| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.35 |
| Liaison | Megan Litke |
| Submission Date | March 30, 2016 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
American University
EN-6: Employee Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.06 / 3.00 |
Hannah
Debelius Sustainability Manager Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution administer or oversee an ongoing faculty/staff peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Total number of employees:
Date Revised: May 19, 2016
Name of the employee educators program (1st program) :
Number of employees served by the program (1st program):
A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (1st program):
Each office or department selects a Green Office Liaison who attends training sessions, distributes a monthly newsletter, and conducts monthly activities in the office such as hands-on waste/energy audits and sustainable food demos. Liaisons serve for the entirety of the academic year. Some self-nominate, while others are selected by department or office heads.
A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (1st program):
The liaisons from each office attend training sessions where they learn about sustainability topics incorporated in the program, and outreach techniques to facilitate behavior change in their offices. All participating offices also get a toolkit of checklists and helpful office signage signage.
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (1st program):
The Sustainability Manager oversees the Green Office program. Incentives and awards are provided to participants, including a dedicated tree planting in April for the office with the highest number of green "actions" taken in that year.
The website URL where information about the program is available (1st program):
Name of the employee educators program (2nd program):
Number of employees served by the program (2nd program):
A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (2nd program):
Faculty self select to enroll in the program. Originally started by faculty interested in incorporating sustainability into their teaching, the Center for Research Teaching and Learning now manages the program, but faculty participants initially shared their best practices to create a checklist for all faculty to use as they designed courses. The checklist items are directed at how they teach, not what they teach and best practices include things like posting the course syllabus online rather than providing printed copies. New faculty are encouraged to apply to register their courses for the program through advertisements at the Ann Ferren Teaching Conference and frequent postings on university mailing lists and newsletters.
Date Revised: June 30, 2016
A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (2nd program):
Faculty are provided resources through the Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning on how to green their course materials. These resources are created by fellow faculty members and are altered regularly to reflect newly identified best practices that faculty have successfully incorporated into their teaching plan. Based on the number of sustainable best practices that faculty use in their teaching, they can earn between 1 and 4 "green apples", and upon completing a certain number of sustainability criteria, they can place a logo representing the number of apples they earned directly onto their course syllabus. They also receive a water bottle, lunchbox, or similar branded item that encourages sustainability and promotes the program. This program is designed with faculty members to meet the needs of faculty members as they strive to reduce the environmental impact of their teaching. This program does not focus on what is included in the curriculum, but rather in how the faculty member runs the course and how they use resources.
Date Revised: June 30, 2016
A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):
Staff resources from the Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning are dedicated to managing and administering this program. Faculty participants contribute resources and materials available to new participants comes directly from other faculty contributions.
Date Revised: June 30, 2016
The website URL where information about the program is available (2nd program):
Name(s) of the employee educator program(s) (all other programs):
Number of employees served by all other programs:
A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (all other programs):
A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (all other programs):
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program(s) (all other programs):
The website URL where information about the program(s) is available (all other programs):
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The total number of employees correspond to the 2014-2015 academic year.
Data for total employees was provided by the Director of Employee Compensation.
The number of employees reached by the Green Office program was tallied by the Office of Sustainability and is accurate as of Fall 2015. The number of faculty participating in the Green Teaching program is reflected as of 2015.
The total number of employees correspond to the 2014-2015 academic year.
Data for total employees was provided by the Director of Employee Compensation.
The number of employees reached by the Green Office program was tallied by the Office of Sustainability and is accurate as of Fall 2015. The number of faculty participating in the Green Teaching program is reflected as of 2015.
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.