Friday February 28
8:30
Session I-Concurrent Sessions
Track 1: Taking Stock/Getting Started
Leveraging the Power of Students through a Comprehensive Internship Program
Session presenter: Ben Kalscheur, Texas A&M University
(TRACS – Internship Program)
Starting an Office of Sustainability can be daunting, however, by leveraging the most renewable resource of all, students, we can push sustainability efforts forward. We can engage our campus in ways we could never do on our own and provide invaluable experience and opportunity to our students. Texas A&M will share the strategies used, successes and challenges faced, and lessons learned during our efforts to build and stabilize a Sustainability Internship Program. In particular, we will discuss the importance of providing unique opportunities that foster personal growth by valuing diversity and inclusion, developing structure to stabilize the program and get the most out of student interns, how to address problems that arise in the management of student interns, and facilitating a growing program on a small and often static budget. After sharing our experiences we hope to engage the audience in a conversation about the strategies, successes, and challenges they have faced in their own programs.
texascampussustainability.com 