University of Utah
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

As the University of Utah moves towards climate neutrality, the goal is for all members of the University community (faculty, students, staff, visitors, and administration) to start "Seeing Green." What this means is that everyone should be actively involved in the creation and implementation of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and that this change is sustainable. Green Teams are essential to reaching this goal.

Green Teams are self organized groups, whose purpose is to recognize opportunities and effect change. The University of Utah is a large and decentralized organization. Green Teams help create a core group of people, across campus with the common goal of implementing the department specific changes needed to help the University meet its Climate Action Plan goals.

Some accomplishments by existing Green Teams include:
-The Marriott Library has diverted more than 65,000 plastic waterbottles from the landfill since the installation of water bottle filling stations.
-The University Orthopaedic Center switched all copier paper purchases to a minimum of 30% post-consumer recycled content.

Green Teams are self-organized and members are self-selected. Typically the employee educators are faculty or staff that are particularly motivated to improving the sustainability of their given department.

Employee Educators or Green Team Leadership is both volunteer and appointed across campus. Teams in larger colleges/departments often have 1-3 year terms for both leadership and members. Smaller departments often have a dedicated small group that works collaboratively and forms the green team that has a designated contact person who communicates and received information directly from through Sustainability Offices Outreach team.

An advisory group consisting of representatives from the Office of Sustainability, the Energy Management Office, Facilities Management, Custodial Services, the Recycling Office, Purchasing, Space Planning, and Commuter Services host an annual half-day training as well as monthly workshops on topics of specific interest. Educators in turn share information and spearhead specific projects with their department green team and other staff.

Training is done at the team level and green teams often work together to develop presentations and outreach materials that they use for peer-to-peer education. A representative from the Sustainability Office provides training for the various programs colleges and departments are asked to participate in directly to the Green Team or Green Office Representative, who then shares the information with peers.

The Sustainability Office at the University of Utah supports and facilitates Green Teams in many departments. They provide a staff member to answer questions or provide assistance in forming and maintaining Green Teams. The Sustainability Office also provides a Green Team e-toolkit, a guide to provide campus green teams centralized access to resources including toolkit information, how-to instruction, and electronic materials.

The Green Teams Advisory Group was charged in 2011 by the Office of the President, University of Utah, with the task of developing a comprehensive green team program as recommended in the Energy and Environmental Stewardship Initiative: 2010 Climate Action Plan. During 2011-12 this group focused on a pilot to develop a program and expand Green Teams across campus. In fall 2012, in response to President Pershing's recommitment to campus sustainability, Dr. Vivian Lee put a call out to all University Health Sciences and Hospital departments to expand Green Teams. This program is designed by the Office of Sustainability in collaboration with other campus sustainability leaders, as a way to provide green teams with training, resources, and recognition. It is meant to assist departments in integrating sustainable practices into their workplace and services that result in cost savings and energy efficiency, both of which advance the sustainability efforts of the University of Utah.

Green Team Advisory Staff provide time and expertise, while financial support is made possible through the Office of the Senior Vice President for Administration for workshops and administrative staff time.

Green Office Certification is a tool for colleges and departments across campus to use that provides guidance and tools to help students, staff, and faculty adopt sustainable choices in the workplace. Any college or department on campus can participate in Green Office Certification. In order to pursue certification, offices complete the Green Office Certification form and self-assess. The form is submitted to a Green Office specialist in the Sustainabiltiy office. Successful applicants receive a certificate to display, as well as recognition on the Sustainability Office’s social media outlets. The certificate is up for review and renewal at request of the office or every two years.

Green Office Certification form

A green-office specialist will schedule a visit with your department to review the form and do a physical walk-through confirming points and answering questions.
Receive a certificate to display on your wall, as well as recognition on the Sustainability Office’s social media outlets.
Renew/Review certification at request of office or every two years.

The program is coordinated by employees from the Sustainability Office. As part of the certification, the applicant identifies a team member to serve as an employee educator for the office/department, willing to send out sustainability tips, monitor green office practices and introduce new employees to green office programs.

A green-office specialist schedules a visit with the office or department to review the form and do a physical walk-through confirming points and answering questions. Depending on the score, offices are awarded a bronze, silver, or gold certification. The green-office specialists works with each office to make sure they meet at least the bronze level. After initial certification, the specialists will continue to help offices until obtain gold.

Support for Green Office certification is coordinated by the Sustainability Office which contributes staff time.

To date, 6 offices/departments have earned Green Office certification: The College of Humanities Dean’s Office and the Second Language Teaching & Research Center are certified bronze. City & Metropolitan Planning is certified silver. Gold certifications include the College of Architecture + Planning Dean’s Office, the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, and the Office of Sponsored Projects.

Sustainability Faculty Learning Community (Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence)
A faculty learning community (FLC) comprises an interdisciplinary group of faculty devoted to enhancing teaching, learning, and the university experience. The University of Utah has begun several initiatives to make the campus more sustainable from both a facilities-based and a curricular standpoint. This FLC will offer you an opportunity to focus on infusing sustainability concepts and issues into your courses and academic endeavors. Possible projects and discussions include interdisciplinary teaming for sustainability education, sustainability literacy assessment, and engaging students and faculty in existing sustainability education projects and programs.

NOTES

The number of employees targeted for Green Office Certification was estimated from data in the USHE Data Book, 2016. Since the program targets office staff, the figure represents employees categorized as Public Service (2442) + Institutional Support (769) = 3211.

RESOURCES

Certify Your Green Office. Sustainable Utah [blog] February 8, 2017
URL: https://sustainableutah.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/certify-your-green-office/