University of Vermont
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

During UVM’s annual staff development conference (https://www.uvm.edu/edu) a sustainability presentation and tour is offered to staff. Here is the session description: How does “being green” at UVM actually work, behind the scenes? How do our community’s aspirations for more sustainable energy use, food purchasing, transportation, waste handling, and building construction translate into campus life? Specifically: What does “green building” mean? How are food scraps collected for compost without making a stink? What is considered “real food” and how much of it do we buy? What options are there for getting to and navigating campus without a car? Learn from the experts as you take a walking tour of several campus areas to see how systems work to reduce our collective impact, and how these systems have evolved. The session starts with a brief overview and exploration of participants’ interests, follows with a 75-minute walking tour where questions can be answered throughout.

An annual workshop or certificate series on “Campus Sustainability” is provided. Through either a three course series or a longer workshop session, representatives from UVM Dining, UVM Recycling, Physical Plant, Office of Sustainability and Transportation & Parking Services give a behind the scenes look at how they’re working to advance sustainability on campus. The session starts with a brief overview and exploration of participants’ interests so that the content can be customized to the group. There will be interactive elements and plenty of time for questions. Learning Outcomes:
1. Be able to better communicate the history of sustainability efforts on campus and nuances of existing programs.
2. Know who to reach out or refer people to with questions with a better understanding of some of the roles on campus related or dedicated to sustainability efforts.
3. Able to identify ways that you or your unit/department can navigate campus in a more sustainable way. Possibly identify ways to work together towards a more sustainable UVM. Understand how your unit fits into the campus sustainability picture.

Other colleges and departments offer multiple lectures and guest speakers during the year that are available for staff to attend. Some can be found here: https://www.uvm.edu/eventscalendar/?Page=EMS&category=Environmental

At least one UVM representative is reimbursed for attending the AASHE conference each year. Office of Sustainability pays for the 20 students in the Eco-Reps program to attend external professional development. This has included the PLAN Students for Zero Waste conference (2019), Student Campus Sustainability Leadership Consortium conference (2017) and a Sodexo Food Systems conference (2018). Office of Sustainability occasionally pays for other students to attend sustainability conferences.