Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 55.74
Liaison Kristyn Achilich
Submission Date May 11, 2021

STARS v2.2

Saint Michael's College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.78 / 4.00 Kristyn Achilich
Director and Instructor
Center for the Environment; Education
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit:
1,715

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
1,528

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
89.10

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Eco-Reps

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):

Students may apply for a variety of paid sustainability-related positions, all managed through the Center for the Environment. This allows for professional development opportunities as well as the experience of collaboration with peers and mentors. Students are part of the advisory group for the Center. Our student employment model involves tiered responsibilities and leadership opportunities, as well as effective carryover of expertise and skills.
- EcoReps - primary responsibility is campus sustainability education; Eco-Reps help increase student, staff, and faculty awareness, engagement and involvement in important environmental issues through Residence Hall programming, social activities, public events, and various educational programs. Specific jobs include: create and distribute posters and pamphlets as well as social media about recycling and composting; meet with Orientation Leaders prior to Orientation to provide them with resources and information about campus sustainable living; reach out to specific offices and departments on campus to discuss sustainability initiatives (Campus Store, dining); sustainability agents at Admissions events, guiding visitors to proper recycling and composting destinations.


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):

Primary audience is current students, staff and faculty. However, they also participate in admissions events for prospective students.


Number of trained student educators (1st program):
4

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
28

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
8

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
896

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Center for the Environment Student Interns

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

Center for the Environment student employees and interns, whose responsibilities may include sustainability initiatives, Bee Campus management, social media marketing, campus education programs, zero-waste initiatives, and work on the Farm, Natural Area and Teaching Garden. All student workers are managed through the Center for the Environment. This allows for planned professional development opportunities as well as the experience of collaboration with peers and mentors. Students are part of the advisory group for the Center. Our student employment model involves tiered responsibilities and leadership opportunities, as well as effective carryover of expertise and skills.


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):

Center student employees and interns have a broader responsibility than EcoReps. They work closely with Center staff, faculty and staff throughout the College, on sustainability projects. They may assist with planting of native trees in our restoration project in the Natural Area, or assist with residence hall competitions on energy conservation. They may contribute as workers on the SMC Farm and assist with the management of the CSA. As with the EcoReps, we try to identify workers in their first year, and then facilitate their growth and professional development over 4 years, so that they acquire leadership skills and expanding knowledge.


Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
2

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
28

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
10

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
560

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Farm Internship Program

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

Farm Interns work throughout the growing season on all aspects of the running of the Farm - preparing and planting, maintenance, harvesting, and sale of produce.


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):

They are student educators when there are volunteers and visitors on the Farm. They are trained to explain the fundamentals of farm operations to peers, staff, faculty and off-campus visitors.


Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
5

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
32

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
20

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
3,200

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):
A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:

Our student sustainability club, GreenUp does a tremendous job educating our campus community. They not only organize events and educational programs, they have also taken a leadership role on two important campus initiatives. First they have created a recycling center in our mailroom, that is focused on re-use, recycle and proper disposal of mailing supplies, such as boxes and other types of packing supplies. Second, they have worked with the Campus Store to create a "Green Items" display, and identified new sustainable items to be offered for sale (e.g., bamboo tableware, sheet laundry detergent). They have created educational materials for both of these initiatives.


Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
3

Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
28

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
5

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
420

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
5,076

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
3.32

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The data on number of student educators and hours and weeks worked are complicated to report. The number of students, number of hours and weeks worked varies by term, and by year. Students are often fulltime during the summer, but part-time during the academic year. We have reported estimates averaged over a 12 month period during 2020-21, the current academic year.


The data on number of student educators and hours and weeks worked are complicated to report. The number of students, number of hours and weeks worked varies by term, and by year. Students are often fulltime during the summer, but part-time during the academic year. We have reported estimates averaged over a 12 month period during 2020-21, the current academic year.

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.