Colorado State University
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

CSU GRN is the CSU Green Ram Network, a peer-to-peer (P2P) outreach and engagement effort designed to advance sustainability understanding and practices at CSU. P2P educators are recruited, trained, and supported by CSU sustainability experts to prepare and deliver sustainability education to their peers within their college, unit, department, office, or group. CSU GRN peer educators receive 2-6 hours of training per year and offer 2-12 hours of sustainability education, outreach, and support to their peers within their college, unit, or department per year. Hours of training and P2P engagement can vary by participant, but in general they dedicate the equivalent of 1-hour/month to CSU GRN.

All CSU employees are eligible to participate and receive training with CSU GRN. Peer educators provide outreach and training within their departments. As such, any department on campus is eligible to receive sustainability-focused education and all campus employees are targeted.

The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) Sustainability Leadership Fellows program provides innovative training for early career scientists to effectively communicate science to the media and public, professional development skills and techniques, and strategies to build meaningful careers that incorporate engagement and interdisciplinarity. Each cohort of Fellows begins the year with an intensive two-day science communication training workshop run by COMPASS, science communication specialists. During the academic year Fellows participate in six formal training sessions led by local and University experts on a range of topics including conflict management, interacting with policy-makers, data visualization, and time and workload optimization. Fellows also take part in additional skill building and networking opportunities throughout the year, including an evening with the University Provost. At the end of the program, Fellows are able to elegantly deconstruct, define, and communicate their research within the framework of broader global environmental sustainability challenges using cross-disciplinary and integrative thinking.

CSU advanced PhD students and early career post-doctoral fellows who are conducting research related to sustainability are eligible to apply to the program. Upon completion, fellows are prepared to be effective sustainability communicators and engagers with the community, media, and at CSU. The training they receive is carried back to their departments and eventually, the broader community.

The Sustainability Working Group advises VP Council and leads Division of Student Affairs strategic planning efforts related to sustainability from an environmental, social, and economic lens. The working group also provides a collaborative space that incorporates and centers DEIJ for employees and students within the Division to share sustainability resources, brainstorm solutions, and propose new initiatives. The group was trained this year to complete a qualitative sustainability assessment with employees in each office in the Division.

The Bias Assessment Team, through CSU's Office for Inclusive Excellence, is a group of trained individuals who respond to bias incidents on campus, through providing support resources and engaging in educational conversations to address the biases. The team also provides educational trainings and presentations at request to the CSU community. Offices and Departments across campus have employee representatives serving on the Bias Assessment Team alongside their regular positions. The Office for Inclusive Excellence offers two other programs, the Womxn of Color Network and the Multicultural Staff Faculty Council. The Womxn of Color Network offers community and programming for full-time womxn of color employees (Faculty, Administrative Professionals, and State Classified staff) at Colorado State University. The Womxn of Color Network meets weekly and completes 10 community engagement activities each year. Programs such as the Annual Womxn of Color Summit and Womxn of Color Luncheons provide opportunities to network, build relationships, and benefit from professional development programs that are specifically presented by and for womxn of color. The Multicultural Staff Faculty Council is a group of faculty who advocate on behalf of all multicultural employees at the University to empower and sustain underrepresented staff. The group is committed to visible and meaningful engagement at CSU and within the larger community. Members of the council are nominated by their peers to represent them. The Council is active weekly throughout the academic year and conducts outreach at the Spring Celebration and President's Reception.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) launched a new program to train faculty on government relations, the Government Relations Faculty Ambassadors Initiative. OVPR works with faculty members in the colleges to strengthen their capacity for strong engagement with policymakers to increase research impact and relevance to policy, create new opportunities for fundraising, and inform the university’s strategic investments and government relations strategy. Through training sessions, faculty members gain skills for engagement with government officials to advocate for policy changes. The first cohort is focusing on Climate Adaptation Partnership. The Climate Adaptation Partnership (CAP) works to foster collaborations among CSU researchers and center leaders that work on climate adaptation with two core emphases: 1) supporting interdisciplinary research efforts to address the complex challenges of climate adaptation and 2) building connections among researchers and policymakers to facilitate the application of climate adaptation research in policy venues.

Parking & Transportation Services offers numerous educational programs to CSU employees. The annual Get Back on the Bike program was designed to help provide support for employees looking to commute to work by bicycle through training, equipment, and ongoing encouragement across the nine months of the academic year. Peer-to-peer, one-on-one commute consultations are also available to CSU employees, in which trained PTS employees work through commute options, safety, and routes.

Facilities Management offers the CSU Green Labs Program to help campus labs obtain there My Green Labs Certification. As of Sept. 2022, 13 labs, under the direction of 13 PI's (principle investigators), have begun or completed the process of earning My Green Lab (third party) Certification. Through the pre-assessment, implementation, and post-assessment phases, PI's, lab managers, and sustainability champions within the lab, lead discussions and projects to advance and support sustainability best-practices in the lab.

The Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence, through the Office of Inclusive Excellence, provides training available to all CSU faculty to enable them to provide more inclusive classroom and work environments. The goal of the Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence is to create a learning environment for faculty to engage in topics of diversity and inclusion in pedagogy, curriculum, and campus communities. Participants in the program will explore civility, curriculum, and culture, with regard to diversity and inclusion best practices in the classroom. The purpose of the Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence is to transform classrooms and positively influence campus climate such that awareness regarding diversity and inclusion is integrated within pedagogical practices. The intent is to develop awareness, knowledge, and skill sets that promote equity and social justice in educational settings. Faculty participate in 18 hours of training during the spring semester, meeting every other week. In the fall they complete an additional 20 - 40 hours of work completing projects.

The Faculty Success Program offers EnCircle Mentoring Circles for faculty who identify as women or nonbinary. Members support their peers as a network, from the more junior members to the more senior, from the senior to junior, and across disciplines and appointment types. The Mentoring circles are composed of faculty members, representing different departments, career stages, and experiences, who meet on a regular basis to discuss shared topics of interest under the guidance of a professional facilitators. Topics of interest are varied and might include: administrative processes, culture and equity, research collaborations, work-life balance, professional support with feedback, among others.