an experience: 2010 acpa institute on sustainability empowering students to lead a sustainability movement seattle university dustin grabsch

Sustainable practices are a growing trend within the business realm; however, our students have latched onto this growing movement and are influencing sustainable practices at our colleges and universities. How do you create powerful and memorable experiences to inspire sustainable behaviors, allow them to evaluate their own routines, spark meaningful dialogue, and keep them thinking about their experiences well after the event concludes? Learn how one Residence Hall Association influenced the mobilization of the sustainability movement on a larger level.

to begin, a question

learning objectives after this presentation participants will be able to: Understand the importance of creating and developing experiential sustainability opportunities for student leaders Understand current sustainability trends in residence halls and, more specifically, higher education institutions. Identify characteristics of the Millennial Generation as they relate to the sustainability movement Discuss and explain the changes in leadership style - to a more relational model - for this generation and how this relates to programming/student organizations in higher education Discuss implications and resources relating to each of the “bottom line” components and the “WIIFM.”

$   Sustainability Economy Environment Social Justice Minimizing Costs Conserving Resources Research and Development Pollution Prevention Preservation of natural environments Equality and Equity Standard of Living Education Community Maximizing Profit what is sustainability?

millennial students and sustainability what makes the sustainability model appealing to this generation of students? economy social justice environment $  

millennial students “Meet the Millennials, born in or after 1982”… to about “They are more affluent, better educated, and more ethnically diverse. More importantly they are beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans not longer associate with youth, including teamwork, achievement, modesty, and good conduct.” (Howe and Strauss 2000) “A new generation is poised to seize the reins of history. It’s a generation unique in history—the Millennial generation. Born between 1978 and 2000, the Millennials currently include 95 million young people up to 30 years of age—the biggest age cohort in U.S. history.” (Greenburg 2007)

Special: particularly evident when you look at the relationship that many Millennials have with their parents Sheltered: protecting this generation from possible harm particularly by giving them rules and expectations Confident: helped by the optimism of this generation and their potential future success Team-oriented: focus on cooperative efforts and a desire to make a difference in their communities Conventional: a return to traditionalism Pressured: the emphasis on being special creates a higher level of pressure for this generation Achieving: living up to the expectations that generation will do great things 7 characteristics

Purpose: Linking the rationale for the training and its application to their work, finding ways to integrate ongoing training and development into their daily work, creating opportunities for reflection on the learning and application of the learning into their daily work Collaborate: Team orientation, involving the individuals in group work, lessens the potential for individual failure when the training creates opportunities for group work, consider different pedagogies that will engage and involve the staff in the training session, identify the social dynamics of your audience when planning training Training: Go beyond the Powerpoint, look for software or other applications that can be integrated into training, use of YouTube and other video-based websites, training modules so that staff can work at their own pace or receive training/re-training based on their experience level Mentoring: Teaching Millennials to mentor their peers, relationship- building, continuing the mentoring relationship, creating training partners/”buddies” ideas onempowerment

relational leadership model Process - Oriented Inclusive Empowering Ethical Purposeful

“…microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative … slights and insults to the target person or group. They are not limited to human encounters alone but may also be environmental in nature.” D. Sue, “Racial Microagressionsin Everyday Life: Implications for Clinical Practice.” American Psychologist Forth coming book by the same author, Microaggressionsin Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. micro- aggressions

experiential sustainability opportunities Importance of developing experiential sustainability opportunities hands on activity relationships global citizenship

student-led initiatives aggies going green big belly systems energy challenge organic t-shirts office sustainability guide division of student affairs initiative national campus sustainability day policy (student fee) student organization creation of task teams

sei report card 2008 Overall Grade Administration Climate Change & Energy Food & Recycling Green Building Student Involvement Transportation Endowment Transparency Investment Priorities Shareholder Engagement TAMUC+CCCBCBABF UTC+BCCBBBACF PurdueB-CCBCCBAAD U of FloridaB+ABAAAADAD UNCB+ABAABADA-- UC-BerkleyBAAABAADBF U of IllinoisB-BBBACBACF U of WisconsinBCCABCBABB

from the maroon bike project designed by first-year landscape students final design by Bryan landscape architect actstudent-led initiatives free bike tune-ups, live music, speakers

educational component: campus sustainability day.edu National Campus Sustainability Day: “Sustainability is Sexy”: What:An event that featured live music, speakers, a green fashion show, a live webcast, and over 30 student, academic, administrative and community organizations When:October 21, 2009 Why:To educate the student body about sustainability and empower them to take action. Where:Rudder Plaza, Texas A&M University Cost:No cost to RHA, the Office of Sustainability covered equipment rental activities. -

questions comments discussion

presenter contact the website rha.tamu.edu Dustin Grabsch

references Greenburg, E. Generation we: How millennial youth are taking over America and changing our world forever Neil Howe, William Strauss. Millennials rising : the next great generation Susan R. Komives, Nance Lucas, and Timothy R. McMahon. Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference (2nd edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Sustainability Endowments Institute. The green college report card. Massachusetts, Retrieved Date February 17, Jean M. Twenge. Generation me. New York: Free Press, 2006.

higher education and sustainability Identify existing campus initiatives Learn from peer institutions AASHE - Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Involve stakeholder groups Sustainability & Environmental Management Committee (SEM) Work with faculty & student organizations Create Sustainability Master Plan