Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.90
Liaison Hannes Gerhardt
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of West Georgia
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.90 / 4.00 Hannes Gerhardt
Sustainability Director
Department of Geosciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
13,308

Total number of students enrolled for credit that are served (i.e. directly targeted) by a student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting to the extent feasible):
3,000

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
22.54

1st Program 

Name of the student educators program:
EcoLeaders

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
3,000

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
EcoLeaders is a student club that essentially functions as a peer to peer program; one of its key missions, as laid out by the National Wildlife Federation which sponsors this initiative, is to demonstrate student leadership in educating peers in matters pertaining to campus sustainability. The EcoLeaders group organizes educational outreach events across campus. Here are a couple of examples: 1) During Recylemania, EcoLeaders would table on campus informing students of recycling and asking them to sign recycling pledges. 2) Also as part of Recylcemania, Ecoleaders took part in a Basektball game recycling event, in which they helped to inform students about how and why to recycle at such events. 3) EcoLeaders tabled on their own accord across campus on several occasions (4 times a year) to inform students about how to live more sustainably and how to get involved in sustainability activities on campus. Often these tabling activities coincided with large events planned on campus, for instance the yearly Spring Fling, an event with music and games that brings hundreds of students out to the main grassy area on campus. 4) Another example of peer to peer education was the haunted sustainability campus tour organized by EcoLeaders as part of the Halloween Carve on the Quad event. In this activity student EcoLeaders took other students around campus showing them the various sustainability features of the campus while maintaining a haunted theme.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected:
EcoLeaders is an organizations that makes peer to peer sustainability education a cornerstone of its existence. Any students interested in joining this group are allowed in with the understanding that they will engage in peer to peer outreach activities.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
EcoLeaders maintains a close relationship with the Center for Sustainability. The Director of Sustainability conducts a yearly training for the club that focuses on basic sustainability knowledge, specific sustainability facts about the campus, and strategies for building interest and rapport with fellow students.

A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination):
As a registered student club EcoLeaders receives funds from the University to conduct its activities. A faculty advisor offers the group support and guidance. The Center for Sustainability also offers financial and logistical support to ensure the students are able to execute their outreach activities.

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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Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
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A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
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A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
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A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
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A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (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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Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
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A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):
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A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
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A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):
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A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (3rd program):
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Additional Programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of students served and how student educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:
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Optional Fields 

Total number of hours student educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually (all programs):
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.