Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.72
Liaison Jim Walker
Submission Date June 6, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Texas at Austin
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.60 / 3.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Total number of employees:
15,572

Total number of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
993

Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
6.38

1st program 

Name of the employee educators program (1st program):
Green Offices at UT Austin

A brief description of the employee educators program (1st program):
The Green Offices program is a points-based certification process that empowers UT faculty and staff to generate sustainable change in their workspace. A student-led program through the Office of Sustainability, it seeks to advance the University’s sustainability goals and commitment to being stewards of the environment.

Green Offices participants are volunteers and are designated as Green Stewards. Office of Sustainability student interns provide on-site consultations and office walk-throughs for Green Stewards. They provide support for sustainability initiatives the Green Steward would like to implement within their workplace. Additionally, the Green Steward is provided with a Certification Checklist, a list of sustainable changes to implement in thier office's daily activities. Office of Sustainability student interns provide ongoing support and resources to aid Green Stewards in implementing these changes. After achieving each level of certification, the office receives a certificate and recognition on the Green Offices website.

The Green Offices program has been paused temporarily due to the pandemic as many staff are still determining their work arrangements (remote, hybrid, in-person). We plan to re-open the program no later than Fall 2022.

A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Green Offices program targets faculty and staff within the offices of the self-appointed Green Stewards. As of fall 2019, there were over 45 Green Stewards targeting more than 800 staff and faculty.

Number of trained employee educators (1st program):
45

Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (1st program):
48

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (1st program):
0.42

Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (1st program):
900

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

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

2nd Program

Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Zero Waste Workplace Compost Champions

A brief description of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Staff and faculty sign a formal agreement, watch a training video, and attend a 30 minute virtual Q&A and quiz before receiving equipment to compost in their breakroom. As the Compost Champion of their office, they are responsible for educating their coworkers to participate properly in the breakroom composting program to ensure contaminants are removed.

A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
Compost Champions can be UT staff, faculty, or sometimes graduate students. The audience for their peer education and program involvement include any staff or students who utilize the breakroom or kitchen space.

Number of trained employee educators (2nd program):
10

Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (2nd program):
50

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (2nd program):
1

Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (2nd program):
500

Website URL where information about the employee educators program is available (2nd program):

If reporting employees served by more than two programs, provide:

Additional Programs 

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

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (all programs):
1,400

Hours worked annually by trained employee sustainability educators per employee served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.09

Optional Fields

Website URL where information about the employee sustainability educators programs 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.