Colorado State University
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

The Professional Development Institute, open to all CSU employees, provides seminars and training sessions each January at a time when most staff are able to attend before the spring semester begins. In 2022, 100 over-all sessions were offered and attended by 613 unique staff members. 2022 sustainability offerings included: “CSU Green Labs – bringing sustainability to the lab,” “Go Plant Forward for a Healthier Future,” “Campus on a Carbon Diet – Annual Update of CSU Sustainability Efforts,” “Air Travel – Carbon Emissions & Ways to reduce Impact,” “Commuting to CSU Post-Pandemic” among others. There are extensive opportunities for diversity training, wellness programs, and other opportunities that fall within the greater definition of sustainability. https://tilt.colostate.edu/prodev/pdi/

The Symposium for Inclusive Excellence – “builds community where diversity of people, perspectives, and ideas are affirmed and celebrated.” The Symposium has grown tremendously since the first single-day “Diversity Summit” that took place more than 20 years ago. It is open to students, all CSU employees, CSU alumni, affiliates, and local community members. The Symposium is a week-long conference featuring dozens of sessions relating to diversity and inclusion, cutting-edge research presentations, a variety of keynote speakers, and a strand focused specifically on educators. The 2021 symposium offered 35 sessions with 82 presenters and 22 moderators – attended by 2,435 unique attendees, including 984 non-academic staff. 31 of the sessions were recorded for further learning, open and assessible to all. Sustainability was integrated in several sessions in 2021, including those related to the Ram Read 2021 book, The Color of Food. https://inclusiveexcellence.colostate.edu/symposium/

Talent Development offers training throughout the year. The office of Talent Development (TD) designs and coordinates training and talent development opportunities for personal and professional growth for all Colorado State University employees. Their vision is to provide experiences and talent development services that support faculty and staff and align with Colorado State University’s CSU’s Principles of Community and land-grant mission. Some of the courses include the Supervisor Development Program, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CSU, Uncovering Bias, Creating Inclusive Conversations, Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution Skills, and Emerging Women Leaders. In FY22, TD had 5,223 total participants – over 1,600 of those were non-academic employees. https://training.colostate.edu/

Housing & Dining Services – Conference Style Training. Each January, all HDS employees are invited to participate in this three-day event focused on professional development specific to HDS employees. Several sustainability-related sessions are included. During January 2022, HDS had 524 employees attend – where 38 unique sessions and a Resource Fair were offered.

In FY22, the Environmental Health Services website offered 175 training classes that recorded 17,100 completed training records. Of these records, 5,122 unique people received training. http://www.ehs.colostate.edu/

In 2020, 2021, and again in 2022, Colorado State University served as a ‘Host Institution’ for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Global Conference. Through this conference, and its online platform of resources, AASHE enables and connects higher education administrators, faculty, staff and students to be agents of change for sustainability. This opportunity is promoted to all students and employees at CSU.

The President's Sustainability Commission, School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Housing & Dining Services, Facilities Management, and several colleges provide professional development support for faculty, staff, and students to attend professional conferences, workshops, and meetings related to sustainability. These groups also host multiple programs, workshops, and tours during Earth Month and throughout the year.

The CSU Classified Personnel Council offers Educational Assistance Awards each year, open to all State Classified employees at CSU. The intention of these awards is to provide access to professional development opportunities that may or may not fall outside regular work assignments: https://cpc.colostate.edu/annual-cpc-awards/educational-assistance/. Additionally, the office of the Vice President for University Operations supports the Professional Development Award. Open to all non-faculty employees, awards can be up to $2,000 per individual. This award requires that the professional development be related to the applicant’s current job function and duties: https://commitmenttocampus.colostate.edu/professional-development-award/. Both awards could be used for sustainability-related professional development activities.

Employee Study Privilege: CSU employees may register for credit courses on a space available basis each academic year (summer–spring) provided appointments are at least half-time. Employees may take up to 9 credit hours per year with their Study Privilege with no cost for tuition. CSU offers more than 550 undergraduate courses that focus on or include sustainability and more than 300 graduate courses that focus on or include sustainability.

Within the many of the State Classified employee annual review process, which applies to ~1,800 non-academic staff, the following criteria is included: ‘Creates innovative ways to use time, money, technology and/or other resources responsibly, efficiently and for the benefit of the institution, its students, and its community.’ Additionally, many departments have added performance expectations in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice for all non-academic employees.

Several departments at the University include sustainability in evaluations as one of several professional competencies for administrative professional staff.