University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The primary activities that these Eco-Reps perform are attendance at meetings, the dissemination of sustainability news and information to residents and interested parties, the planning and execution of sustainability programs, and the education of residents. In the past, there have been several programs executed by the Eco-Reps. The following are some examples of educational programming: Passive Campaigns: Along with active and engaging programs, Eco-Reps also create passive campaigns, such as digital signage and bulletin boards, to disseminate information. These have ranged from bulletin boards about recycling to digital signage about saving the world’s oceans and the Pacific Garbage Patch. The passive campaigns are purely educational in nature.

The Eco-Reps positions are all volunteers. The Reps are required to be for-credit degree-seeking students that live in the residence halls. They serve as representatives for the Leadership Involvement Team (LIT) from which they are selected, as well as the other residence halls that are members of that LIT. All prospective Eco-Reps must be approved for the position by their LIT and their Assistant Complex Director before they can be an Eco-Rep.

Training for the Eco-Rep position is completed in two parts. The first is a general LIT training that takes place for all LIT positions each year in September, including the Eco-Rep position. The second part is a more formalized training takes place once the Eco-Reps are selected. At this second training, the Residence Life Student Sustainability Coordinator discusses the goals of the program and hand out a program manual full of ideas for the Eco-Reps in terms of programming and support. This second training also serves as a forum for any questions or concerns the Eco-Reps might have about their positions. The Eco-Rep program is managed from the top by the Assistant Complex Director (ACD) in their respective hall, who gives them guidance and makes them aware of sustainability initiatives that they want to take place within their complexes. Guidance is also provided by the Residence Life Sustainability Coordinator. A manual was created in the central office to serve as ongoing guidance and provide ideas for programming and ways to engage residence hall students.

Financial assistance for programming and other obligations of the Eco-Reps is provided through LIT funds. This funding is provided on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, and is available to every executive position of the LIT for programming purposes. The amount of money received by the LIT is determined on previous spending for that LIT, as well as the resident population that the LIT serves.

The UW-Whitewater Earth Initiative is a campus-wide social media and event marketing effort run by Creative Marketing Unlimited (CMU), a student-run marketing firm that works closely with their partner student organization, American Marketing Association (AMA). AMA is a significant force on our campus, with membership typically much larger than an average student organization, and they have received national recognition and awards for their successes. CMU is run as a consulting business, so the Sustainability Office has engaged them to find new and innovative ways to connect with their fellow students on sustainable topics. They manage all social media accounts, host events and tabling, and generate various media services to highlight sustainability initiatives or provide general information on sustainable living as a college student. They are particularly focused on off-campus and commuting students, who do not receive the same type of sustainability marketing and messaging as on-campus resident students. However, their mission is considered to be a campus-wide marketing campaign, so their scope is not limited to any particular subset.

Student educators are selected by the student organization itself, based on skill in marketing and interest in sustainability topics. The account is typically managed by one or two key individuals.

The students that manage the campaign have regular meetings with Sustainability Office staff to receive feedback, training, and other forms of guidance throughout the academic year. Additionally, they are supplied with materials that help explain the programs they are expected to promote. Otherwise, much of what they do is based on best practices research and understanding how to convey basic sustainability information and messaging that their peers find engaging.

The program is supported through the sustainability budget on a contract basis. It has an annual budget of $4500.

Eco-Reps: https://www.uww.edu/housing/sustainability/involvement/eco-rep-position Earth Initiative work can be seen on our social media accounts. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uwwsustainability/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sustainable_uww Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uwwsustainability/ Programming for Earth Initiative is campus-wide, so the target audience is the entire student body population. The primary reach is through event programming and social media.