Texas A&M University
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications

The Office of Sustainability manages multiple social media accounts devoted to educating about sustainability on-campus and the grand challenges the world is facing. We use the accounts to build community, advertise for events and opportunities, and to support our partners. You can find us on (Instagram/Facebook/LinkedIn) @sustainableTAMU and on YouTube. Content creation is a collaboration between Student Interns and Office Staff. https://linktr.ee/tamusustainability

The Department of Residence Life has multiple avenues for educating residents on sustainability within the department and across campus. Facebook and Instagram, under the name Aggies Going Green, are widely used to share news articles, promote initiatives hosted by the department and campus partners, as well as to educate students on sustainable swaps they can make in their lives. In addition, the social media pages are used to highlight students and student organizations that are dedicated to promoting sustainability throughout the A&M community. Instagram is used for more visual content and infographics, while Facebook is used to bulk information and engaging articles.

The department also utilizes bulk email as an efficient way of sharing information to not just residents, but the campus as a whole, on initiatives such as the Trex Plastic Film Challenge, Sustainability Dinner & Awards, and e-waste recycling bins. Updates are also presented to the entire Division of Student Affairs and articles are submitted to both regional and national organizations like ACUHO-I.

The Office of Sustainability produces a biannual newsletter to promote the Aggie Green Fund. The newsletter is posted on the Aggie Green Fund website at greenfund.tamu.edu.

The Office of Sustainability produces a monthly newsletter for members of the Aggie Sustainability Alliance that includes sustainable living tips and campus sustainability information and opportunities.

The University has installed educational signs in several places throughout campus highlighting sustainable strategies. These installed signs include the following locations: the rain garden in front of the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, at the roof top gardens on the Mitchell Physics Building and the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, the rain silos at the AgriLife Center, and more. There is a developed standard template for the signs, including the types of information required. These signs try to be more graphic in representation, aided by brief written explanations. Overall dimensions of the signs are roughly 31 inches by 24 inches and are installed on a ground stake at a slight angle for easy readability.

The Sustainability Master Plan for the Department of Residence Life also incorporates wayfinding metrics and standards.

Texas A&M's interactive campus map includes a sustainability layer that highlights features on campus including bike racks, electric vehicles, recycling, and sustainable features and buildings.

The map can be accessed here: https://www.tamu.edu/map/index.html

Residence Life reviews and edits an On-Campus Living Sustainability Guide that outlines how residents can be more sustainable while living on campus. The full guide can be found at https://reslife.tamu.edu/living/sustainability/. It provides an overview of campus entities that work to make sustainability an Aggie tradition, tips on how to make each part of their life more sustainable (from academics to living), as well as contact information for campus leadership. The guide serves as a companion piece to the Green Dorm Certification program to which residents can apply. The outline of the certification can be found at https://reslife.tamu.edu/living/sustainability/green-dorm/. For the second year, the Residential Housing Association in conjunction with the Aggie Eco-Reps, has sponsored a "Green Dorm Challenge" for the month of October. Students take the self-assessment on the website and are awarded a sticker based on points earned at acorn, seedling or post oak levels. The challenge rewards residential communities by largest numbers of Green Dorm assessments taken, as well as the largest percentage of residents who have completed the assessment.

The Aggie Eco-Reps have created bulletin boards that are displayed in residential communities on a rotating (as requested) basis and crafted digital bulletin board packets that Resident Advisors can request to print on their own. Additionally, on the back of room doors is a sticker prompting awareness of sustainability, with a QR code that links to the Residence Life Sustainability page. Many rooms with individual thermostats have stickers about the campus comfort range of 72-77 degrees (F). Bathrooms with dual flush toilets are appropriately labeled as well to encourage appropriate use. Finally, the Department of Residence Life has also created a "Green Dorm Certification" program, in which students have the opportunity to share about their habits and commitments to living a sustainable lifestyle through an online survey. This information is compiled, graded against a rubric, and the student is provided a placard to display on their room door denoting their commitment to sustainable practice.

In addition to the programs outlined above, the Department of Residence Life utilizes passive forms of education to engage students. This has been done through various stickers placed around the residence halls, including on the back of doors outlining how they can reduce their energy consumption, light switch stickers reminding residents to turn off the lights when they leave, and informative signs on dual-flush toilets. We are also working with Utilities & Energy Services to send out mock bills to on-campus residents to educate them on their consumption and provide recommendations on how it can be reduced. The Department of Residence Life has also made available a series of posters focused on different aspects of sustainability. These were created as part of the department's Sustainability Master Plan.

https://reslife.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/SUSTAINABILITY_ResLife_Sustainability_Plan.pdf --> direct link to the Residence Life Sustainability Master Plan - Plan is down for maintenance at time of this report's publishing and are expected to be back online in the near future.
https://linktr.ee/tamusustainability - Office of Sustainability Social Media Links