| Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 86.01 |
| Liaison | Patrick McKee |
| Submission Date | March 6, 2020 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Connecticut
EN-7: Employee Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Richard
Miller Director Ofice of Environmental Policy |
Total number of employees (staff + faculty, headcount):
Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting):
Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
Name of the employee educators program:
Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
As of spring 2020, 93 offices have been certified, with a goal of reaching 100 by the academic year's end. The Green Office Certification Program is aimed at reducing the campus environmental footprint, one office at a time. The Office of Sustainability provides technical support to offices on campus by assessing their behavioral sustainability in the office through the use of a survey. Once we receive the results from these surveys, we calculate a raw score that determines how the office ranks competitively amongst other UConn offices. We focus on encouraging behavioral changes that will have a large impact on office water and energy consumption as well as waste reduction.
Each spring, the Office of Sustainability hosts a GoTo Breakfast for the Green Office Team Organizers (GoTo). They are invited to bring one or more guests from their office or other offices. The event's purpose is to bring staff from across campus together to gauge what is going well in the program and what can be improved, as well as review sustainable office practices in an engaging game fashion. This spring’s breakfast included a Kahoot (an interactive digital game) on office wellness and environmental tips, as well as origami baskets made with scrap paper. GoTo's are encouraged to invite a friend from another office in order to help grow the program further.
Also in the spring semester, the Office of Sustainability presents on the Green Office Certification Program at the UConn Admin Forum, an annual training event for all administrative professionals at the University. The Office of Sustainability makes green office educational workshops available per request to any UConn office.
https://ecohusky.uconn.edu/green-office-certification-program/
A brief description of how the employee educators are selected:
Employee educators are selected on a volunteer basis.
A message is sent out through the UConn Staff & Faculty Daily Digest, an email that all university employees automatically receive in their inboxes every day with various links and noteworthy announcements. Interested offices respond by delegating one person to enter in their contact information and their department name into a survey that the Office of Environmental Policy receives. The representatives have either volunteered to represent their office based on their interest in sustainability, or have been chosen by their colleagues based on their dedication.
Additionally, posters are placed around office buildings in order to attract participants.
A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
The UConn Sustainable Office Guidelines are available
online, and are also emailed directly to the office representatives.
The representative spreads this information along to their office, educating their colleagues on how to work sustainably at the office. They also promote and encourage environmentally responsible actions.
Sustainable Office Guidelines:
http://ecohusky.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2041/2017/01/Engagement-GOCP-guidelines-2014.pdf
A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination):
The OS staff and interns administer and promote this program, and it is largely self-implementing for Green Office Team Organizers (GoTo) designees who complete the GOCP surveys that determine their scores (like AASHE STARS). There is no financial support to the program, aside from any amounts budgeted by the OS. The OS worked with the university purchasing department in order to reduce the price of Smart Power Strips, energy saving power strips that we suggest that offices have.
Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount) (2nd program):
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):
A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or paid faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):
A brief description of all other employee peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of employees served and how employee educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:
Total number of hours employee educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.