| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.36 |
| Liaison | Patricia Huynh |
| Submission Date | Dec. 10, 2024 |
University of Waterloo
EN-7: Employee Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.10 / 3.00 |
Andrea
Bale Sustainability Engagement Coordinator Sustainability Office |
Part 1. Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program
Total number of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Percentage of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
1st program
A brief description of the employee educators program (1st program):
Champions within departments register to participate, and then help evaluate their department’s current practices, get members to complete a participant pledge, and implement new practices. Ambassadors often set up embedded Green Teams or committees within their department, depending on the unit’s size, to advance actions and initiatives. The program is anchored by a Green Office scorecard, which provides a list of ideas for recommended actions that could occur at the department/unit level and serves as both a brainstorming and evaluation tool. In 2020, there were approximately 54 departments on campus participating in the program and more than 80 ambassadors supporting action. This list of actions is a mix of process, office-level infrastructure, and communications/events/encouragement to their team members that advance various sustainability topics like waste, energy reduction, sustainable procurement, and more.
Employees have an introductory meeting with a member of the Sustainability Office to introduce them to the program, walk through the scorecard, and address any department-specific questions. There is also an Ambassador Guide and resource toolkit that provides best practices on setting up green teams, steps to take, and other questions about the program. In addition, the Sustainability Office tries to host at least one event or meeting of ambassadors each term to share learnings, challenges, and common questions between participating departments. Lastly, ambassadors are encouraged but not required to complete the Sustainability Certificate training program, which provides >10 hours of dedicated training on core sustainability issues and topics, solutions, and institutional policies, programs, and directions.
Through this access to resources and learning opportunities, the employees are expected to relay this information back to their green teams/departments on how to be more sustainable in their workplace.
A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The Green Office program is targeted at employees at the University of Waterloo, including main campus, satellite campuses, and the affiliated University Colleges
Number of trained employee educators (1st program):
Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (1st program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (1st program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (1st program):
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
A brief description of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Champions within laboratory functions or spaces register to participate, then help evaluate their lab’s current practices, get members to complete a participant pledge, and implement new practices. Ambassadors affix program materials around their space to encourage others to participate in the lab’s respective goals. The program is anchored by the Green Labs scorecard, which provides a list of ideas and recommended actions that can occur at the laboratory level and serves as both a brainstorming and evaluation tool. The Scorecard, or list of actions, contains the following themes or categories: energy, waste, materials, ventilation, water, procurement, engagement, and innovation. With the consideration that many lab spaces are unique, numerous action opportunities can be marked as “Not Applicable” as to not discourage ambassadors from pursuing certification. In 2024, the 3rd year after the pilot in 2021, there were approximately 11 ambassadors participating in the program from 9 different laboratories. As some of the labs are teaching labs, this program has the potential to impact thousands of members of the University community.
Ambassadors have an introductory meeting with a member of the Sustainability Office to introduce them to the program, walk through the scorecard, their space(s), and address any laboratory-specific questions. This is the opportunity to share the variety of resources and inquire if there are any projects currently in mind for the lab. As labs do not have the same consistency in scheduling as departments and offices, check-ins over email and planned drop-in discussions currently substitute regular ambassador-wide meetings. There are currently four planned annual events: the Freezer Challenge, the Earth Week Challenge, Water Month, and the Shut the Sash Campaign.
A brief description of the employee educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
The Green Labs program is targeted at employees and faculty at the University of Waterloo, including main campus, satellite campuses, and the affiliated University Colleges
Number of trained employee educators (2nd program):
Number of weeks the employee educators program is active annually (2nd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (2nd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (2nd program):
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
Number of trained employee educators (all other programs):
Number of weeks, on average, the employee educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained employee educator (all other programs):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained employee educators (all other programs):
Part 2. Educator hours per employee served by a peer-to-peer program
Hours worked annually by trained employee sustainability educators per employee served by a peer-to-peer program:
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.