| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 76.52 |
| Liaison | Maria Kirrane |
| Submission Date | July 28, 2022 |
University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Maria
Kirrane Sustainability Officer Office of the Director of Buildings and Estates |
Number of students enrolled for credit:
Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Name of the student educators program (1st program):
A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
The Green Campus programme has been in existence in UCC for almost 15 years. The programme is student-led, having been initiated by student members of the UCC Environmental Society. At the heart of Green Campus is the Green Campus Committee, which is composed of students and staff. The committee sits regularly and organise outreach & education campaigns and projects around the themes of Green Campus - waste, water, energy, transport, biodiversity and climate change.
Student led outreach and education campaigns that Green Campus Committee members organise include campaigns centring on climate justice, fast fashion, intersectionality in environmental activism, safe cycling, behavioural change etc. Each year the Green campus Programme also employs two student interns to work specifically on expanding and delivering outreach and education campaigns. These include workshops, social media campaigns, production of educational literature etc. A central ethos of the Green Campus programme is that it is "student-led", therefore the focus and type of outreach activities undertaken varies from year to year as the committee membership turns over.
The Green Campus Committee is co-chaired by the Deputy President of the Student’s Union and the Chair of the Environmental Society. The committee also consists of the Environmental & Sustainability Officer of the Student’s Union, and a large representation from student society committees (e.g. EnviroSoc & International Development Society). Both the Students Union executive officers and society committee members receive training in running projects and campaigns, the through the UCC Societies Guild and through the Union of Students in Ireland. Other training is ad hoc and as required.
With regard to specific environmental training, the seven steps of the Green Campus programme are based on the ISO140001 environmental management system. Green Campus Ireland also provides national level training to student members of committees through Climate Ambassador Programme and Changemakers Summit.
Committee members are also supported and mentored directly by the UCC Sustainability Officer, Energy & Water Manager, Commuter Manager, academic researchers etc. The Green Campus Programme also arranges a variety of workshops to train committee members and other environmental activists, including most recently Eco-Grief training to ensure that student ambassadors are capable of managing the anxieties associated with engaging with the wider student population on environmental matters.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Green Campus Programme is student led, and thus takes its lead from the student community. A key part of the Seven Step Programme is ‘Informing & Involving’ the entire university community. Thus the Green Campus Programme targets all students (undergraduate & postgraduate), as well as all staff, and the wider community. Further, all students are welcome to join the committee, or participate in any campaign or event.
Number of trained student educators (1st program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
At present there are 106 student societies that are led by students and run a variety of outreach, education, training programmes, events and workshops as well as social and recreational activities around specific themes. Of those 106 societies 13 of them are Sustainability Focused societies, while a number more are sustainability related or occasionally run sustainability activities on a less frequent basis. The 13 Sustainability focused Societies are as follows.
• Animal Welfare Society
• Archaeology
• Co-operative
• Enactus
• Engineers Without Borders
• Environmental
• Failte Refugees
• Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
• Geology
• International Development
• Planning
• Surgeon Noonan
• Vegan
All societies committee members receive formal training from the Societies Executive on student leadership, event management, outreach and engagement, etc etc. The UCC Sustainability Officer also provides training to all society committees annually. In addition most societies receive mentorship from academic and research staff in specific disciplines related to society activities.
The below figures are based on an average of 7 Committee members per student society with an estimate of 6 voluntary hrs, per person, per week given to running society activities. In reality this is certainly an under estimate of committee members and hours dedicated.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
UCC Societies are open to and target all students (Undergraduate & Postgraduate), regardless of disciple or academic programme. You do not have to be a formally registered member of a society to participate in society activities and events. Societies frequently run university wide education and awareness campaigns in addition to specific educational events.
Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
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:
Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.