| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.67 |
| Liaison | Aurora Sharrard |
| Submission Date | Feb. 13, 2024 |
University of Pittsburgh
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.68 / 4.00 |
Nick
Goodfellow Sustainability Coordinator Dining Services |
Number of students enrolled for credit:
Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
Name of the student educators program (1st program):
A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
Every Fall semester, the University of Pittsburgh recruits ~50 first-year student volunteers who function as the "Pitt Green Team" during move-in and orientation activities. These students receive specialized training on campus sustainability practices, including recycling and food waste composting.
Pitt Green Team students work in teams and serve as sustainability ambassadors at the residence halls during Fall move-in.
Pitt Green Team members who apply to serve are selected based on their answers to several essay questions focused on gauging their interest in campus sustainability. They receive a several days of training, networking, and tours prior to serving. Throughout their first-year, Pitt Green Team students then continue to participate in sustainability-focused events and service; in future years, many go on to become Pitt Sustainability student leaders in other roles.
The University financially supports all Pitt Green Team activities.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
The audience for Pitt Green Team is two-fold:
1) All first-year students
2) Students living in University of Pittsburgh residence halls.
Number of trained student educators (1st program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):
Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
Pitt EcoReps are paid student leaders committed to making life in residence halls more sustainable. They work with members of the Pitt community to integrate sustainability into the culture of our residence halls by reducing energy and water use, increasing recycling and composting, and advancing other sustainability initiatives.
Pitt EcoReps also administer the Pitt Green Resident program:
The University of Pittsburgh's Housing department established the Pitt EcoReps program in academic year 2019-20 to promote a culture of sustainability within residence halls.
>> Pitt EcoReps program – https://www.bhas.pitt.edu/ecoreps
>> Pitt Green Resident designation program - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/get-involved/students/pitt-green-residents-floors/
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
The target audience for the Pitt EcoReps program are all students living in University of Pittsburgh residence halls.
Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):
Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
The University of Pittsburgh's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) administers the University’s First Year Sustainability Presentations. While select Pitt faculty and students offered sustainability presentations to First-Year Seminars for at least a decade, MCSI standardized and centralized these offerings in 2019. Since then, MCSI-trained student and staff instructors have provided campus-wide Pitt Sustainability presentations to first-year and other departmental seminar courses, helping introduce undergraduate students to Pitt Sustainability initiatives and how they can engage with sustainability on campus. Almost all First-Year Sustainability Presenters are paid student sustainability leaders and interns.
MCSI faculty and staff annually trains sustainability-driven students to give a variety of sustainability informational presentations to first-year classes. These presentations teach students how to get involved in sustainability on campus through a variety of avenues ranging from student organizations, about current initiatives, and introduces them to academic opportunities for students interested in sustainability.
In 2022-23, Pitt’s First Year Sustainability presenters engaged 1,555 students across 52 classes in 9 different academic departments. From 2019 through 2022, over 4,028 students from a wide variety of academic departments have experienced these presentations.
>> 2018-22 Progress Report on Pitt Sustainability Plan, Teaching & Learning section, which includes First-Year Sustainability Presentation section - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/progress-report/teaching-learning-2018-22/
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
The target audience for the First-Year Sustainability presentations are all first-year students -- to raise their awareness about what sustainability is, how Pitt is working on becoming more sustainable, sustainability-focused educational offerings, and how to get engaged to help advance sustainability on campus.
Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
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:
Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.