University of Colorado Colorado Springs
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

Sustainability Summit is a half day event to educate, connect and celebrate others on campus producing innovative and engaging projects and programs that are sustainability focused or inclusive. Faculty, staff, and students share highlights of their efforts and successes through presentations with discussion on recommendations for further progress. Representatives from all four campuses in the CU System created a Sustainability training that covers environment, equity and economics as core themes to provide a baseline of understanding of sustainability principles and practices. This training is available to all UCCS employees. The Knapsack Institute. An Intensive Three Day Summer Institute Focused on Social Justice Pedagogy held at UCCS campus. It is open to all. There are usually several staff members for which the University pays the training fee. Description: As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative to have the understanding and resources to effectively navigate discussions about diversity and inequality in the classroom and workplace. The Knapsack Institute is designed for individuals at the beginning to intermediate stages of this journey, as well as those seeking to refresh their approach and embrace intersectional strategies. The Institute is designed for all educators (k-12; higher education; workshop facilitators, etc.). The Sustainability Office presents on Climate Justice each year at the Institute. The Excellence in Leadership Program (ELP) helps current leaders become more effective at managing key challenges of a dynamic CU system. ELP brings together employees from across the four campuses and the CU System. Program participants attend monthly workshops that focus on different topics including communication, fiscal management and strategic thinking. LinkedIn Learning is free and accessible to all UCCS Employees as of January 2020. Supervisors are encouraged to integrate these opportunities into their employee’s work plans. The University hosted a session led by LinkedIn staff to improve employee profiles in Spring 2020.

AASHE Conference (2019)- UCCS supported staff to attend 2018 and 2019 with four students receiving a Green Action Fund grant for a total of six UCCS representatives attending the 2019 conference. Staff Extra-Enrichment and Development Subsidy, SEEDS. This program contributes awards up to $200, per fiscal year, to staff members interested in participating in or seeking professional development. Our Operations Engineer was awarded funding to attend the AASHE conference in 2019.

Facilities Services, for both General Fund and Auxiliaries, have a sustainability goal or objective as part of each employee’s annual Performance Management Plans (PMPs). See below for exact language. This is roughly 185 staff members out of our total 795 University and Classified staff, so 23%. Goal or objective: Sustainability Continues to support Campus sustainable principles and practices to align with sustainable landscape practices on campus. Incorporates and communicates practices daily to the work group.  Strives to improve operational performance by evaluating decisions using the sustainability “lens “. Demonstrates effective working relationships with the Office of Sustainability through collaboration and programming support. Measurement method: Exceeds: Demonstrates and practices a very high level of support for implementing Sustainable principles and practices within the department. Display ownership of sustainable practices displayed throughout the department. Created a plan to improve key operational segments so they had better align with industry practices. Promotes ongoing information, education and asks for feedback from staff to improve department engagement. Supports programming activities sponsored by the Office of Sustainability on the Campus. Meets: Effectively integrates practices and principles into daily operations. Has made several changes within various areas to better align with sustainability objectives. Uses the sustainable “lens” to make important decisions. Supports programming activities scheduled by the Office of Sustainability. Below: Limited progress demonstrated. No Sustainable practices and principles demonstrated within the work group.

https://knapsack.uccs.edu/ https://sustain.uccs.edu/get-involved/sustainability-summit https://www.cu.edu/employee-services/professional-growth-training/leadership/elp https://gaf.uccs.edu/projects/projects-funded https://staff.uccs.edu/employee-awards/seeds