Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.82
Liaison Ashley Woolman
Submission Date May 16, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Western Colorado University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.27 / 4.00 Sara Phillips
Director of the Leadership, Engagement & Development (LEAD) Office; Director of Orientation
Student Affairs
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
2,138

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):
1,750

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
81.85

1st Program 

Name of the student educators program:
Student Sustainability Coordinators

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
1,942

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:
For the 2018-2019 academic year, 6 undergraduate and 5 graduate Sustainability Coordinators plan and facilitate composting education in the University Center dining hall, design and implement a living-learning curriculum for residence life, oversee and engage students and courses in the campus agriculture (garden and greenhouse), coordination of FreeCycle, "Don't Cancel that Class" (wherein graduate students fill in for absent professors to teach students about various campus sustainability progress, opportunities and endeavors), campus sustainability newsletter, etc.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected:
Job description, application cover letter & resume and interview process.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:
Summer training to review job expectations, familiarize with current programs, brainstorm new initiatives, etc. Weekly meetings and collaborative office hours.

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):
Hourly wages for students, mentorship for leadership development, professional support and financial programming support for initiatives. Funding also is available for students to attend conferences and professional development.

If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:

2nd Program

Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Master in Environmental Management (MEM) Forum

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
210

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):
Four forums per year planned and executed by MEM students.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
Volunteer

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):
Guidance from faculty mentors, previous MEM forum student coordinators, and interested community members.

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):
Financial support for programming.

If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:

3rd Program 

Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Student Sustainabiltiy Fund

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
2,138

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):
A fund generated by required student sustainability fee to which only students may apply and use to advance campus sustainability initiatives. Student-to-student guidance on grant writing and implementation is provided.

A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
Student sustainability coordinator(s) and member(s) of Student Government Association are invited to vet grant proposals.

A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):
Mentorship from faculty, staff, and Director of Sponsored Programs.

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):
Faculty and staff time to mentor students' administration of $25K annually-generated student fees.

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:
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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.