Rice University
EN-9: Staff Professional Development

Broadly, every staff person at Rice has access to training materials and classes offered by Rice's Office of Learning and Professional Development. Their portal includes links for training opportunities through Mindtools, Udemy, Lynda, Coursera, and others, which in aggregate comprise hundreds of training materials related to sustainability.

Further, all staff as per Rice Policy 409 are eligible for a tuition waiver to audit courses at Rice, which includes sustainability-related courses. This benefit is available for one class per semester, and is extended not just to staff but also to spouses, domestic partners, and Rice retirees.

As per Rice Policy 432, all benefits eligible faculty and staff may apply for tuition reimbursement up to $2,500 per employee per fiscal year for job-related professional development classes offered by Rice's School for Continuing Studies and through its School of Business. This includes sustainability-themed courses.

All members of the project management team in the Facilities department attend a session approximately every 2 weeks called PM University. This is a series of classes taught either by fellow internal staff or by outside experts. There are always at least two sustainability classes each year in PM University. Further, project managers with LEED accreditation and AIA certifications are expected to keep their certifications current by meeting the requisite hours of professional development in the environmental category. Finally, all custodial staff within the Facilities department undergo training in the Cleanology program which includes environmental topics in the curriculum.

Rice's sustainability director has provided training related to energy management/curtailment to campus staff through the Rice Administrator's Forum, most recently in April 2016.

Finally, sustainability-related public lectures are often well-advertised through a campus listserv called alldepts which is received by most staff, indicating that they are welcome at these events.

As per Rice Policy 432, all benefits eligible faculty and staff may apply for tuition reimbursement up to $2,500 per employee per fiscal year for courses outside of Rice.

Facilities project management staff typically go to 1-2 conferences per year, some of which have environmental content. Similarly, custodial staff often attend local events from the International Executive Housekeeping Association, which includes environmental topics in their programming on a regular basis. At least one person from Rice has attended every AASHE Conference since the founding of its conference.

http://professor.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Professor/Independent_Pages/Policies/Policy409_TuitionWaiver.pdf

http://professor.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Professor/Independent_Pages/Policies/Policy432_TuitionReimbursement.pdf

http://training.rice.edu/training-professional-development/self-directed-learning/video-library-resources/

http://training.rice.edu/training-professional-development/self-directed-learning/competency-focused-development/