Middlebury College
EN-1: Student Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.41 / 4.00 |
Jack
Byrne Director of Sustainability Integration Environmental Affair |
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):
EcoDorms is an Energy2028 project that was introduced in the summer of 2019 to be implemented during the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 academic years. Middlebury’s Energy2028 initiative was introduced in February 2019 with four pillars: 1) 100% renewable energy by 2028, 2) 25% energy reduction by 2028, 3) 100% divestment from fossil fuels, and 4) commitment to educational opportunities. EcoDorms engages with the fourth pillar of Energy2028 and aims to bring environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior to first years through implementing living learning communities from the moment they get to campus. As of Spring 2022, the EcoDorms program is a pilot study occurring in two of the four first year dorms (Stewart and Hepburn). In the future, the EcoDorm team hopes to bring this initiative to all first year students.
The primary goal of the EcoDorm activities is to introduce first years to environmental activities and initiatives on campus while getting to know their community better. EcoDorm programming has included a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities that our team coordinates and provides supplies for, social media challenges and a variety of other special events and outdoor activities.
The EcoDorm leadership team plans weekly activities to be directly offered in student dorms. These fun, stressbuster type activities bring students to common lounges where they can meet each other and gain an experience to engage in a more mentorship type relationship with our team members. Examples of activities and events we include in our programming include dorm room cooking, plant potting, spin classes, snowshoeing, career and internship workshops, informal academic advising, environmental journaling and painting, pizza party at the Knoll, etc,. Through these activities we teach students about energy efficient cooking methods, the benefits of three sisters planting and regenerative agriculture, the importance of exercise and introduction to free exercise classes on campus, the gear room and outdoor opportunities on campus, how to get internships with a specific focus on environmental positions, course load, schedule planning and the Environmental Studies department, mindfulness and meditation, and the colleges Organic farm, respectively.
In the past we have tried to work more closely with students to bring them on to our leadership team to help plan and coordinate events. These EcoDorm liaisons (Class of 2024) helped write blog posts, distribute supplies and create material for our social media campaign. While this component of our project was another way to create more peer-to-peer relationships and help first years engage more directly with the project, our small team did not have the bandwidth to continue this program. We hope that as the project and leadership team continue to grow, this will be another possible option in the future.
For more information about the EcoDorms environmental living learning community initative, please email us at ecodorms@middlebury.edu, visit our website at go/ecodorms/ or check out our instagram @midd_ecodorms.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
Peer educators are trained by office staff on presentation skills, communication and general outreach. They meet with our staff regularly to discuss programming and to plan future events.
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):
The project is focused on finding ways to best engage and equip students to become agents of change through onramps and launchpads. Flowing from the mission, the Project’s Guiding Principles seeks to do the following:
Deepen: Support existing work and needs of students and the Middlebury community already engaged in climate action.
Broaden: Expand definitions of climate leadership and provide new engagement platforms to better equip the entire Middlebury population to participate in climate action.
Connect: Collaborate and solidify relationships with existing student, faculty, and staff groups to amplify current efforts and plan new opportunities. Look across disciplinary and organizational lines to identify common threads. Foster inclusivity.
Contextualize: Recognize the needs, opportunities, and challenges we face, especially around racial justice and the pandemic. Examine and foster avenues to delve into theories of change.
Adapt: Focus on efforts that allow for trial and error. Listen, assess, and adjust efforts proactively.
Apply: Emphasize the need to bridge theory and practice, meaningfully engaging in experiential learning and activism.
Integrate: Allow space and time to synthesize efforts, bringing all of the pieces together.
Build: Provide meaningful, long-term building blocks and culminating, consequential experiences with legs.
Communicate: Tell effective stories about progress, challenges, and learning throughout.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
Middlebury students are already well aware of the existential threat of climate change. Many are grappling with grief, anxiety, paralysis, futility, or frustration (to name a few emotions) as they make sense of their place in this moment. Given this baseline, the need is around translating concern into purpose and action by exploring the following with the student body and greater Middlebury community.
What our trajectories could be.
How we should approach action given various theories of change.
What we would need to do to achieve key goals.
How different roles and skills would (or would not) support that work.
And how to support students and other community members in taking on those roles.
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):
Our goal is to have people interact in different ways at the Knoll. We have three main program areas: the Educational Garden, the Outdoor Kitchen, and the Serenity Garden. These are used by faculty, staff, students, and our local community for classes, research, and events.
A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
The Educational Garden serves as a place for students to learn about gardening and agriculture through research and hands-on experiences. We grow food for Midd Dining and each year we contribute about a thousand pounds of produce to our robust local gleaning program coordinated by HOPE, a local nonprofit. Students enrolled as in-person learners can join us for Volunteer Hours led by garden staff. Since fall 2020, students can attend four two-hour sessions to receive physical education credit. We also support paid internships for current students during spring, summer, and fall.
The Outdoor Kitchen is a space to cultivate community. In a typical year, we host pizza nights and help co-host celebrations for campus partners. Interns learn to cook with the wood-fired oven and make pizzas with vegetables from our gardens.
The Serenity Garden is a plot of land on the western slope of the Knoll. This garden is a collaboration with the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life. In 2012, His Holiness the Dalai Lama blessed a large round marble bench. We also constructed a labyrinth to celebrate 15 years of the Knoll in September 2017.
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:
Sustainability Solutions Lab aims to provide students with an experience of professional development while working on sustainability-oriented projects throughout the campus and greater Middlebury community. This program includes disseminating information to students about environmental issues and Middlebury's efforts.
Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
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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.