on an average school day, was sorted through, and weighed), sustainable investments presentation.
Students for Environmental Activism (SEA): student run club that focuses on sustainability events throughout the year: Earth Week, tree plantings, sustainability market, veggie run (promoting less meat consumption in collaboration with the Animal Ethics club on campus).


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