Cal Poly Humboldt
EN-1: Student Educators Program

​Green Campus is a team of students that operates under Humboldt State University's Office of Sustainability. Their mission is to improve environmental sustainability in the areas of energy, water and municipal waste on campus through student-led projects. The program operated for many years under the name "Powersave", but during the academic year 2015-2016, the group lost funding from the Alliance to Save Energy (which defunded all Powersave groups across the country). Following this move, Facilities Management at HSU determined that the group had significant importance and elected to fund the group themselves. At this time the group name officially changed to Green Campus. Green Campus student education occurs via the following activities: 1. Green Workplace Assessment: engages student trainees in energy audit and sustainable workplace assessment skill-building 2. Green Speed Networking: students get connected to academic and local community sustainability professionals during a 2-hour long, face-to-face networking event 3. Powerdown Events: engages students and whole campus community on creative ways to conserve or eliminate electricity use during academic school year, on average during 1 day per month 4. Earth Week Coordination: schedules workshops and speaking events during Earth Week events/activities

Students submit applications and participate in interviews if selected by group mentor, who was the Director of the Office of Sustainability during 2015-2016.

Training consists of a mixture of previously developed handbook information as well as specific meeting discussions on how to organize various activities.

During the Academic Year 2015-2016, Powersave & Green Campus had a cumulative budget of approximately $13,500. The Director of the Office of Sustainability acted as the group's staff mentor/coordinator. Facilities Management provides office space and administrative supplies and tools to the group, which includes computer and printer services.

The primary objective of the Resident Sustainability Advisor (RSA) is to reduce the ecological footprint of Humboldt State University by means of public education, energy conservation, and coordination with established environmentally conscious organizations. The RSA facilitated the following peer educator activities during the 2015-2016 academic year: 1. Redwood Forest Cleanup 2. Area mtgs- shared sustainability info during introductory & check in meetings with all residents 3. WRRAP Earth Tub Tour (held twice during year)- tour of on-site composting tub 4. Kill the Cup Campaign engagement- campaign to reduce/eliminate one-use beverage containers 5. Movie Party- Veggie burger party during the viewing of documentary "Cowspiracy" 6. Garden workday, Planting Day (4 times throughout year)- worked in community gardens 7. Party for Spooky Documentaries- watched sustainability films 8. Halloween Brunch for International Students- engaged with attendees about Green Room Certification 9. Ball Jar Bash- decorated mason jars that can be used as zero waste shopping & dining to-go containers 10. Leave No Trace Seminar- opportunity to learn about leave no trace principles 11. Campus Water Competition- campaigned to get residents to conserve water 12. Composting Workshop- taught students about proper composting procedures 13. Eco-Living Kick Off Party- party to engage students living on the eco-living residence floor in sustainability topics 14. Earth Week Activities-Planned and assisted with coordination 15. Beach Cleanup- cleaned up local beach, collected trash/plastics debris 16. Campaign for Meatless Mondays- campaigned for Dining Services to implement one day per week where meat is unavailable in the Jolly Giant Commons (main resident cafeteria)

Student submits application, then goes through group process wherein all selected participants get together in one room to do social justice activities while managers observe team dynamics and how well applicants work with others. Successful applicants then proceed to one-on-one interviews with the Residence Life Coordinator and student assistant before being selected by Residence Life team. Final selection process is a collaborative discussion.

RSA's receive a month long training in the summer before they start in their position. During the first week, RSA and student assistants are in attendance. The RSA then creates materials for training other staff that will come on board to work with students. This training includes learning a variety of required admin tasks and sustainability operations. The RSA prepares an hour-long presentation for CA's and SA's. During the next two weeks, the full Residence Life staff arrives at campus, and they attend training from 9am-6pm. They cover a wide variety of topics including effective publicity, how to log projects to database, confrontation & mediation, resources for students (North Coast Rape Crisis, etc), how to ID suicide risk, social justice, fire training, and more. Specific sustainability training includes waste and composting sorting, how to make events more sustainable, and group brainstorming for sustainable programs.

Annual budget for RSA programming and time is $6,384. In addition, the RSA is supported by the Residence Life, Education & Engagement Coordinator, who acts as mentor and co-supervisor for the position. The RSA is also co-supervised by Associate Director of Facilities and Housing so that they can plan activities and logistics for building competitions such as water conservation, energy savings, and composting, in addition to long-term planning for facilities initiatives.

WRRAP facilitates education regarding waste reduction and resource consumption and empowers the HSU community to engage in zero waste principles. They are the Associated Students program behind Waste Reduction Education, the Compost Squad, the Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE), HSU Takes Back the Tap, and Zero Waste. Tailored peer education activities include: 1. Clothing Swap (x3 events)- students are invited to bring old clothes to campus and swap with other students as a textile recycling technique 2. Game Day Challenge- campus competes to reduce waste during Homecoming football tailgate and game activities 3. Kill the Cup- campaign to reduce/eliminate one-use beverage containers 4. Book Swap (x2 events)- students invited to swap books with other students 5. WRRAP Day- variety of engagement festivities are held at the UC quad, meant to engage students in waste reduction habits 6. Spring Preview- students set up variety of hands-on activities to engage incoming freshman in waste reduction strategies 7. Zero Waste Banquet- following zero waste workshops, a zero waste banquet is held for all attendees 8. KRFH Takeover- campus radio station celebrates waste reduction/elimination practices during dance party, WRRAP is invited to host activities 9. Donation Dash- during Resident Hall move-out, WRRAP facilitates the collection of donations which go to local charities; helps reduce landfill waste from move-out and educates students about responsible disposal of un-needed items 10. Green Graduation- WRRAP provides hydration station and station WRRAP volunteers at waste bins during Commencement ceremonies for proper sorting

Any person who wants to volunteer with the group is welcome to sign up. For 2015-2016, approximately 11 employees submittted resume and cover letter to WRRAP to apply for specific positions. Applicants must articulate experience & knowledge about zero waste, compost, and other specific knowledge areas. Interviews are hosted by Program Manager, Director of each program, and the Staff mentor who select top candidates. The same process occurs for interns. Typically, 3-4 for-credit interns are selected per semester and commit to completing 90 hrs per semester of work. They work on a specific project and do education activities tailored to their project. Program Manager, Education Director, & Staff Mentor sit on all hiring committees. The best candidates are selected.

WRRAP holds an orientation at the beginning of each semester for all new hires and interns. During Orientation, experienced team members, such as the Program Manager, Education Director, and Directors for each program go over how to accurately speak about WRRAP and convey the mission of the group to students and other campus stakeholders. Additional education training is branch specific.

A staff mentor works with students as needed, plus attends meetings with directors, employees and interns. The total program budget for WRRAP activities during the 2015-2106 Academic Year was $35,320, but approximately $17,538 is estimated to have been spent on peer education activities. The $17,538 was calculated by halving all employee wages and adding the total supplies and services budget from educational event activities. Budgeted funds are allocated by Associated Students. In addition, the group sometimes receives grant money for specific projects from the Clubs Events Grant. WRRAP also takes in-kind donations from community organizations and businesses. The Humboldt Orientation Program partially funds Spring Preview activities. WRRAP has a dedicated office space in Warren House 53.

The Campus Center for Appropriate Technology is another student educator program at HSU. Peer-to-peer student educator activities include: o Tours- CCAT employees and Co-Directors give tours to interested and diverse groups of stakeholders throughout the year on an as-needed basis. Tours are generally offered during open hours, but can also be scheduled. Attendees may include k-12 students, other HSU students, and groups from other college campuses o Volunteer Friday- anyone is invited to visit CCAT grounds and facilities and help with projects or activities on the grounds, which may include learning how to use tools, building, gardening, or cooking o Movie Nights- during various times throughout the year, CCAT shows films to encourage community dialogue about sustainable community solutions o DIY workshops- CCAT employees provide workshops on the following topics: how to make body care products, tote making, seed bombs, tye-dye, cooking, canning/preserving/fermenting techniques, natural paint making, screen printing, notebook making o Cap & Gown rental- students are introduced to textile reuse during graduation and are given the opportunity to reserve a reused cap and gown for commencement ceremonies rather than buy new materials o May Day Festival- CCAT holds an annual community celebration on May 1st; it is free and open to all ages; event includes a variety of workshops and activities such as: flower crown making, terrarium building, tea, finger painting, vermicomposting workshops, workers rights workshop, access to food discussion o Harvest Festival- celebration of autumn food harvest, includes opportunity to learn about preserving food, preserving seeds, making scarecrows, and more o Solar lighting workshop- in coordination with Schatz, CCAT provides educational experience for community members/students to build and wire solar lights o Gardening workshops- attendees learn about about gardening and planting techniques It is estimated that around 1000 students are educated through CCAT student educator programs and activities. Student educators become involved in education by applying to become employees of CCAT or by applying for a Co-Director position. The three Co-Directors choose employees early in the semester (after undergoing an application and interview process). Steering Committee and past Co-Directors determine who the next group of Co-Directors will be (these candidates also undergo an application and interview process). Other students may host workshops at CCAT and are encouraged to reach out to Co-Directors and successfully explain how their idea relates the message of CCAT. They then have the opportunity to host their workshop at CCAT facilities if it is determined that they are a good fit. Student educators usually begin training as employees one week following the time they are hired. During initial training, new employees learn about the vision and mission of CCAT (which entails theories of appropriate technology), tour of the grounds, admin procedures such as timesheets, unconscious bias training or sexual harassment training. The Co-Directors are encouraged to review information in an archived manual about CCAT procedures and important stakeholders. They are encouraged and may seek additional information from past faculty advisers or mentors to learn more about the history of CCAT. Co-Directors may also set up additional training processes as desired. It is estimated that the amount budgeted for student educator activities was around $27,265 for 2015-2016, with student educators dedicating around 3,156 hours to education activities. CCAT student educators are supported by a staff or faculty mentor, and community mentors who sit on their monthly steering committee. In addition, CCAT is located in a building and utilizes grounds on the southeast corner of campus. Associated Students leases these facilities for CCAT to use from the larger HSU Institution.

Hours engaged in student educator activities was calculated via breakout below: Green Campus hours = 1510 hrs RSA = 780 hours WRRAP = half of all wage hours = 1,485.5 CCAT = 3,156 hours (includes 100% hours for Education coordinator, outreach coordinator, events publicist, volunteer coordinator, project manager, project leader, half of Co-director hours and half of all other staff hours)