Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.69
Liaison Derek Nichols
Submission Date Nov. 20, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.1

University at Buffalo
PAE-15: Employee Sustainability Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.20 / 5.00 Erin Moscati
Environmental Educator
Office of Sustainability
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Total number of people employed by the institution:
15,188

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Program name (1st program) :
University at Buffalo Green Team

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Number of employees served by the program (1st program):
609

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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (1st program):
Interested persons must complete an online application, and obtain their supervisor’s written approval for program consideration. In most instances, applicants will be notified of the Office of Sustainability’s decision within 2 weeks of application submission. The application process for the Green Team formalizes individual commitment to the program, and helps to establish a structure for openly communicating with the supervisor of a Green Team member. To assist in obtaining supervisory approval, the Office of Sustainability will have form letters available for download on our website.

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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (1st program):
To maximize efficiency and effectiveness, orientations for our Green Team classes will occur at the beginning of each semester. All incoming Green Team members will participate in a single, group orientation session. Orientations are three hours and will provide an overview of sustainability initiatives at UB, define the intent of the Green Team program, introduce the concepts behind community based social marketing, explain the Green Team toolkits, and address general questions. At the beginning of each semester we will also host an introductory meeting to review goals and outline the campaign for the semester. While Green Team members will have the freedom to work on a variety of issues at any given time, each semester they will be provided with an on-line toolkit to help implement a specific campaign. One component of the toolkits is an audit survey, which once completed provides a baseline for Green Team members to measure sustainability initiatives against. Concentrating our efforts on a single campaign will not only increase the impact of our programing on campus, but it will help us track the results of our work. Topics for toolkits touch upon four specific priority areas within the realm of sustainability: energy conservation, materials reduction, transportation alternatives and social sustainability. These topics have been identified as priorities for Green Team members based upon a number of factors including, achievability. Within each of the four priority areas, individual surveys and tools to help Green Team members implement specific sustainability initiatives in their office setting have been developed.

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A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program (1st program):
The Office of Sustainability provides support, structure and recognition for Green Team members. Each year the Office of Sustainability will host: • Annual Retreat for Green Team members • Lunch & Learn Seminars • Green Team Awards Ceremony The annual retreat will be held at the conclusion of our programming year. The retreat will provide Green Team members an opportunity to reflect upon the campaigns implemented, address obstacles, and offer advice for future campaigns. Our Lunch & Learn seminars will consist of a 30 minute presentation, followed by a discussion. Seminars will focus on a variety of topics related to sustainability and may also feature guest speakers from both on and off campus. The Green Team awards ceremony will be held annually in conjunction with the campus Sustainability Awards. This event will be open to Green Team members, their supervisors, and invited guests. A portion of each year’s ceremony will be dedicated to recognizing the achievements of individual Green Team members.

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The website URL where information about the program is available (1st program):
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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (2nd program):
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A brief description of the financial or other support the institution provides to the program (2nd program):
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Program name(s) (all other programs):
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A brief description of how the employee educators are selected (all other programs):
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A brief description of the formal training that the employee educators receive (all other programs):
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A brief description of the staff and/or other financial support the institution provides to the program(s) (all other programs):
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The website URL where information about the program(s) is available (all other programs):
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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