University of Vermont
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The UVM Eco-rep program engages all university students in sustainability through peer-to-peer education that not only spreads awareness, but inspires behavioral change. Through this primary task and the research required to carry-out these tasks sufficiently, students gain professional and personal development skills (e.g. communication, leadership, organization, knowledge about sustainability topics) and facilitate progress toward sustainability topics important to students as well as institution-wide sustainability initiatives being coordinated by the Office of Sustainability, such as STARS, Zero-waste, Net-zero energy, UVM hearts water, and Real Food. Peer-to-peer outreach activities include tabling, speakers, movie screenings, dorm storming, art installations, and workshops. Some of these activities are carried out in the residence halls and primarily benefit undergraduate residential students, whereas some activities are carried out in the student center or academic buildings in order to be more accessible to all students, including commuters, graduate students, and others.

Student educators are selected through a comprehensive application process, including a written application, followed by one or two in-person interviews. Applicants are interviewed and reviewed by the office of sustainability’s education & outreach coordinator, as well as one or more current student Eco-rep managers. Applicants are scored using a rubric that attempts to gauge characteristics of reliability, work experience, potential to learn new skills, and passion for sustainability.

Eco-reps receive weekly training throughout their employment. When they are first hired, they receive a 4-8 hour initial, mandatory training to expose them to techniques for engaging their peers, communication strategies, professional work ethics, and basic information about the University’s current sustainability campaigns. The initial training is carried out by the sustainability office’s education & outreach coordinator, in collaboration with stakeholders from other departments on campus, such as the physical plant department. Training continues throughout the semester during weekly meetings, where Eco-reps are educated about specific aspects of current campaigns. Student Eco-rep managers take the lead on developing educational presentations to give to the Eco-reps and spend between 15-45 minutes presenting material at each meeting. For example, during the Net-zero campaign in the spring of 2016, student managers (with the help of other Eco-reps) gave presentations on actions people can take to reduce personal energy use, energy terminology, and what carbon neutrality is.

The University pays for the labor of 20 Eco-reps to work through the fall and spring semesters. The funding covers 7 hours of paid time per week for the student Eco-rep managers and 4.5 hours per week for the student Eco-rep change agents. Additionally, the University pays for approximately 40% of the full-time, sustainability education & outreach coordinator’s time to coordinate the program. A small amount of funding for supplies and outreach material comes from Residential Life, the Physical Plant Department, and the Office of Sustainability.

The data reported for this credit reflects the current state of the program as of August, 2016. The estimate of students served by the Eco-reps program includes undergraduate residential students, undergraduate off-campus students, and graduate students. However, it does not include students who are exclusively “distance education,” a total of 47 students in FY 2016. The estimate of hours per year of peer-to-peer outreach for the Eco-reps is based on managers working 7 hours per week and change agents working 4.5 hours per week for a total of 29 weeks per year or 14.5 weeks per semester. In FY 2016, Eco-reps worked over 1,400 hours for the spring semester and were on hiatus in the fall semester. In FY 2017, Eco-reps are expected to work over 2,800 hours as they will be employed for two full semesters. 2,800 hours per year is reported here as that is the expected amount of hours they will work moving forward.