Warren Wilson College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Environmental Justice Crew, renamed Environmental and Social Justice Crew effective fall 2015. The EJC/ESJC maintains a steady stream of on- and off-campus student-focused programming. The crew hosts speakers addressing a range of environmental and social justice issues. It also runs workshops on such things as "street medic" and "know your rights" training. The EJC/ESJC also organizes programming off campus, such as taking students to Washington, D.C. and to Raleigh, NC for relevant events. The Crew is looked to to help organize and effect a range of programming within its topic areas.

Students with a desire to engage in campus environmental and social justice problem solving and programming interview with the crew supervisor.

Students receive training necessary to do the work. Staff and faculty go over expectations, learning outcomes, goals and outcomes. Students are shown best practice artifacts from previous students. Students are mentored through the learning process by dedicated staff and faculty. Students reflect on their experience through structured written exercises.

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Within the Service Program Crew, students are designated to work in issue areas that include environment and food security. They organize service activities as well as educational outreach to students about a range of environmental issues including food production and distribution, land management, water quality, and energy use reduction. They also organize the Eco-Team which trains students on environmental issues so that they can go into local schools and provide education to third grade classes. We also provide service break trip opportunities to students and each year we have at least 4 trips that are focused on the environment. The student leaders for those trips are trained and then educate the participants about the relevant issues.

The members of the service program crew are selected through an application and interview process. Break trip leaders are are selected through an application and interview process including recommendations from faculty and staff.

See the previous information on the training for the Service program Crew members. Break trip leaders participate in a 2 credit term course to prepare them for trip leadership.

The Service Program is partially funded by an operating budget from the institution which is supplemented by funds from the Bonner Foundation. The office is staffed by 4 full time and 1 part time staff member and 18-25 students.

The mission of the Work Program is to provide students with productive work that creates opportunities for the Warren Wilson College community to acknowledge, examine and celebrate the ethics and value of work in the educational process. The Work Program fulfills its mission by: 1. Providing a work force that operates the college in a way that benefits students both educationally and financially while serving the community. 2. Fostering a positive work ethic, respect for the dignity of labor, and the importance of serving others. 3. Strengthening the students' sense of community through common endeavor and giving students the opportunity to participate in all aspects of operating the college. 4. Offering experiential learning that helps to fulfill and enhance the educational mission of the college. 5. Providing students with an evaluation of their work, opportunities for reflection on the meaning of their work, and career guidance that encourages all students to make informed choices in planning their life and work. 6. Providing opportunities and resources that enhance supervisors' roles as mentors and teachers. WWC has over 100 work crews ranging from Plumbing Arts to Recycling and Solid Waste to Archaeology. Our campus is, therefore, run by students. We have 1 professional plumber for the entire campus and he trains and supervises a crew of 15 students who meet the campus' plumbing needs. So, when we convert all of our urinals to water-less units its the students who research, order, install and maintain the urinals. Each of the over 100 work crews have student leaders who assist the staff supervisors in all aspects of leadership. A few examples that directly relate to sustainability include: Forestry Crew- students harvest from our 700 forest and mill at our on campus saw mill campus trees that are then used as lumber in all building projects Farm Crew- students organically operate the 300 acre farm that produces pasture-raised, grass-fed beef, pork and poultry that is served in the cafeteria and sold to the local community Recycling Crew- students work to divert 50% of the campus waste stream from the landfill Landscaping Crew- students work to maintain core campus' native plant, grass and wildflower landscape Computing Services Crew- students work to maintain computer labs while reducing electronic waste and paper usage, and conserving energy Environmental Leadership Center Crew- students work to produce the campus' annual GHG Inventory, monitor Climate Action Plan Progress, and raise awareness about campus energy use. For a full list of work crews go to http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~wpo//crews.php

Student educators (aka Crew Leaders) are selected by crew supervisors on the basis of competency, tenure and ability to lead others.

Each Crew has their own particular way of training student educators. Every-other Wednesday at 4:00, campus functions stop for 1-1.5 hours of crew training focused on team-building, leadership development and safety. Each Crew has Learning and Performance Goals that lay out the outcomes that students need to be trained to achieve. Every Crew's goals across campus includes SUSTAINABILITY. Here is an example from the Environmental Leadership Crew Learning and Performance Goals: Environmental Leadership Center Workplace Value #1: Leadership - Exceeds: Provides leadership to WWC’s commitment to environmental responsibility by identifying environmental issues and solutions above and beyond assigned work duties. - Meets: Provides leadership to WWC’s commitment to environmental responsibility by identifying environmental issues and solutions through assigned work duties. - Below: Does not provide leadership to WWC’s commitment to environmental responsibility. Workplace Value #2: Community - Exceeds: Engages meaningfully in the WWC community by participating in community-building events and working to strengthen the community. - Meets: Engages in the WWC community by participating in community-building events. - Below: Does not participate in community-building events. Workplace Value #3: Self Discovery - Exceeds: Discovers and is able to articulate personal values related to the complex interconnections between the environment and society. - Meets: Demonstrates effort toward discovering and articulating personal values related to the complex interconnections between the environment and society. - Below: Does not demonstrate effort toward discovering and articulating personal values related to the complex interconnections between the environment and society. Workplace Value #4: Respect and Tolerance - Exceeds: Takes responsibility to create and role-model a culture of respect and tolerance for all people including ELC crew, staff, and partners. - Meets: Demonstrates respect and tolerance for all people including ELC crew, staff, and partners. - Below: Does not demonstrate respect and tolerance for all people. Competency #1: Dependability - Exceeds: Shows up for work on time every shift, takes full responsibility for completing all tasks, and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Shows up for work on time every shift and takes full responsibility for completing all tasks. - Below: Fails to show up for work on time every shift and/or take full responsibility for completing all tasks. Competency #2: Integrity - Exceeds: Is honest, takes responsibility for all mistakes, strives to continually improve and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Is honest, takes responsibility for all mistakes and strives to continually improve. - Below: Is honest, but does not take responsibility for mistakes or strive to continually improve. Competency #3: Initiative - Exceeds: Takes responsibility for all work-related responsibilities and needs without having to be asked, asks for help whenever it is needed, and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Takes responsibility for all work-related responsibilities and needs without having to be asked, and asks for help whenever it is needed - Below: Does not take responsibility for work-related responsibilities and/or fails asks for help when it is needed. Competency #4: Analytical Thinking - Exceeds: Identifies problems, researches the complexity of issues, evaluates viable solutions, determines a courses of action, and implements when appropriate. - Meets: Identifies problems, researches the complexity of issues, and evaluates viable solutions - Below: Does not effectively identify problems, research issues, and/or evaluate viable solutions. Competency #5: Communication - Exceeds: Demonstrates the ability and willingness to effectively communicate to diverse stakeholders in both written and oral formats, and works to continually improve communication skills. - Meets: Demonstrates the ability and willingness to effectively communicate to diverse stakeholders in either written or oral formats. - Below: Does not demonstrate the ability and/or willingness to effectively communicate to diverse stakeholders in either written or oral formats. Competency #6: Collaboration - Exceeds: Takes a leadership roll in creating a culture of collaboration among all ELC crew members, and collaborates effectively with WWC and general community partners. - Meets: Collaborates effectively with crew members, as well as WWC and general community partners. - Below: Does not collaborate effectively with crew members and/or the WWC and/or general community partners. Competency #7: Quality of Work - Exceeds: Consistently delivers final products that demonstrate thorough and thoughtful work that adheres to the goals and expectations of the project, and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Consistently delivers final products that demonstrate thorough and thoughtful work that adheres to the goals and expectations of the project. - Below: Does not consistently deliver final products that demonstrate thorough and thoughtful work that adheres to the goals and expectations of the project.. Tool or Resource #1: Community Partners - Exceeds: Consistently and effectively works with WWC and general community partners to advance the mission of the ELC and the work of the crew, assumes a leadership role in creating and coordinating community partnerships. - Meets: Learns how to effectively work with WWC and general community partners to advance the mission of the ELC and the work of the crew. - Below: Does not effectively work with WWC or general community partners to advance the mission of the ELC and the work of the crew. Tool or Resource #2: ELC Office - Exceeds: Works to improve appropriate technological skills and understanding, gives leadership to maintaining office cleanliness and organization, and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Works to improve appropriate technological skills and understanding, and maintains office cleanliness and organization. - Below: Does not work to improve appropriate technological skills and understanding, or maintain office cleanliness and organization. Work Safety #1: Responsible and legal use of the ELC car - Exceeds: Uses the ELC car responsibly and legally, and holds all crew members accountable to do the same. - Meets: Uses ELC car responsibly and legally. - Below: Does not use ELC car responsibly or legally. Sustainability #1: Model & Advance best practices - Exceeds: Gives leadership to campus sustainability efforts by consistently modeling and advancing best practices at work and in the community, and works to understand and articulate the complex problems that exist in the interconnections between environment and society.. - Meets: Models and advances best practices at work and in the community. - Below: Does not adequately model best practices at work or in the community.

The Work Program is funded by the College's operating budget and a few grants including an annual $500,000 allotment from the federal government. There are approximately 200 full-time staff employed that supervise students labor.

also: http://www.warren-wilson.edu/service