Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 63.29
Liaison Geory Kurtzhals
Submission Date Oct. 13, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Notre Dame
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.20 / 3.00 Mike Seamon
Vice President
Campus Safety & University Operatis
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total number of employees (staff + faculty, headcount):
6,382

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting):
4,685

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
73.41

Name of the employee educators program:
Green Ambassador Program

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
3,691

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:

The Green Ambassadors are a network of individuals interested in implementing sustainable practices within their own offices and departments. The program connects staff members with sustainability resources on campus and also develops ideas to improve campus-wide engagement.
Brown bag lunchtime discussions throughout the year provide a great opportunity to network and keep Ambassadors abreast of sustainability developments on campus and opportunities to incorporate best practices. Each Ambassador is expected to use what they have learned to educate their coworkers and implement new sustainable practices in their offices. We will also be presenting our STARS report to them in order for them to understand where we can improve, and for them to enact many of those improvements through educating their peers.


A brief description of how the employee educators are selected:

They essentially sign themselves up by going to our website and filling out a Google form.


A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:

They begin receiving monthly newsletters keeping them abreast of sustainability news on campus. The quarterly meetings with the Office of Sustainability offers them the opportunity to discuss concerns and solutions to sustainability issues in their offices and across campus.


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):

This is run by the Office of Sustainability, and all events for the Green Amabassadors come from the Office's budget.


Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Green Office Certification

Number of employees served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount) (2nd program):
994

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):

The Green Office Certification helps offices and departments to adopt best practices and achieve greater sustainability engagement through a simple audit program.

The Green Office Certification is an audit process customized for Notre Dame offices interested in becoming more sustainable workplaces. The Green Office Certification program is designed to recognize the positive efforts of faculty and staff. The Office of Sustainability works with an office representative to guide them in sustainable practices. That representative then educates their office about those practices and enacts behavioral change. The Office of Sustainability then does a walk through audit to confirm that the education and changes have taken place. Upon completion of the audit, the entire office meets with the Office of Sustainability to receive a certificate and be acknowledged on the Office of Sustainability’s website for their positive efforts.


A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):

They reach out to our office and make a request.


A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):

They have meetings with an Office of Sustainability employee to prepare for the audit, consulting services as they go through the audit, and a wrap up meeting to award the certification and go over their audit results.


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):

This program is funded through the Office of Sustainability budget, all employees are able to participate in the program during regular office hours.


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:

The University Comprehensive Sustainability Strategy set up Small Working Groups during the 2016-17 school year. Each of the groups is comprised of faculty, staff, and students (both undergraduate and graduate). There are 55 faculty and staff members on the groups. Members are selected based upon their expertise and/or nomination by other members. As detailed in the published Strategy - 'These working groups will be collaborative, interdisciplinary teams that will set specific, measurable benchmarks in order to achieve the long-term goals set in each strategy area. The smaller working groups will report at least once every two years to the Standing Committee on their progress and to document the new measurable goals that are envisioned in the five-year action plans.' As part of their work these employees must meet with others on campus to educate others about the Strategy and to gather meaningful data so appropriate measurable goals may be set.


Total number of hours employee educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually:
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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.