AASHE Conference 2012
Los Angeles, California

 Which do you identify with more:
 Student Affairs Professional
 Sustainability Professional
 Both of the above equally
 What are you trained as:
 Student Affairs Professional
 Sustainability Professional
 Training? I was thrown into this!

The 30 second rendition…

PLANET
PEOPLE
PROSPERITY
(profit)

social justice transportation water technology agriculture land use food waste recreation economic development conservation waste mg’t permaculture residential lifestyles construction compost energy use recycling service learning climate change wellness food security

Overview of theories and trends

 You don’t have to memorize all of this
 … respect it so you can utilize those in the student affairs profession at your institution.
 Student affairs professionals are theoretical, sustainability professionals are more hands-on
 … what a perfect collaboration! Join forces and use each other’s resources and skills!





Group Values:
• Collaboration
• Common
Purpose
• Controversy with Civility
Individual
Values:
• Consciousness of Self
• Congruence
• Commitment
Societal &
Community
Values:
• Citizenship

Developing
Competence
Managing
Emotions
Moving from
Autonomy to
Interdependence
Developing
Mature
Relationships
Establishing
Identity
Developing
Purpose
Developing
Integrity

Linking theory to practice

 At each of your tables is a folder containing two scenarios. Open the folder and, as a group, develop a solution to the issue at hand.
 The folders also contain Student
Development Theory Cheat Sheets. Be sure to consider these theories in your decision making and note which theories were used.
 10 minutes.
 You’ll be asked to share your solution in a
2-3 minute presentation.

 Your office experiences high numbers of volunteer sign-up at the beginning of each semester, but has poor retention rates.
 By the third week of the semester, you have usually invested approximately 30 hours to new student orientations.
 Such repetitive activity is causing you to burn out and make weaker investments in your students.
What procedures can you put into place to avoid burn-out but still harness the energy of the committed students?

Scenario #1:
Volunteer Management
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

Theory in Action:
Volunteer Management
 What did the institution do?
 Created a volunteer orientation event to occur 2x per semester
 What theories did they use to get here?
 Leadership identity, servant leadership, social learning

Scenario #2:
Student Leadership Fatigue
 Your office sponsors a diverse set of events, programs and services annually.
 At the turn of each semester, you regularly lose one or more student leaders who implement the programs; their reasoning is consistently noted as: Burn-out.
 The constant loss of quality student assistance is causing your small staff to also feel the burden of programming.
What can you do, as the manager of these students and staff, to foster a healthier, more sustainable approach to programming that doesn’t cause students to burn out?

Scenario #2:
Student Leadership Fatigue
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

Theory in Action:
Student Leadership Fatigue
 What did the institution do?
 What theories did they use to get here?

 An Office of Sustainability performs and audit of events and notices a great deal of money being spent on programs with the same students attending all of them.
 Additionally, you receive feedback from other departments on campus that few are aware of the existence of an Office of Sustainability.
How does the office reach out to the greater campus community without an increase in staff or budget?

Scenario #3:
Program Outreach
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

 What did the institution do?
 Stopped hosting “events” and only facilitates “services” and
“programs.” Developed a mini-grant program
 What theories did they use to get here?

 Upon a program assessment exercise, you discover that a certain tradition of your office is costly, makes a small contribution to institutional greenhouse gas emissions, impacts only .2% of the student body and is stressful to your staff.
 Your student staff recognizes the drawbacks but also points out that many members of the community expressed deep appreciation for your office’s involvement.
What action, if any, do you take?

Scenario #4:
Program Scope
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

 What did the institution do?
 Eliminated the program
 What theories did they use to get here?

Scenario #5:
Sustainability Programming
 You are the Coordinator of Student Activities at a college.
 Your supervisor has instructed you to start programming with more “sustainability” initiatives in mind because she has been told
“sustainability” can be an excellent recruitment tool.
 You have no formal training in sustainability and your students give you a diverse set of definitions to the concept when you ask them about it.
What short-term and long-term planning can you create to accommodate this request with sincerity and intention?

Scenario #5:
Sustainability Programming
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

 What did the institution do?
 What theories did they use to get here?

 Human Resources is hesitant to provide detailed information for an upcoming STARS submission.
 You realize their hesitancy is tied to their lack of understanding of sustainability and that they are in need of a tailored definition of sustainability.
How do you explain sustainability to them to allow them to understand the connection between sustainability and equity?
What other offices may need a tailored definition?

Scenario#6:
Communicating Sustainability
 Group Presentation
 Define Case Study
 How would the group approach the issue?
 What theories were used in developing this solution?

Theory in Action:
Community Sustainability
 What did the institution do?
 Accessibility and Inclusion meeting, redefinition of office programs, change in communication process
 What theories did they use to get here?
 Ethic of Care/Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 Assessment of your current studentengagement practices
 Identifying your personal relevance to student affairs – what are you role modeling?
 Collaboration with other departments
 And, other institutions/communities
 Utilize collaboration to avoid professional burn-out.
 Adapting how you communicate sustainability and student engagement
 More meaningful student engagement
 Participation versus engagement