Bowdoin College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Eco Reps are hired as peer-to-peer sustainability educators, with a special focus on that work within their residence hall but all Eco Reps do outreach to the entire campus through programming in public spaces such as the student union and the dining halls. Sustainability Assistants are hired by the Sustainability Office for a variety of research and campus-facing programs. Each type of student worker works 2-4 hours a week and has a consistent work time or a weekly meeting with office staff to discuss challenges, brainstorm ideas for programs, and work on executing those plans. Peer-to-peer outreach by Eco Reps and Sustainability Assistants has included: social media projects educating Bowdoin community about green initiatives at Bowdoin, coordination of panel discussions on aspects of environmentalism, raffles of sustainability/conservation prizes for participation in interactive educational programs, showing of films, creation and coordination of eco events (such as an Arctic Scavenger Hunt with the Arctic Museum for International Polar Bear Day), clothing/stuff swaps, research into climate action plans, Sustainability website maintenance, Earth Week Celebrations, mindfulness workshops, Carbon Food Print evenings in the Dining Halls to educate diners about the carbon foot prints of different foods, and numerous others. Typically, the more years a student is employed by the Sustainability Office, the more they are encouraged to devise their own programming, or to determine a particular type of research they are interested in that is useful to the Office. Except for very few and specific programs designed exclusively for one residence hall by their Eco Rep, all Bowdoin students are welcome and encouraged to participate in all Eco Rep and Sustainability Assistant programs.

Students apply for the Eco Rep and Sustainability Assistant positions through the Bowdoin Student Employment website. All but the eight first-year Eco Rep positions (one for each of the eight first-year residence halls) are hired in the Spring before the Fall they will begin work. This allows for all students to begin their outreach work immediately upon the start of the school year. All applicants are interviewed by the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator and selected based on a variety of qualities including past experience, knowledge of sustainability issues, particular interests within sustainability, willingness to prioritize the work, creative thinking skills, enthusiasm/ability to share their knowledge with others. The goal is to hire students who will both serve the Sustainability Office well, and who will benefit from the workplace experience, mentoring, and leadership opportunities that the job provides. A significant effort is made to hire students who are required to have a campus job as part of their financial aid package, and to, overall, hire students of diverse backgrounds, experiences, majors, and interests.

Prior to the first meetings with Eco Reps, or the first work shift for Sustainability Assistants, the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator creates a resource manual for all student employees. In the first meeting, these manuals are distributed, with students required to review the material and bring their thoughts and questions to the next meeting. A manual, obviously, does not cover all that is required by these jobs, and additional topics are covered as work evolves. The idea is to provide the student employees with enough background information to begin work, but not so much all at once that they feel immobilized by the training. As student projects develop, students are trained on the job how to book rooms, coordinate with other departments, create posters, speak effectively in public, etc. As student curiosity drives the work, training in how renewable energy credits work, where recycling goes, what the scopes of emissions are, etc. is also provided as necessary. Training is interactive and individual, tailored to student need, interest, and job duties.

For the 2018-2019 school year, all Eco Reps and Sustainability Assistants earn $11.25/hr. Each student works between 2 and 4 hours a week, for approximately 24 weeks over the two semesters. This funding comes out of the Sustainability Office budget. Additionally, the majority of the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator's time is spent supporting the Eco Rep program and mentoring the individual Eco Reps/Sustainability Assistants. The Sustainability Office also provides financial support for outreach programming through the purchase of raffle prizes for programs, food for events, campus vehicle rental and gas for trips as necessary and an end of year dinner for Eco Reps/Sustainability Assistants.

Data based on 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 student employee work, hours, programs and training processes.