Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.91
Liaison Andy Mitchell
Submission Date July 17, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Illinois Chicago
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.08 / 4.00 Cynthia Klein-Banai
Associate Chancellor for Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount):
29,320

Total number of students enrolled for credit that are served (i.e. directly targeted) by a student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program (avoid double-counting to the extent feasible):
7,888

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer educator program:
26.90

Name of the student educators program:
Eco-Educators

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (headcount):
7,500

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities:

Eco-Educators is a voluntary program that encourages interested students to volunteer with the Office of Sustainability to spread environmental awareness. Eco-Educators attend events at UIC, and assist event-goers with sustainability practices such as recycling and waste minimization. Eco-Educators are able to reach a broad audience of students, faculty, staff and sometimes outside institutions.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected:

Our eco-educators are selected by the Office of Sustainability staff. Students sign up either events, or on our website at http://sustainability.uic.edu/get-involved/volunteer/.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach:

Eco-Educators receive a formal one-hour training by the Office of Sustainability staff. They are given information on UIC's sustainability commitments and programs.


A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination):

The Office of Sustainability provides administrative support, t-shirts, personal protective equipment (when needed), and meals for EcoEducators, as well as other participation incentives.


Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) Dialogues at the UIC Rafael Cintron Ortiz Latino Cultural Center (LCC)

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (2nd program):
288

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (2nd program):

In these arts-based civic dialogues, attendees select objects of material culture from our collection or bring objects of their own to discuss. We use these artifacts to help diverse students tell stories about sustainable cultural practices in their homes and communities or show connections to the environment. Facilitators take notes and help point out similarities and differences between these stories. This helps participants get a rich understanding of the many ways we can be sustainable, and the many ways different communities are affected by environmental injustices, unequal access, and other climate challenges. Facilitators also urge participants to think creatively about how their personal assets, skills, and talents might be combined to collectively target a community challenge.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected (2nd program):

Student educators are selected from a pool of applicants who have applied to work at the LCC, based on a wide variety of criteria, including: relevant subject area knowledge, strong work ethic, applicable public speaking experience, and bilingual language skills. They are initially trained to facilitate mural tours of the LCC gallery. Once their skills in public speaking, group facilitation, and artistic interpretation have developed they can advance to dialogue training. Although Graduate Assistants are primarily selected for dialogue training, undergraduates can also qualify.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (2nd program):

Students read LCC dialogue training materials, attend dialogues with visiting classes, meet regularly with LCC staff to discuss ways to navigate facilitation situations, and shadow dialogues for months before serving as lead facilitator themselves. Students fill out self-evaluations, process participant evaluation forms, and meet with LCC staff to discuss this feedback after each dialogue. LCC staff continue to maintain communications and schedule visits with groups, but students are assigned to send out email announcements to faculty and TAs in the beginning of each semester.


A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (2nd program):

The LCC pays the hourly salary for undergraduate student workers, and invests significant staff time in planning, training, and facilitating. Graduate Assistants are paid for with a variety of funding sources, from direct LCC budgeting to grant-funding.


Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Energy Interconnections: Smart Grid Education Program

Number of students served (i.e. directly targeted) by the program (3rd program):
100

A brief description of the program, including examples of peer-to-peer outreach activities (3rd program):

The Smart Grid program educates about what the Smart Grid is, its benefits (both economic and environmental), how UIC conserves energy, and how students can save energy.


A brief description of how the student educators are selected (3rd program):

The student educators were selected from a pool of applicants for their ability to understand the complexity of electricity delivery, their interest in sustainability, and their communication skills.


A brief description of the formal training that the student educators receive to prepare them to conduct peer outreach (3rd program):

Smart grid interns receive about 20 hours of training on the following topics: Smart Grid engagement tools; UIC Utilities/Energy Dashboard; Smart Grid; ComEd Smart Meter Enabled Transformation; Data Collecting; Participant observation/shadowing; Data Analysis/interpretation.


A brief description of the financial and/or administrative support the institution provides to the program (e.g. annual budget and/or faculty/staff coordination) (3rd program):

UIC has received on-going grants from the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation to Support the program. Office of Sustainability staff along with staff from the African American Cultural Center support the program. The student educators are paid an hourly wage.


A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs, including the number of students served and how student educators are selected, trained, and supported by the institution:
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Total number of hours student educators are engaged in peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education activities annually (all programs):
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.