Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 61.15
Liaison Ashley Woolman
Submission Date April 8, 2022

STARS v2.2

Western Colorado University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.37 / 4.00 Sara Phillips
Director of the Leadership, Engagement & Development (LEAD) Office; Director of Orientation
Student Affairs
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Number of students enrolled for credit:
2,935

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
2,500

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
85.18

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Student Sustainability Coordinators

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):

For the 2021-2022 academic year, 6 undergraduate and 2 graduate Sustainability Coordinators plan and facilitate composting education in the University Center dining hall, 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 the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):

Most of the student educators start in the program as first year/second year students. They are trained by more senior student leaders through partnering on projects. The team also has a spring & fall retreat to develop academic year goals, projects and initiatives.

Their outreach to students is intended for all students in that the programs are advertised to all, however there is greater engagement students living on program.


Number of trained student educators (1st program):
8

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
32

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
6

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
528

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Facilities Recycling Team

A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):

The Sustainability Specialist supervises and trains five students (undergraduate and graduate) on recycling operations. The students pick up, sort, and transport items to the County Recycling Center. Items recycled at the county recycle station include: plastic, tin, aluminum, glass (green, clear, and brown), office paper, newspaper/magazines, and corrugated cardboard must be sorted and clean (no food debris). The Recycling team educates students across campus on these guidelines. In the spring 2022, the Recycling Team put new informative stickers on outdoor bins, hung educational fliers in academic buildings and dormitories, and engaged with students at Wellness Fest, the Sustainable Crested Butte Recycle Train. The students also assisted the Sustainability Specialist in regular newsletters during the Race to 0 Waste campaign to increase sustainability efforts across campus.


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):

The recycling team targets all of campus, including other students, faculty, and staff.


Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
5

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
52

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
6

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
1,560

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Eco Leaders

A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):

The Sustainable Action Committee (SAC) partnered with Facilities, LEAD Sustainability, and Residence Life to create the Eco Leaders project in fall 2021. Eco Leaders is a peer to peer education model that was piloted in Pinnacles. Eco Leaders help develop and implement programming on topics such as waste minimization and recycling, energy use, and other sustainability efforts. Fall 2021 we had one Eco Leader, Kira Cordova, who helped run a Pinnacles recycling audit during the Day of Service, taught peers about vampire energy on Halloween, and created a poster about singe use plastic. In Spring 2022 a second Eco Leader was hired, Yetunde Rotimi.


A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):

Eco leaders target students living on campus in the dormitories.


Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
2

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
30

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
3

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
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Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):
A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
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Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
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Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
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Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
2,088

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.84

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs 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.