University of California, Merced
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Energize Colleges is a branch program from the non-profit organization Strategic Energy Innovations. The program supports a network of community and institutional partners that prepare students to become leaders in the energy economy. The objective of the program is to develop student's knowledge, skills, and experience for energy and green workforce options by providing them with real world projects and experiences. Although many of the internships provided through the Energize Colleges Program consisted of living laboratory research projects, there were outreach interns that provided energy and water conservation campaigns on the campus that impacted behavior changes and initiatives that saved water and energy within the campus. Additionally, the Energize Colleges Fellow, a recent university graduate who manages and coordinates the program provides outreach and engagement in the community, and on campus about sustainability efforts and current projects.

The Energize College Fellow was interviewed and hired through the Office of Sustainability. The interns were selected via an interview from the campus Energize Colleges Fellow. All students, educators, and partners of the program are selected based on energize colleges 8 career pathways listed below. • Energy Engineering • Environmental Controls Technology • Solar • Installation & Maintenance • Energy Auditing • Energy Storage • Energy & Environmental Management • Building Construction & Architecture

The Energize Colleges Fellow is brought up to speed about the program from the office of sustainability. The interns receive a group training from Energize Colleges’ campus fellow before they start their internships. The students meet weekly with their supervisors and the Energize Colleges fellow monthly. These opportunities have provided the necessary skills, education, and practices for peer outreach.

Each intern is paid $14/hr and is expected to work 75-96 hours over the course of one semester. Supervisors can apply for faculty grants for materials. The Energize Colleges fellow is provided a monthly stipend.

The EcoRep Program is a sustainability peer to peer educator program that focuses on educating students on sustainable practices that benefit both on and off campus communities and the environment. EcoReps encourage behaviors in the following environmental disciplines: resources and waste management, energy efficiency, and water conservation. The EcoReps have also supported outreach and engagement throughout the entire campus. Example of EcoRep outreach activities and events have included, zero waste event training's, careers in sustainable transportation, sustainability career panel. These outreach activities were promoted through social media and tabling events. Another example of EcoRep outreach efforts include encouraging both residents and the campus constituency to participate in the campus community garden. Both residents and community members can volunteer to maintain the garden and participate in harvest days. The Ecoreps also have a strong presence at Campus Sustainability Day and Earth Day, where students are provided information on sustainable living both on and off campus.

Student educators are selected through interviews. The Ecorep program looks for students who are actively engaged and have a passion for sustainability. Minimum requirements include: · Excellent organizational skills including the ability to handle multiple tasks and job functions · Demonstrate excellent teamwork skills · Demonstrate initiative and creativity · Ability to work proactively and independently · Enthusiasm, motivation, and a positive attitude.

EcoReps receive intense orientation where they learn about the program and ways to increase residential environmental friendliness. EcoReps also learn about current environmental issues, how that affects residence lives, and solutions they can implement.

The EcoRep Program and Eco-Rep interns are supported financially by the UC Merced Housing and Sustainability departments.

The Global Food Initiative (GFI) Ambassadors' role and project incorporates identifying how to increase student and public awareness on food security, health, and sustainability. The GFI Ambassador leads campuswide student engagement and communications efforts for the initiative. The role also draws on perspectives toward open dialogue within UC Merced and among UC campuses. The Carbon Neutrality Engagement Fellows role is to work with their campus sustainability office and staff to communicate UC‐wide sustainability goals and programs, and to engage undergraduate, and graduate students in programming efforts. The Carbon Neutrality Engagement Fellow's efforts should enable and empower students to provide feedback about campus and UC‐wide sustainability programs.

Fellows were selected by the office of sustainability through applications.

The GFI Ambassador and CNI Engagement Fellow were brought up to speed by the office of sustainability on campus-wide efforts, and progress on each initiative to support their engagement activities.

Both the GFI Ambassador and CNI Engagement Fellow position's are funded through the UC Office of the President. The students are offered a stipend for the Academic Year.

The number of students reflected are from Academic Year 2017-2018. For more information please visit: https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/student-involvement/index.html https://ucop.edu/carbon-neutrality-initiative/cni-fellows/index.html