| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 61.60 |
| Liaison | Mike Versteege |
| Submission Date | Feb. 3, 2012 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Alberta
ER-1: Student Sustainability Educators Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.00 / 5.00 |
Ian
Moore Director, SUSTAIN-SU Students' Union |
Total number of degree-seeking students enrolled at the institution:
Program name (1st program):
Number of students served by the program to whom peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education is offered (1st program):
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (1st program):
Campus Sustainability Volunteers (CSVs) are dually responsible to both Sustain SU (a student-run service) and the Office of Sustainability. All CSVs can be presenters for one of the monthly peer-to-peer educational Green Sessions. The selection process for CSVs occurs twice a year and includes an online application which is then reviewed by Sustain SU staff members, followed up by an in-person interview. If a volunteer successfully completes these two tasks, they then must attend mandatory training and sign a volunteer contract in order to represent the organization as a volunteer educator. All volunteers must be students.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (1st program):
Campus Sustainability Volunteers who deliver Green Sessions attend one time day-long training that provides information about the Students’ Union and University of Alberta. The development and implementation of their presentation is also mentored by senior Sustain SU volunteers and staff. Volunteers sign up to deliver a Green Session on a pre-determined topic that is of interest to them. Next a Sustain SU staff member organizes a series of team meetings to research and design the presentation, with the goal of encouraging dialogue about current sustainability issues that encompasses social, environmental and economic components. At the Green Session, attended by other Sustain SU volunteers and peers from the campus community, those who have developed the presentation often deliver it to the audience. Topics in the past have included sustainable development, cultural perspectives on sustainability and water issues.
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (1st program):
The University of Alberta provides in-kind and financial support directly to this program. In the 2009/10 academic year, the UAlberta's Office of Sustainability provided $2,750 to support the promotions, hosting and administrative costs of the Green Sessions. Again in 2010/11, the program was financially supported with another $3,000. As for in-kind support, the Office of Sustainability staff are available as professional resources for ideas, activities and have even attended the sessions as presenters. They also support broad-scale promotions to encourage attendance at the events within networks and social media.
The website URL for 1st Program:
Program name (2nd program):
Number of students to whom peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education is offered (2nd program):
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):
Campus Sustainability Volunteers (CSVs) are dually responsible to both Sustain SU (a student-run service) and the Office of Sustainability. All CSVs can be presenters for one of the monthly peer-to-peer educational Green Sessions. The selection process for CSVs occurs twice a year and includes an online application which is reviewed by Sustain SU staff members, followed by an in-person interview. If a volunteer successfully completes these two tasks, they then must attend mandatory training and sign a volunteer contract in order to represent the organization as a volunteer educator. All volunteers must be students.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (2nd program):
CSVs who deliver these educational presentations attend one time, day-long training that provides information about the Students’ Union and University of Alberta. In addition, those who deliver peer-to-peer education regularly attend a three hour session on popular education hosted by a campus organization (APIRG) that helps the volunteers gain confidence in creating dialogue and facilitating discussion in the room. Lastly, educators are cross-trained by their peers on the content of the specific educational presentations they are to deliver and are evaluated by their peers in order to better the quality of their work.
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):
UAlberta provides in-kind support directly to this program. The Office of Sustainability staff are available as professional resources for ideas, activities and redevelopment of content. In addition, they provide engagement and behaviour change tools to be used during the presentations (i.e. One Simple Act on Campus commitment cards). They also support the broad-scale promotions to encourage attendance at the events within networks and social media.
The website URL for 2nd program:
Program name (3rd program):
Number of students to whom peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education is offered (3rd program):
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):
Same as Sustain SU educational presentations. See above.
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (3rd program):
Same as Sustain SU educational presentations. See above.
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (3rd program):
Same as Sustain SU educational presentations. See above.
The website URL for 3rd program:
Program name (All other programs):
Number of students to whom peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education is offered (All other programs):
A brief description of how the student educators are selected (All other programs):
A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive (All other programs):
A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (All other programs):
The website URL for all other programs:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The number of students served by the programs was calculated from the 2009-2010 Data Book using the total number of students registered at the institution minus those students at Augustana Campus and Campus Saint-Jean as they do not have access to these programs at this time. We recognize that a certain number of students are studying via distance programs at other institutions, but currently are not able to account for that.
The number of students served by the programs was calculated from the 2009-2010 Data Book using the total number of students registered at the institution minus those students at Augustana Campus and Campus Saint-Jean as they do not have access to these programs at this time. We recognize that a certain number of students are studying via distance programs at other institutions, but currently are not able to account for that.
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.