| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.22 |
| Liaison | Mary Ellen Mallia |
| Submission Date | Dec. 21, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University at Albany
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Mary Ellen
Mallia Director of Environmental Sustainability Finance and Business |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
17,743
Total number of students enrolled for credit that are served (i.e. directly targeted) by a student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting to the extent feasible):
17,743
Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
100
1st Program
Res Life Sustainability Peer Educators
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
17,743
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
The Eco-Rep program is a team based approach to enhance awareness and engagement in campus sustainability projects. The program focuses on developing skills to become an effective change maker on campus via 6 workshops around contemporary theories in peer education, social marketing, applied psychology, change leadership, organizational assessment and project management. Students in the program will learn how to plan, coordinate and implement sustainability education, operational audits, and feasibility studies in collaboration with campus staff. They use the Community Based Social Marketing technique to their peers on programs and research. In addition to their specific change maker projects, the Eco-Reps participate in campus events and outreach on sustainable topics.
A brief description of how the student educators are selected:
Eco-Reps apply at the start of each semester. Those willing to complete the required training and workshops and campus project are able to participate. Student sign a learning contract is seeking credit through the community and public service program
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
Eco-Reps participate in weekly workshops to help develop skills. Some of these workshop themes are: contemporary theories in peer education, Community-Based Social Marketing, applied psychology, change leadership, organizational assessment and project management.
A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination):
Eco-Reps are not paid, although they receive credit through the UAlbany Community and Public Service program. They can choose to take 1, 2 or 3 credits, depending on their level of commitment and can be taken several semesters. Normally, the students begin at the 1 credit level and then increase to 2 credits during their second semester of involvement. The program is designed to be multi-semester if students choose to continue on. There is no formal budget as students are not paid a stipend for their activities. If students are conducting research and outreach in the living areas, they are eligible for the Residential Life Sustainability Programming grant. If not, students work with the Office of Sustainability and/or the administrative office which is implementing their project for any funding needs.
If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:
2nd Program
Off-Campus Ambassador Porgram
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
5,000
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
Our Off-Campus Ambassador Program utilizes 10 students who reside off-campus and serve as a liaisons to the residents in the areas they reside. They are charged with both hosting programs that benefit the off-campus community and conducting regular walks/distributing information to the neighbors/students in the community.
Each year the Ambassadors distribute information to approximately 1000 households on various issues pertaining to sustainability. Such issues include proper disposal of household trash/ electronics/ furniture, etc...., the importance of recycling and reduce reuse initiatives.
In addition to distributing educational materials on sustainability related issues, the OCA’s have hosted programs in the past where they have gone door-to-door in the community and provided students/neighbors with City of Albany recycling bins (free of charge) to enhance the level of recycling. OCA’s have also promoted and participated in community wide yard sale days (around the time of student move out) to help reduce the amount of items students are adding to the landfill.
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
Students apply to become an ambassador and receive a stipend. There are several criteria they must meet prior to applying. These can be found at: https://www.albany.edu/neighborhoodlife/ambassadors-program.php This program is overseen by our Office of Neighborhood Life .
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
Students are trained in communication and organizational skills. They must attend monthly staff meetings with a supervisor and ambassador team meetings.
A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):
The Office of Neighborhood Life provides the stipends of $640 per semester for the Ambassadors (10 total) and provides financial support for supplies needed to conduct outreach activities.
If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:
3rd Program
Res Life Sustainability Peer Educators
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
7,765
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):
The campus is divided into 5 quads and 3 apartment complexes. The living areas appoint one or two RA's to represent their area. This group meets every other week to review operational procedures and programming related to sustainability. They also implement programs and conduct outreach to their residents. These RA's are designated as Sustainability Peer Educators and receive specialized training.
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
The committees are comprised of resident assistants that are selected by res life professional staff members based on their interest in sustainability.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):
The Office of Sustainability conducts an introductory session on sustainability at the start of the academic year and subsequently receive further instruction on topics such as energy conservation, food choices, waste reduction and alternative transportation throughout the year at their bi-weekly meetings.
A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (3rd program):
The Office of Sustainability and Res Life offers coordination support for the Peer Educators as well as a stipend of $100 per semester pending successful completion of their requirements. On average, $1,000 is provided in stipends during the year. The Office of Sustainability manages a Residential Life Sustainability Programming Fund, which is available to students, professional staff or other groups conducting sustainability programming in the residential living areas.
Additional Programs
A student Sustainability Leadership Committee was established to create an avenue for collective advocacy by student groups with campus policy makers, thus addressing the dearth of interactions between student sustainability leaders and senior administration.
There are 8 student leaders that sit on the steering committee. They are representatives from the following organizations: Student Association Director of Health and Sustainability, Graduate Student Association, UAlbany Students for Sustainability, UAlbany Graduate Students for Sustainability, Residential Life Sustainability Representatives, Eco-Reps, Sustainability Living and Learning Community, and Student Association Senate.
The group received specialized instruction on the top sustainability issues that they would like to address.Members of the council are asked to bring the knowledge they learned back to their respective organization. Last year, this topics included energy, waste, food and investment. The students engaged in discussions with our Auxiliary Services and Sodexo on creating more vegan, vegetarian and carbon friendly choices in the campus center. This project is continuing this year.
The Office of Sustainability serves as the coordination unit for this group. There are no other expenses as students volunteer their time to advocate for these policy changes.
Optional Fields
34
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:
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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.