Iowa State University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The residence hall recycling program is a system that is implemented on Iowa State’s campus to allow residence hall students to recycle different materials despite the fact that neither the city of Ames nor the Iowa State University campus have a centralized recycling program. The process depends upon the joint efforts of several levels of student participation and effectively recycles wet board, plastic, cans, glass, and paper. Recycling is an easy way to live sustainably on campus because it’s something you can help with! Working closely with the Department of Residence (DOR), GreenHouse Group (GHG) has established a program that has allowed for recycling to be a part of life in residence halls all over campus for the past six years! In the past, this program has led to over 359.5 units of material being recycled during the Recyclemania competition held each month! The recycling program allows students to engage with their community over a common goal for sustainability on campus and in everyday life. The program’s participation involves many partners from many different departments. The main organizing body is GHG. This group serves as the main information hub for all inquiries and data collection regarding recycling on campus. The flowchart below shows the communication lines between the different groups and will serve as the organizational model for reference throughout the document.

Community Advisors (CA's) on each floor of a residence hall collect the names of floor Recycling Chairs to pass along to the Sustainability Coordinator. They also must do this if a new Recycling Chair is appointed during the year. They also train fellow community advisers on the team about the recycling program and their role in maintaining its effectiveness.

The initial training for the groups involved in the residence hall recycling program is the initiation of the work that will be carried out by all the partners of the GreenHouse Group throughout the school year. Members within each of these partner groups have certain responsibilities that they must fulfill in this first step that lay the foundation for the success of the recycling program. GreenHouse Group (hence forth known as GHG) provides training to the Sustainability Coordinators and helps them coordinate a Recycling Chair training at the beginning of each semester. Training materials are located on blackboard. GHG president and treasurer must take the required president and treasurer’s training provided through the Student Activities Center. The president’s training is on the Student Activities website and the treasurer’s training will be on blackboard. Both positions will receive an email from the student activities office with more information. GHG meetings begin at the start of the year with a training for the new Sustainability Coordinators. This training introduces them to what they will be doing for the year in the position they are in. This training can be found on BlackBoard under “my organizations” and then under GreenHouse Group and then under training materials. Sustainability Coordinators should then take the quiz so that they can be in compliance with the GHG requirements. Sustainability Coordinators should then email the CA liaison to collect the names of the Recycling Chairs from each floor/house. They also must do this if a new Recycling Chair is appointed throughout the year. The Sustainability Coordinator will then organize a meeting with the Recycling Chairs where introductions will be made and the Recycling Chairs will be trained and take the quiz in order to be recognized in the system. Recycling Chairs, after being trained, will take this information back to their houses and present it at the following House Cabinet meeting in a condensed format. The talking points are included below in the Appendix on page 10. Recycling Chairs will also print off informational materials for their house to inform their fellow housemates. These materials are located on the DOR main page. Training materials can be found on the DOR main page or in the Blackboard group.

The Department of Residence at Iowa State supports this program with logistical and administrative support as well as providing information and resources about recycling at Iowa State.

Peer mentors are integral to the success of Learning Communities. Peer mentors are upper division students from the major associated with their particular learning community. They are often involved with organizing study groups, social events, and out-of class activities for learning community participants. Their experience and guidance is invaluable to our students.

For consideration, candidates must possess the following qualifications: -Minimum grade point average of 3.0 -Juniors and seniors are preferred, but other qualified applicants will be considered -Experience living in a residence hall setting -Strong interpersonal skills -Knowledge of the major and college -Self-motivation -Must be available to attend Peer Mentor training in August prior to the beginning of school Please complete the attached application and submit it by (date) to (coordinator) in (office). Submit two reference letters with the application. Following review of all applications, interviews will be scheduled (with all applicants? With those individuals whose applications pass the screening process?). Interviews will last one hour and will be scheduled during the week of (data).

University-wide peer mentor training is typically provided in August, the week before the start of the fall semester. The training sessions target peer mentors who are new to their role. Second year mentors are welcome to attend and share their insights, but the purpose of the event is to provide new mentors with a fundamental background about mentoring/peer educating and discuss some of the situations they may face in their roles. Sample training topics include: -effective communication -listening skills -conflict resolution -confidentiality -campus resources -working with groups -icebreakers -planning and programming

Iowa State University's Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching supports the program financially and administratively.

The number served by the Sustainability Coordinators and Recycling Chairs equals the most recent number of residents in the Department of Residence, since all residents have a Recycling Chair and Sustainability Coordinator that works with them.