Southern Oregon University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

SOU's Transportation Options (TO) program's peer-to-peer outreach activities are available to all students on campus. In collaboration with other groups on campus, student educators mainly offer outreach, education and support for students to explore their transportation options. The TO program provides peer-to-peer outreach through hands-on workshop series, group bike rides, hosting rideshare registration events, informational tabling events, and other transportation-focused activities.

Student educators initially interview with sustainability staff for paid positions. Once these student staff members are selected, they coordinate and train volunteers to work alongside them on outreach efforts. Regularly, lead volunteers become the next generation of paid student staffers.

Upon hire, Transportation Options student educators attend a formal training before the start of fall term, during which all important aspects are discussed. This training covers university policy, budgetary logistics, outreach tactics, goals for the year, and is the time we create a communication and expectations policy for the program. These students then train interested volunteers through a student-created volunteer training program.

Transportation Options is funded by the university and a grant from the local transportation district. The program receives administrative support from a professional staff coordinator who also oversees the Civic Engagement Program and Sustainability Resource Center. Along with funding for the staff member, TO has a small budget to pay student staff and a programming budget for campus events.

SOU's Full Circle Recycling Program was founded by students in 2011 as part of a senior capstone project focused on closing the gap between production and disposal by diverting waste from the landfill. The program is committed to providing comprehensive recycling services including conveniently located recycling stations throughout the SOU campus, development of educational programs and events, and serving as a resource center for SOU and the surrounding community. The largest peer-to-peer outreach activities occur during the RecycleMania competition in the form of recycling games and events to raise awareness and engage students in recycling on campus. Students that work for the recycling program also hold outreach events outside of RecycleMania, including tabling in the student union with recycling games and activities, hosting recycled craft events, offering recycling workshops, and having a presence at other major campus events such as Earth Day and the Health and Sustainability Fair. The program also coordinates outreach events for America Recycles Day and holds weekly Recycling Trivia Giveaways through the program's Facebook page.

Student educator positions for the recycling program are open to all SOU students. Interested students submit a resume and are interviewed by the Sustainability and Recycling Coordinator, who selects students for the program based on their enthusiasm, interest, and desire to spread recycling awareness and education to their peers.

Once hired, students working for the recycling program go through a hands-on training at SOU's Recycling Center. The hands-on training provides lasting knowledge on recycling in the region, including what items can/cannot be recycled and why, the process for local recycling, university policies impacting recycling, the history of the program, and where to go for additional resources.

The recycling program receives budgetary support from three campus departments, including Facilities Management & Planning, Housing, and Student Life. The budget includes a full-time staff person to oversee campus recycling and sustainability efforts, as well as funding for student positions, garbage and recycling fees, supplies, and other expenses.

The Farm at Southern Oregon University: A Center for Sustainability. The Farm serves as a community resource for sustainability education, fosters sustainable business development, promotes interconnectedness, and facilitates leadership training through thoughtful learning and practice. Student employees and volunteers at the Farm host workshops, volunteer days, and other events to introduce students on campus to sustainable agricultural practices, including preparing land for production, planting, harvesting, distribution, and more.

Each year, the Farm advertises positions for students, including a Farm Manager, Operations Manager, and Outreach Coordinator. All students are welcome to apply and interview for these positions. The student educators are interviewed and selected by the Farm's Staff Coordinator.

Student educators are trained at the Farm through a hands-on orientation to introduce them to the Farm's operations, practices, and opportunities. Many of the student educators are students who served as volunteers or came to the Farm for peer-to-peer mentoring in previous years.

The Farm at SOU: A Center for Sustainability is funded through the student Green Fund, produce sales, CSA share sales, private donors, and grants.

SOU's chapter of the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) conducts ongoing peer-to-peer outreach, education, and activism on issues relating to sustainability. SOU's OSPIRG chapter directly engaged more than 65 student volunteers/interns to serve as peer mentors to other students, serving the entire campus community of 6,085 students. During their “Save the Bees” week of action, SOU OSPIRG collected over 750 petitions asking the Environmental Protection Agency to protect bees and other pollinators by placing a moratorium on neonicotinoids, a pesticide that is contributing to millions of bees dying off. During fall term they collected a grand total of 1,163 petitions! Moving forward they will be pivoting to channel this support in to statewide efforts in spring to pass a bill in the Oregon state legislature to ban neonics in the state. OSPIRG also gathered more than 1,100 food and clothing items during the quarter, held multiple food drives, and helped organize several events on campus including a “Trick or Treat for Cans”, spoke at the Environmental Quality Conference, helped with multiple non-profits in the area, and sent letters to the editor about stopping the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms. Additionally, OSPIRG released two reports that each detail a pressing issue on college campuses and include data from our school. “Access Denied” shows the financial and educational impacts that the cost of textbooks can have on college students (Follow link to "Access Denied"), while “Hunger on Campus” documents the far-too-expansive problem of campus food insecurity and its impact on students (Follow link to "Hunger on Campus").

https://inside.sou.edu/crc/driveless/index.html https://inside.sou.edu/thefarm/index.html http://sou.edu/sustainable/recycling.html https://www.facebook.com/SOUOSPIRG/?ref=page_internal