Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.12
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date Feb. 21, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Portland State University
PAE-15: Employee Sustainability Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.06 / 5.00 Molly Bressers
Program & Outreach Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
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Total number of people employed by the institution:
4,247

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Program name (1st program) :
PSU Green Teams

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Number of employees served by the program (1st program):
750

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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (1st program):
Green team leaders volunteer to help their department implement best practices. When they contact the Campus Sustainability Office about forming a green team, green team leaders' email addressed are added to the contacts sheet and email list for green teams. Recently, the Campus Sustainability Office has taken a more strategic approach to starting green teams on a building-by-building basis. This builds cohesion among departments around energy/materials waste prevention issues and will one day enable building energy competitions. For now, we have worked with green team reps from each department to install motion-sensor surge protectors, enhance recycling and waste prevention awareness, and shift purchasing practices.

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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (1st program):
The Green Team Coordinator sends out sporadic email information, referrals and opportunities to the employees, and also posts relevant resources on a Facebook page. Additionally the Sustainability E-News goes out to the entire green team list serve.

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A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (1st program):
At this time, the full time Program & Outreach Coordinator staffs the Green Team Program. The coordinator facilitates education and outreach to campus staff and green team leaders about sustainability and best practices for the workplace. The Campus Sustainability Office has worked to formalize participation in the green team program so that employee work time can be officially used for green team and sustainability efforts within departments. The President and VP of Finance & Administration have expressed support for a portion of staff work time to be used for green team activities.

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The website URL where information about the program is available (1st program):
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Program name (2nd program):
Climate Champions

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Number of employees served by the program (2nd program):
150

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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):
Employees in any department are welcome to participate in this program. The Portland State University Campus Sustainability Office (CSO) has developed the PSU Climate Champions program to promote and recognize resource conservation and stewardship within PSU departments. Modeled after Portland Best Business Center’s Climate Champions, the program includes an assessment checklist that departments use to track their progress on sustainable best practices for the workplace. The following checklist outlines best practices in areas such as: Energy conservation Transportation Water conservation Purchasing & waste reduction Recycling & composting. Please use this checklist as a way to track progress and set goals for greening your department. The CSO would like to recognize departments that have taken verifiable steps toward a reduction in PSU’s carbon footprint and increased stewardship of our natural resources by completing the Climate Champions checklist.

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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (2nd program):
The Green Team Coordinator meets with interested staff, reviews the guiding documents with the applicants and provides technical assistance in completing the necessary steps to become a Climate Champion department. To date, only one department has received this certification.

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A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):
The Program & Outreach Coordinator, as well as the Energy Education Coordinator support and staff the program.

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The website URL where information about the program is available (2nd program):
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Program name(s) (all other programs):
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Number of employees served by the program(s) (all other programs):
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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (all other programs):
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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (all other programs):
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A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program(s) (all other programs):
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The website URL where information about the program(s) is available (all other programs):
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
University employees in Fall 2012: 4,247. Source: PSU Office of Institutional Research & Planning Factbook, http://www.oirp.pdx.edu/source/fact12f/4_09.htm

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.