| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.15 |
| Liaison | Leslie North |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Western Kentucky University
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.68 / 4.00 |
Elizabeth
McGrew Graduate Research Assistant Social Responsibility & Sustainable Communities |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
20,448
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):
13,693
Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
66.96
1st Program
Project Grow
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
350
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
Project Grow is a student organization that engages the campus community in the Community Garden on at the Office of Sustainability. Project Grow presents the project and involvement opportunities to classes, other student organizations, and hosts workshops and Community Work days during which Project Grow Fellows teach fellow students about best practices in sustainable earth care.
A brief description of how the student educators are selected:
Students submit an application to the Office of Sustainability for a one-year fellowship with Project Grow. The Sustainability Coordinator, Campus Landscape Architect, and Graduate Student select fellows based on their applications and creative submission.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
The Office of Sustainability provides educational workshops for Project Grow fellows to include material on canning, making kimchee, hugelkultur, mushroom inoculation, "cooking what you grow," and garden-shed construction out of repurposed pallets. Currently, fellows share information they've learned with other students during community work days in the garden. Upon adequate training or certification in a certain area, fellows will offer workshops on campus to their peers.
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):
The Sustainability Coordinator is the direct supervisor for the Project Grow Fellows. Other staff involved with Project Grow include university landscape architect, Campus Services Manager, a graduate assistant, and Director of Housing and Residence Life.
If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:
2nd Program
EcoTops - Student Government Association Sustainability Committee
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
8,885
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
Earth Day Celebration - 2,000
GameDay Recycling Challenge - 5,000
Waste Characterization Study (2) - 75
Tabling events for sustainability-related initiatives such as promoting the Reusable Container Program, and the Bagless campaign at Subway.- 1,000
Green Tour Guides - 250
Recycling Demonstrations across campus - 250
EcoTalks to Classes -210
Info-Exchange Dinner - 100
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
As a standing committee of the Student Government Association, EcoTops is comprised of SGA Senators, who are elected by the student body. Additionally, any WKU student is welcome to join EcoTops.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
The Sustainability Coordinator and the Coordinator of Resource Conservation serve as advisors and educators for EcoTops. They provide trainings throughout the year on how to give a Green Tour and how to present the Recycling Demonstration.
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):
The Sustainability Coordinator and the Coordinator of Resource Conservation coordinate extensively with the EcoTops, attending all meetings and events. EcoTops is financially supported by the Student Government Association, an entity of Student Activities.
If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:
3rd Program
Resident Assistants for Recycling
Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
4,737
A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):
RAs for Recycling trains RAs to educate residents on their floor about recycling and other sustainability related initiatives on campus. Throughout RecycleMania, RAs meet with their residents to promote RecycleMania and the accompanying recycling competition amongst residence halls, and they post educational material related to Recycling in the main lobby of their floor.
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
Resident Assistants (R.A) are selected and employed by Housing & Residence Life, and all R.A.s go through training and participate in RecycleMania February through March.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):
The Coordinator of Resource Conservation presented a training session to RAs as part of their mandatory RA Training. Content of this training included the following:
1. How, what, and why to recycle
2. Overview of RecycleMania competition, during which Residence Halls compete against one another
3. Other sustainability related initiatives on campus: Food Pantry, Big Red Bikes, Community Garden, Reusable Container Program, and the Bagless campaign at Subway.
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):
The Department of Facilities Management and Housing & Residence Life share financial responsibility for educational and promotional materials for RecycleMania.
Additional Programs
WKU GreenToppers is a student-led organization leading that aims to incorporate WKU students into sustainability by leading
WKU GreenToppers are adopted into the program by self-choice, and receive formal education about environmental issues around campus, as well as the ones they will research themselves, through peer-to-peer interaction and teaching, professors, as well as the use of online scholarly sources.
On Top on Tuesdays: A series begun by the ALIVE Center, On Top on Tuesdays
are hour-long seminars given by graduate assistants and geared toward the
WKU campus community. The Hill House graduate assistant chose to present
their seminar over racial battle fatigue and self care for students of color at
WKU. The purpose of the event was to engage the graduate assistants in
professional development, giving them the opportunity to prepare and execute a
presentation that would capture the attention of an undergraduate and graduate
student audience. The event was attended by undergraduate and graduate
students, ALIVE Center staff, and community members.
The presentation provided the audience with the history and background of racial
battle fatigue, it’s manifestation in modern society, and then self care techniques
to cope with the effects. - 31 students reached
Optional Fields
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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.