Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.33
Liaison Maria Dahmus
Submission Date Nov. 30, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of St. Thomas
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.82 / 4.00 Rachel Schauer
Program Manager
Office of Sustainability Initiatives
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Part 1. Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Number of students enrolled for credit:
9,061

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
5,778

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
63.77

1st program

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Student Sustainability Leadership Program

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
The Student Sustainability Leadership Program (SSLP) is a student employment opportunity designed to prepare the next generation of environmental leaders by giving them hands-on experience with sustainability on campus and to increase student sustainability knowledge and action through peer-education.

Student Sustainability Leaders bring hands-on education to the campus community through programs including educational workshops and events, Trash Talking, Tommies Closet, and more.

Throughout the course of the program, student leaders learn about sustainability at the university and serve as sustainability ambassadors for the student body. Student leaders receive coaching on leadership principles and effective methods for peer engagement. SSLP meets once every week for one or two hours. During these meetings, student leaders participate in trainings, group discussions, and brainstorming strategies to best execute their work on campus. Faculty and staff members attend these group meetings on occasion to deliver presentations on various sustainability topics and effective behavior change strategies.

Some of the Student Sustainability Leaders' accomplishments during the 2022-2023 academic year include creating a food waste reduction workshop, organics recycling workshop, developing a library of sustainability-themed scavenger hunts, hosting Tommies Closet, providing waste sorting education at events, and coordinating Sustainability Week.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The program consisted of undergraduate and graduate student peer educators, and their primary audience was fellow undergraduate students. A subset of the program's activities also engaged faculty, staff, Dougherty Family College two-year students, and graduate students.

Number of trained student educators (1st program):
7

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
44

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
9

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
1,570

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):

If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:

2nd program

Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
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Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
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Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
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Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
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If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:

3rd program 

Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
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A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
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Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
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Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
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Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):
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Additional programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
St. Thomas has several other peer-education programs that support sustainability.

Neighborhood Student Advisors are undergraduate students who work with Neighborhood Relations to plan and implement programs for students who live in the neighborhoods around St. Thomas. Their outreach and programs have addressed, among other topics, home energy conservation and sustainable transportation options.

The Health Promotion, Resilience, and Violence Prevention Team's Peer Health Educators develop, implement, and promote health promotion programs and initiatives based on the department’s leading health indicators - alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, mental wellbeing, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, sexual health, and personal health and safety. These programs can range from planning large-scale health promotion events, implementing sustained health behavior change initiatives, and assisting in health-focused social marketing.

Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
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Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
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Part 2. Educator hours per student served by a peer-to-peer educator program

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
1,570

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.27

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Figures reported for this credit are based on Fall 2022-Summer 2023. The total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators is based on actual hours worked by trained student educators during this timeframe (rather than the average number of hours worked weekly by trained student educators).

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.