Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 81.87
Liaison Rania Assariotaki
Submission Date Feb. 21, 2023

STARS v2.2

The American College of Greece
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Ourania Assariotaki
Sustainability Manager
Office of Public Affairs
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution make available professional development and training opportunities in sustainability to all non-academic staff at least once per year?:
Yes

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (the rate of staff participation in sustainability professional development and training)?:
Yes

Estimated percentage of regular, non-academic staff that participates annually in sustainability professional development and training:
75% or more

A brief description of any internal sustainability professional development and training opportunities that the institution makes available to non-academic staff:

ACG offers the opportunity to all staff members to participate in the First Aid Protocol Seminar, during which members are trained on Basic Life Support and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation

The College has successfully organized a series of workshops on Cultural Diversity. The goal of these workshops were to: Increase cultural humility/competency with a focus on race, gender, and sexual orientation, and ways its experienced/understood in the U.S. context.
2. Examine unconscious bias and how it manifests in daily interactions with people of differing social identities. 3. Develop personal ability to recognize and challenge bias in the classroom.
4. Learn effective techniques to empathetically, cooperatively, and courageously engage uncomfortable and challenging conversations in a classroom environment.
5. Grow 1:1 dialogue skills aimed at becoming an ally to individuals and groups from marginalized identities. 6. Nurture community interdependence by identifying opportunities for intercultural exchange.

Through the tuition waiver program ACG provides to all ACG faculty and staff to participate in any of the courses, seminars, certificates, diplomas, majors offered by ACG including sustainability-related or sustainability-focused academic offerings
The staff participates in annual trainings on the sustainability-related policies of the college.


A brief description of any external professional development and training opportunities in sustainability that are supported by the institution :

The institution provides access to its employees to the following:
GRI seminars
GRI (https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx) is an international independent organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption and many others.
Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility Summer School
ACG offered the opportunity by offering free passes to four ACG members to attend the summer school. The summer school was hosted by ACG and co-organized the first Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Summer School, in collaboration with the network CSR Hellas and the University of Crete.
AASHE Seminars- ACG as a member of the network encourages members to participate.
Online courses eg. Business Sustainability Management, High Impact Leadership offered by University of Cambridge
Participants are introduced to the following topics divided per workshop day: (1) Responsible organizations and sustainable management, (2) Corporate responsibility, the UN SDGs and the UN Global Compact, (3) Sustainable value creation, (4) Business impact, accountability, and reporting, and (5) Collaborative transformation of the value chain.
The workshop also featured two sketch artists who added a unique, creative, element on days one and two of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Summer School.
Also, ACG supports professional development practices and covers the cost of participation to sustainability-focused or sustainability-related workshops like Energy Efficiency workshops, GHG emissions seminars, creating social value seminars etc. as long as they fit job position requirements


Estimated percentage of regular non-academic staff for which sustainability is included in performance reviews:
1-24%

A brief description of how sustainability is included in staff performance reviews :

Public Affairs Staff
• Organize at least one event per semester (Fall, Spring) on a sustainability-related issue, in collaboration with at least one of our sustainability –related partnering networks (UNSDSN, CSR Hellas, UN Global Compact Network Hellas, Boroume)
• Organize at least one event or project with Pierce students and faculty for the Aghia Paraskevi or the East Campus in the context of our raising awareness campaigns (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, #ACGgoesplasticfree, Reduce Your FoodPrint!)
• Organize one sustainability-related student workshop per semester (Fall – Spring) in collaboration with a Greek University or with another relevant entity/network
• Submit the fourth STARS report and ensure a higher rating within the Gold range
• The ACG Sustainability Leaders student organization to organize at least two info-sessions per semester in the context of our awareness-raising campaigns (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, #ACGgoesplasticfree, Reduce Your FoodPrint!)
• Review catering contractors’ contracts, make relevant recommendations and actively promote the implementation of all the following sustainability practices
 inventorying their purchasing from third parties,
 catering on a daily basis for the entire community taking into account religious, social and nutritional requirements
 Eliminate by 50% the use of single-use straws, cups, cutlery
 Establish and support on-campus composting
• Ensure the implementation of at least one recommendation per category of the STARS 2020 report, in collaboration with relevant ACG departments – submit a study for the implementation of at least one project included in the ACG Campus as a Living Lab proposal
• Organize the ACG Community Service Day in Fall & Spring in collaboration with one or more of our partnering sustainability-related networks or NGOs and have representative participation from ACG members of all three divisions (Pierce/Deree/Alba)
• Introduce a one- hour course per week in all modules of the Pierce Leadership Academy Program focusing on a different sustainability-related issue each week. In addition, there will be a guest speaker representing one of our partnering networks each time
• To launch the “Faces of Sustainability” initiative which will run throughout the academic year and introduce at least five “Faces” per year through social media platforms /Sustainability@ACG website/Sustainability@ACG newsletter
• Submit a digital and social media strategy (incl. mapping of existing channels and guidelines for use by the team) for the Sustainability social media platforms
Wellness Staff
• First Aid and Protocols training to Pierce faculty and administrative staff in both campuses
• First Aid and Protocols training to ACG Housing Staff and Resident Assistants at the start of every semester, before the arrival of Study Abroad and International students
• Advanced First Aid Protocols and real life scenarios to ACG Housing Staff and Resident Assistants
• How to recognize and respond to medical emergencies seminar to staff and counsellors, before the start of Summer Camp
• First Aid and Protocols training to counsellors and administrative staff of Heritage Greece
• ACG Cardiac Emergency Response Plan training to administrative and faculty staff annually
• Individualized Trainings to Pierce faculty regarding medical emergencies that may arise when they are on excursions or escort/ teach classes with student with special health needs
• Individualized Trainings to ACG members that may request advice regarding dealing with certain medical cases

• Design and deliver 4 wellness workshops: 1 as part of the Mind Body Spirit Fest, 2 off campus, and 2 on campus. Additional wellness workshops organized on or off campus and at least 40% "above 4" reviews in the satisfaction surveys will result in higher than "on target, 3" performance results in the evaluation.

Technical services staff
SWIMMING POOL E/M EQUIPMENT UPGRADE TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION 20-30%(znx, pumps, exchangers)
Initiation of PV solar panels installation at East Campus & ACG Campus
Energy efficiency upgrade studies for buildings R1, R23
Reconducting energy audit and submitting it to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (obligation recurring every 4 years)
ISO 50001 Certificate renewal/ reassessment
ISO14064 (CATEGORY 1 & 2 CO2) Certification


Website URL where information about staff professional development and training in sustainability is available:
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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.