University of Utah
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Student Energy Ambassadors (2012-2016) provided University of Utah students with peer-to-peer energy and water audits. Students were hired and paid to schedule and conduct the audits at the residences of other University of Utah students. During these audits, the Student Energy Ambassador team installed energy and water-saving technologies, and taught their peers about behaviors to reduce their resource use. The Sustainability Office received funding and training support from Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas. Audits targeted students, most of whom were aged 18-25, and included CFL bulbs, an LED bulb, faucet and shower aerators, and smart power strips.

For the 2015-16 academic year, Student Energy Ambassadors were a three-person team representing multiple disciplines. The positions were open to all students across the campus. They were posted on the Human Resources student jobs website, and then top candidates were interviewed and selected for paid internships.

SEA training involved four main components: 1) Training by Questar: Students shadowed an auditor from Questar as he went through a house imitating Questar’s Thermwise audits process. The experience included checking water heaters, furnaces, window and door efficiency, etc., as well as a blower-door test to teach the team about common areas of air leakage. 2) Training by Rocky Mountain Power: A representative from RMP provided a one-hour session to the students, teaching them about energy efficiency and available RMP programs that help homeowners. 3) Audit of former Energy Ambassador: Students practiced with a past student Energy Ambassador as the first audit to learn the audit process and to learn tips and tricks from the former auditor. 4) Research and presentations: The team members are each assigned a topic, which they present to each at weekly meetings for the first six weeks of the program.

The Sustainability Office was one of three funders for the program. The other two included Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas. The Sustainability Office took responsibility for the staff time required to supervise the Energy Ambassador team and program.

The ECG Apprenticeship is a self-directed program for students to gain core gardening skills, practice them continually, and eventually specialize in various aspects of gardening. As students of the program reach certain milestones they lead volunteer sessions in the garden to pass on what they’ve learned. EGC Apprenticeship responsibilities include attending one meeting and one gardening session a week, and learning the following skills: Bed Preparation and Soil Amendment Composting Process Direct Seeding and Transplanting Greenhouse Process Harvest Outdoor Irrigation Vertical Gardening Weed and Pest Management

Apprentices fill out an application of interest and are selected by the Edible Campus Garden Stewards (also students).

ECG Apprentices receive training during their weekly meetings and garden sessions. They are typically taught by EGC Stewards (fellow students), and training is received in the above mentioned categories. As they develop their knowledge and skills, they are assessed in these categories and then contribute to teaching volunteer sessions with ECG Stewards. The university also offers an organic gardening class, which is not required for stewards or apprentices, but provides further formal training.

Edible Campus Gardens receives administrative and financial support through the Sustainability Offices and the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU). ECG Apprentices support and training from Garden Stewards, who are supported and formally trained by the Gardens Program Director, Alizabeth Potucek.

The Recycling Ambassador program teaches volunteers what can and cannot be recylced on main campus, the common contaminants in recycling bins at the University, and how to talk to peers—as well as faculty and staff—about changing behavior. To complete the program, Recycling Ambassadors attended a 1.5-hour class to learn more about the campus waste and recycling system, as well take a 1-hour tour of local recycling center Rocky Mountain Recycling. The training was then followed up with 10 hours of volunteer work where the ambassadors used recyclable products and a model of the University’s recycling system to teach their peers how to recycle correctly. The ambassadors showed other students how to use the University’s segregated system, and took special care to highlight difficult items to recycle, such as coffee cups and mixed-material cartons. In addition, the Recycling Ambassadors had two other opportunities to earn the required 10 volunteer hours: participating in a waste audit at a women’s basketball game and volunteering at U Recycle Day, where the University collected e-waste and documents for shredding/recycling.

Anyone, including staff, faculty, and students, can sign up for the Recycling Ambassadors program. However, for the pilot program, enrollment was limited to 40 and selected on a first-come first-serve basis. Of the 18 people who completed the requisite training, 15 were students and three were staff. In total, 80+ hours of volunteering was completed, and 405 people were directly educated.

To complete the program, Recycling Ambassadors attended a 1.5- hour class to learn more about the campus waste and recycling system, which was led by Sustainability and Recycling staff from the University. Participants also completed a 1-hour tour of local recycling center Rocky Mountain Recycling.

The Sustainability Office covered the costs of staff and intern time to develop the Recycling Ambassador program, as well as the time to educate the Recycling Ambassador cohort. In addition, the office covered the costs of marketing and some of the costs for tabling materials. In addition, we received $2,000 from Swire Coca-Cola, which went toward the purchase of stainless steel water bottles and partially covered the costs of tabling materials.

Wasatch Front Urban Ranger Program (2015- present) A volunteer trail ambassador program coordinated by the Department of Health, Kinesiology and Recreation at the University of Utah in partnership with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program that operates along portions of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (which passes through the University of Utah campus) and the Jordan River Parkway Trail. Urban Rangers and a guest volunteer provide outreach to trail users in the form of environmental interpretation and public land management education, while reporting trail hazards and cleaning up litter. The volunteer Urban Ranger position is open to all U of U students on an annual basis. URL: https://wasatchurbanranger.org/ Residence Hall Association Sustainability Board Advocates for the environment and for environmental initiatives that students might benefit from; with this the goal is to raise awareness and educate residents. Fall 2015 semester, emphasis was placed on working with the Housing Residential Education to change certain aspects of living on campus, including changing and updating recycling signs in upper campus. The board launched a 4 part November Sustainability Month challenge, which focused on recycling, electricity, food waste, and transportation. URL: http://housing.utah.edu/living-the-u/get-involved/#RHA Residence Hall Association Social Justice Advocates: The Social Justice Advocates in Housing & Residential Education seek to help students from underrepresented populations at the U find and build community and visibility. They do this through holding Equity Office hours, hosting educational and community-building events, and reaching out to students. Underrepresented populations can include students from a variety of different racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds, LGBTQIA people, first-generation college students, etc. URL: http://housing.utah.edu/living-the-u/get-involved/#SJA Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) Coordinated by Center for Student Wellness. Students can earn a Wellness Advocate Certificate by taking 3 modules on general wellness, healthy relationships, and anti-violence. Students who complete the certificate are invited to join the Student Health Advisory Committee in order to volunteer peer-to-peer wellness outreach at tabling and events. Core members volunteer 10+ hours/month; SHAC membes about 5 hours/month. URL: http://wellness.utah.edu/involvement/

Note: Students targeted by student ambassador programs are nearly all on "lower campus." The School of Medicine ("upper campus") was not targeted by the student ambassador programs described. Energy Ambassadors specifically targeted students aged 18-25. Data from USHE Data Book, 2016, Total Headcount Enrollment by Age and Gender. Justification for Estimate of Peer to Peer Outreach hours: The estimate of the total number of hours of peer-to-peer outreach, 2014-15 is based on the following data: Student Energy Ambassadors (Sustainability Office) 3 students X 300 hours/student = 900 hrs; about 75% of time was outreach. Training and report writing accounted for 25% of time. Source: SEA program 2014-15 Annual Report Edible Campus Garden Apprentices (Sustainability Office) 931 hours Source: Bennion Center Letter, Oct. 26, 2015 Recycling Ambassadors (Sustainability Office) 80 hours Source: Sustainability Office Sustainability Board (Residence Hall Association) n.a. Source: http://housing.utah.edu/living-the-u/get-involved/ Social Justice Advocates (Residence Hall Association) 5 students x ? hours = ? Source: http://housing.utah.edu/living-the-u/get-involved/ Student Wellness Ambassadors (Center for Student Wellness) (5 core members x 10 hrs/month) + (20 SHAC members x 5 hours/month) + miscellaneous volunteers) = 1350 hrs Source: Phone call to Center for Student Wellness Wasatch Front Urban Rangers (Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Tourism) During the 2015-2016 season, seven University of Utah students volunteered to patrol an 11-mile section of the epic Bonneville Shoreline Trail;For 2016-2017, 15 rangers have been recruited. Estimate: 7 students x 9 months x 12 hours = 756 hrs Source: https://wasatchurbanranger.org/ Total estimate = 900+931+80+1350 +756 = 4017 rounded to 4000 because figures are inexact.