Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.91
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Portland State University
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.09 / 3.00 Amanda Wolf
Program + Assessment Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total number of employees (staff + faculty, headcount):
3,306

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting):
1,198

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
36.24

1st Program 

Name of the employee educators program:
Climate Champions

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
749

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
Climate Champions is a voluntary program for employee engagement and peer-to-peer outreach. This program promotes and recognizes resource conservation and stewardship within departments and provides training for employees who volunteer to be their department's ""sustainability liaison."" Sustainability liaison's complete an online checklist to determine a baseline for departmental sustainability practices. Staff from the Campus Sustainability Office reviews this checklist to customize training for the department sustainability liaison and sets up a meeting to provide the customized training. The sustainability liaison acts as a mentor for the employees within their department providing peer-to-peer outreach to implement additional sustainability practices within their office.

A brief description of how the employee educators are selected:
The Climate Champions program is voluntary, so employee educators are either designated by their department or volunteer to take the lead as a sustainability liaison. Every two years, the Campus Sustainability Office sends an email out to every department to encourage participation

A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
Training for the sustainability liaison is customized based on the answers provided in their Climate Champion checklist. Once the checklist has been completed, staff from the Campus Sustainability Office reviews their answers and creates a training program specific to their departments needs. Staff meets with the sustainability liaison to give them a customized one-on-one training that includes strategies to engage co-workers in sustainability efforts and resources to help implement outreach activities to increase the departments sustainability awareness and day-to-day operations that are more sustainable.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination):
The Education and Outreach Coordinator, a full time employee within the Campus Sustainability Office, supports the program. There is a small budget dedicated to the program to purchase incentives for Climate Champions (i.e. refillable pens, buddy bins, battery buckets, etc..)

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

2nd Program

Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Certified Healthy Department

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount) (2nd program):
449

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
The Certified Healthy Department is part of PSU's Healthy Campus Initiative and supports healthy employees and the departments that support the health of its employees. Through an online survey, departments answer questions in the following categories: -Leadership Support/Culture of Wellness -Culture of Wellness -Enivronmental Safety -Active Lifestyle -Nutrition/Hydration -Tobacco Free/Air Quality -Mental health and Well-being The survey is a way to keep track and set goals for the department.

A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):
Surveys are sent out to every department on campus. Once a survey is complete staff from the Health Promotions Department will meet with a person or persons from the department to help set goals for their department. Peer educators are self selected within the department and then work closely with their co-workers to educate and help implement health and well-being programs into the department.

A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
Staff from the Health Promotions Departments meets with a person or persons from the department to help set up goals for the department. Staff in Health Promotions are available for trainings and continued support.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):
Staff from the Health Promotions Department provide support for this program, with a small budget for incentives

Additional Programs 

A brief description of all other employee peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of employees served and how employee educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:
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Optional Fields 

Total number of hours employee educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:
---

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:
Healthy Department Certification: https://www.pdx.edu/healthycampus/healthy-department

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.