Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.44
Liaison Andrea Trimble
Submission Date March 4, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Virginia
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.46 / 4.00 Lela Garner
Sustainability Coordinator
Office for Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer, sustainability educators program

Number of students enrolled for credit:
23,460

Total number of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
18,000

Percentage of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program:
76.73

1st program

Name of the student educators program (1st program):
Sustainability Advocates

A brief description of the student educators program (1st program):
The mission of the UVA Sustainability Advocates (SA) Program is to link the Office for Sustainability to the student body and to use our ideas and projects to instill knowledge, empower students, and create sustainable lifestyle changes. The SA Program allows volunteers to develop an understanding of energy & water conservation, recycling, and other green habits. They promote these issues throughout the University, act as a source of information for their peers, and help to foster a sense of community and stewardship for the planet. SAs meet weekly throughout the entire year and play a major role in peer-to-peer education on a variety of topics. Some example events include: vegetarian cooking classes, BYOMug tabling events, community garden workdays, and more.

All Sustainability Advocates go through an orientation at the beginning of the semester to acquaint the participants to sustainability at UVA. Students review UVA's sustainability plan, learn about current and existing programs and discuss effective engagement strategies. The SAs also participate in bi-weekly workshops that help advance engagement efforts - some examples include how to effectively table and how to discuss sustainability/climate change in an accessible manner.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (1st program):
SAs work to engage all undergraduate students on Grounds through regular tabling, outreach events, and online communications.

Number of trained student educators (1st program):
40

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (1st program):
30

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (1st program):
2

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (1st program):
2,530

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (1st program):

If reporting students served by additional peer-to-peer programs, provide:

2nd program

Name of the student educators program (2nd program):
UVA Residential Eco-leaders

A brief description of the student educators program (2nd program):
The Residential Eco-Leaders program is an opportunity for residential students to advocate for sustainability in dorm spaces. Eco-leaders are official members of their dorm's Association Council and serve as the communications liaison between UVA's Office for Sustainability and their peers. The program introduces participants to all things sustainability at UVA and teaches important skills of being a successful sustainability advocate. There are 1-2 eco-leaders selected per association council. These eco-leaders are expected to attend Association Council meetings, as well as the bi-weekly Eco-leaders meeting hosted by UVA's Office of Sustainability student engagement team. At the bi-weekly meetings, students can anticipate a quick sustainability-related workshop or lesson, an overview of upcoming events and opportunities, and a discussion of how eco-leaders can best promote these sustainability-related events and be a resource for their peers. Examples of events include: plastic bag collection event, food drives, the Dorm Energy Race, and more.

UVA Residential Eco-leaders attend an orientation at the start of the semester to review UVA Sustainability goals, learn about existing and future programs, and discuss best practices in community engagement and communication.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (2nd program):
Each Residential Community (dorm) at UVA has at least 1-2 Eco-leader representatives. The Eco-leaders are responsible for communicating with all students living in their dorm spaces.

Number of trained student educators (2nd program):
22

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (2nd program):
30

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (2nd program):
2

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (2nd program):
1,320

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (2nd program):

If reporting students served by three or more peer-to-peer programs, provide:

3rd program 

Name of the student educators program (3rd program):
Sustainability Student Employee Program (SSEs)

A brief description of the student educators program (3rd program):
Sustainability Student Employees are committed to making sustainability part of the University community. The students work in teams to address four key areas of sustainability: Recycling, Energy & Water, Student Outreach and UVa Sustainability Promotion. Through various events and programs, the student employees coordinate & communicate the University’s sustainability efforts and educate their peers on ways to be more sustainable. Current Programs include:
• Sustainability Advocates Program
• UVa Sustainability Days
• Zero Waste Athletics
• Dorm Energy Race
• Recyclemania
• World Water Week
• Earth Week
• Hoos ReUse

Sustainability Student Employees participate in an extensive day-long training to walk through the ins and outs of sustainability on Grounds. SSEs cover topics from event planning to effective communication to community-building best practices.

A brief description of the student educators program’s target audience (3rd program):
SSEs work to engage all students on Grounds, with a strong emphasis on the undergraduate population. Many events and programs also involve community partnerships and are open to the public.

Number of trained student educators (3rd program):
16

Number of weeks the student educators program is active annually (3rd program):
35

Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per trained student educator (3rd program):
8

Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (3rd program):
4,480

Website URL where information about the student educators program is available (3rd program):

Additional programs 

A brief description of all other student peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs:
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Number of trained student educators (all other programs):
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Number of weeks, on average, the student educators programs are active annually (all other programs):
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Average or expected number of hours worked weekly per student educator (all other programs) :
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Total number of hours worked annually by trained student educators (all other programs):
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Part 2. Educator hours per student served by a peer-to-peer educator program

Grand total number of hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators (all programs):
8,330

Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per student served by a peer-to-peer program:
0.46

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the student sustainability educators programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.