Blueprint for Action
Research Questions
In literature on sustainability leadership in higher education, it’s known that coordination between sustainability-related organizations is effective in reaching sustainability goals. My question is whether at Harvard—where there are several peer education roles and organizations—there’s opportunity for coordination between REP and other student staff peer educators (e.g. DAPAs, CAREs, Women’s Center Interns, Quinterns, DPEs, OIE interns, etc.). For my project, my research questions are:
- How can REP and OFS learn from other university offices to improve its engagement strategies?
- What are potential avenues for coordination and collaboration between different offices and their student staff?
Field Work
To answer my questions, I conducted a series of interviews with members of REP, staff at the Office for Sustainability, and student staff in other peer educator roles.
Interview Type | Interviewee Roles | Interview Goals |
Informational REP Interviews | 3 House REPs, 1 Yard REP | Illustrate current REP engagement strategies from people on the ground |
Expert Interviews | 2 Office for Sustainability Staff Members involved in REP | Understand the goals that OFS staff have for student staff and how REP has evolved over time |
Informational Interviews with Non-REP Student Staff | CARE, DPE, DAPA, OIE Intern, QuIntern, Women’s center Intern | Learn how other university offices pursue their educational goals through student staff; explore potential avenues for collaboration and coordination between offices |
Findings
Between REPs and other non-REP student staff, there were a number of themes that emerged. In conversations around effective engagement, several interviewees mentioned:
- Gaining visibility through institutionalized pathways (e.g. Visitas and Orientation events)
- Partnership with student organizations
- 1:1 conversations, both in their role and in informal settings
There were also some barriers that were frequently discussed by interviewees, such as:
- Misunderstanding of the office or student staff role, and how to use them as resources
- Lack of incentive to attend peer engagement events
- Internal challenges of the organization (e.g. member retention)
Based on my field work, some ideas for building partnership and coordination between student staff in different offices are:
- Increased communication between peer education groups to learn from each other
- Build more understanding among peer educators about how their supervisors/staff members collaborate
- Many student staff members were aware that their supervisors meet regularly with staff members in different offices, but weren’t sure what their collaboration looks like
- Construct a guide to streamline information about university offices and their resources
- Create a house event for peer educators to meet each other and gain visibility in their house community