Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.41
Liaison Yolanda Cieters
Submission Date Feb. 22, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Seattle University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.57 / 4.00 Phillip Thompson
Director
CEJS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution coordinate one or more ongoing student, peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs that meet the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

Number of degree-seeking students enrolled at the institution:
7,273

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
EcoReps

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (1st program):
2,160

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (1st program):

EcoReps are student representatives who are each assigned a residence hall to be responsible for. Each ecorep then is responsible for assessing sustainability needs within the hall and developing improvements. They must promote and encourage sustainable programming practices and implement at least one program per quarter that is focused on sustainability and environmental justice. They attend SU EcoAlliance meetings and help promote sustainability events.


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

The student educators are elected at the beginning of the academic year by residents of the residence hall for their hall councils.
There are 4 eco-reps (1 per Hall Council) and 2000 residents per year.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (1st program):

EcoReps attend a half day training from by CEJS staff. This is a tabling program, where residents are quizzed about what things go in Waste, Compost, and Recycle containers. Eco-Reps provided Hall Councils information and methods in being environmental friendly during activities and events held in the residential community.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (1st program):

The Residence Hall association provides programming funds. More information on them can be found here: https://www.seattleu.edu/rha/


Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Sustainable Student Action

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
200

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

Sustainable Student Action is a club comprised of students who meet weekly with the mission to educate the community on environmental issues and to work on projects that promote sustainability. They collaborate with other SU groups and local community groups on events that promote social justice. They are working on a campus wide Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign working to educate the student body and influence the administration. Sustainable Student Action holds peer-to-peer outreach activities which involve movie nights on the topic of sustainability and non-violent direct action training. They also send students to conferences on climate change and regional organizer training who then bring back that knowledge to the weekly meetings.


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

Sustainable Student Action has a horizontal leadership structure. Students who would like a leadership position demonstrate their interest and then the positions are discussed and voted upon by the members of Sustainable Student Action at the end of each academic year.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (2nd program):

Typically, student educators have undergone organizer training but it is not required. They also learn from previous student educators at the weekly meetings.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):

They are financially supported by the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (www.seattleu.edu/cejs/), appropriation from student government, and their own fundraising.


Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
300

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

The Seattle University ESW student chapter strives to implement environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training responsible engineering students and professionals.


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

Students who help with fundraising and participate in club meetings get priority for selection into the ESW projects


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (3rd program):

They are taught how to test water and learn how to design aquaponics facilities and install water treatment systems.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (3rd program):

They raise money through raffles and silent auction/banquets. In addition, they also receive funds from individual donors.


Name(s) of the student educator program(s) (all other programs):
Learning Communities

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by all other student educator programs:
200

A brief description of the program(s), including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (all other programs):

Name of Program: Learning Communities
Description: A number of activities are conducted under this program and some information is as given below:
--A "meet and greet" breakfast was held in Oct 2015 where organic/sustainable ingredients were served for the most part, and a "earth and society" quiz was conducted for student teams . About 40 students participated.

--An observational walk to Volunteer Park was conducted in Nov 2015 where students visited the Conservatory, a reflection time at the top of the water tower was conducted that focused on what relationship between earth and society people observed. About 20 students participated.

-- An "activity fair" with earth-related groups was invited to have a table for students to peruse in the Campion Lobby.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected (all other programs):

There are no separate students elected. The RA's (Resident Assistants) on campus are also the student educators for this program.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (all other programs):

The HRL (Housing and Residence life) department works on training the student educators for this purpose. Work is ongoing, to develop a formal training course as of now.


A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (all other programs):

The activities are financed through a combination of funds from Academic Affairs and HRL.


Total number of hours student educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:
2,000

The website URL for the peer-to-peer student outreach and education program(s):
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.