Title
Update on Student Council Sustainability Officer Program
Description
This report provides information on the transfer of the Student Council Sustainability Officer Program managed by the Office of Sustainability to Arizona State University (ASU).
Report
Summary
For the past 11 years, the City of Phoenix has hosted the Student Council Sustainability Officers Program (SCSO), a unique form of student engagement that aims to develop sustainability leaders, improve civic engagement, and embed sustainability on participating campuses by amending Student Council Constitutions to add an elected Sustainability Officer (SO) position. Using problem solving skills, SOs identify environmental challenges at their schools, and work with their student body to increase environmental stewardship.
The City of Phoenix launched the SCSO Program in 2013 at Bioscience High School in Phoenix Union School District (PXU) one of the largest, most diverse secondary education school districts in Arizona, and by 2018 had expanded the program to 13 schools in PXU, servicing nearly 20,000 students through online educational resources, sustainability workshops, and funding opportunities. In partnership with ASU Sustainable Cities Network (SCN), participating schools began developing and participating in an annual Sustainability Challenge. Topics varied (i.e. Food and Fitness, Greenest Prom, Water Conservation, Fashion for the Future, etc.) and focused on the City’s 2050 goals. The challenges have brought awareness of environmental sustainability issues through a competition that awarded winning schools $5,000 for embedding or enhancing sustainability projects on their campus. The program also created a “Greening Events Guide for Schools” to help students lower the environmental impacts of school events such as Homecoming, Prom, Sporting Events, etc., and support student led change for urban, rural and community schools.
Expansions efforts outside of PXU began in late 2022, with the inclusion of the first middle school in the SCSO Program, Morris K. Udall in Isaac School District followed by Tempe starting the program with one of their six high schools and other districts expressing interest--Mesa, Chandler and Tolleson. In 2023, the City received a $50,000 grant from the Gila River Indian Community to assist with SCSO expansion efforts. New schools were eligible for $1,000 to $2,000 in grant funding, serving as an introduction to SOs and sustainability project implementation.
Since the expansion, the SCSO Program now services 30 schools across Arizona for a total of 40,000 students. Schools range from K-12 districts to private and charter schools, in Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tempe, Mesa, and San Carlos.
Next Steps
With many of the newly participating schools residing outside of the City of Phoenix, the SCSO Program sought alternative institutions in order to continue servicing all schools and students. Considering the assistance that ASU had contributed towards the SCSO Program to date, ASU was the primary candidate to take over the program, specifically, the ASU College of Global Futures. ASU leadership has agreed to host this program statewide starting in late January 2025, and enhance the program by introducing students to sustainability degree programs, workshops, scholarship opportunities, environmentally-focused courses, and workforce experience. Through the ASU College of Global Futures, the SCSO can be scaled to each Arizona school and serve as a unique model of student leadership, civic engagement, and campus enhancements that could be replicated nationwide.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Office of Sustainability.