Western Washington University
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

Sustainable Office Certification (SOC) is for all staff in administrative and academic office working groups. The program recruits a volunteer coordinator in each office, and provides training, coaching and assistance for the Office Sustainability Coordinator and other office staff. Training includes use of the Sustainable office score sheet and tools, to assess and measure baseline workplace practices; coaching in improvement of practices, maintaining a commitment to best practices, gaining participation of all office staff, and attaining certification goals for their daily practices that reduce energy and materials consumption, impacts and waste. SOC provides offices with a checklist for Sustainable Workplace assessment and offers assistance with the certification process. Upon submitting the assessment, an office receives a framed Certificate of Schievement with its appropriate rating: bronze, silver, gold, or platinum. To additionally increase participation and add competitiveness, SOC hosts a Recognition event annually. The program also communicates with all campus employees in "Power Down" campaigns, promoting energy conservation awareness and action, 4 times per year.

Outreach and recruitment by word of mouth, personal contact, presentations to Directors meetings, through University communications network, and campus surveys. Volunteer coordinators may be nominated or assigned the role by their supervisors, or may request the assignment. To date, a total of 34 office working groups are certified, 25% of all administrative, academic and clerical offices, including over 300 total non-student, staff and professional employees. Another 190 student employees are involved, within these offices

Education for the employee educators and departments is provided in the following ways: one-on one meetings between the Department Coordinator and the SOC manager; group meetings, information sessions and trainings that all the SOC coordinators and other interested staff are invited to attend; and department staff meetings where the SOC manager presents an information session or a training to a department, with the assistance of the department coordinator; Assistance with situational problem-solving in an office or department.

The Sustainable Office Certification Program, Power Down, and other elements of the Employee Sustainable office Program makes up 35% of the duties of one full-time staff administrator in the office of sustainability, and one .5 FTE student staff position The annual Budget for the program ( payroll and programming) is $63,600