an experience: 2010 acpa institute on sustainability empowering students to lead a sustainability...
TRANSCRIPT
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
learningobjectives
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.”
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Sus
tain
abili
ty
Economy
Environment
SocialJustice
Minimizing CostsConserving ResourcesResearch and Development
Pollution PreventionPreservation of natural environments
Equality and EquityStandard of LivingEducationCommunity
Maximizing Profit
what issustainability?
millennial studentsand sustainability
what makes the sustainability model appealing to this generation of students?
economy
social justice
environment
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millennialstudents
“Meet the Millennials, born in or after 1982”… to about 2002. “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)
1982 2002
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 on empowerment
relational leadershipmodel
“…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, 2007. “Racial Microagressionsin Everyday Life: Implications for Clinical Practice.” American Psychologist. 273.
Forth coming book by the same author, Microaggressionsin Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation.
micro-aggressions
experiential sustainabilityopportunities
Importance of developing experiential sustainability opportunities
hands on
activity
relationships
global citizenship
student-ledinitiatives
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
seireport card 2008
http://www.greenreportcard.org/
from the maroon bike project
designed by first-year landscape studentsfinal design by Bryan landscape architect
act student-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, 2009Why: To educate the student body about sustainability and empower them to take action.Where: Rudder Plaza, Texas A&M UniversityCost: No cost to RHA, the Office of Sustainability covered equipment rental activities.
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questions
comments
discussion
references
Greenburg, E. Generation we: How millennial youth are taking over America and changing our world forever. 2007.
Neil Howe, William Strauss. Millennials rising : the next great generation. 2000.
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, 2006.
Sustainability Endowments Institute. The green college report card. Massachusetts, 2008. Retrieved Date February 17, 2009. http://www.greenreportcard.org
Jean M. Twenge. Generation me. New York: Free Press, 2006.
higher educationand 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