Students can earn green by going green

08/27/2024

Red is green at SUNY Cortland.

And Megan Swing, in her newly created position of energy and sustainability engagement coordinator, is looking for about 10 Red Dragons to help spread that message as Green Reps for the 2024-25 school year.

The student Green Reps will get paid for working to inspire more earth-friendly lifestyles through peer-to-peer environmental education programs that will lead to a more eco-friendly and sustainable campus and lifelong behaviors.

"We are looking for students to bring sustainability to the campus community," said Swing, appointed recently by the university's Facilities Management Office. She said students interested in becoming Green Rep employees can find out the details and apply using their myRedDragon credentials at this secure link.

Green Reps will educate Cortland's campus community by:

• developing sustainability communications and outreach campaigns, such as newsletter articles
• hosting programs inside and outside of the residence halls
• collaborating to create campuswide events each semester

Formally known as the Green Representative Program, Swing is revitalizing the successful campus sustainability initiative after it was scaled back during the COVID-19 pandemic as students studied remotely and avoided social gatherings for public health reasons. Sponsored by Residence Life and Housing and Facilities Management, the program is run through the campus Sustainability Office.

A Green Rep isn't specific to any major or minor. Swing recommends that students who are interested in working to make the campus - and the world - more sustainable and environmentally literate should apply to become a Green Rep.

"Anyone who is passionate about environmental and social issues and who wants to learn more and make an impact is encouraged to apply," Swing said. "Through this work, a student could make a difference on campus and in the Cortland community and develop professional leadership, event planning, communication and peer education skills."

Swing, who joined Facilities Management this past summer, takes over sustainability promotional duties managed in the past by Matthew Brubaker, campus energy manager.

The former project manager of the Environmental Dashboard at Oberlin College since September 2023, Swing also served Arizona State University's The Cronkite Agency as public relations specialist as part of earning her Master of Mass Communication there in 2023 with a focus on strategic communications and a concentration in environmental communications. Swing also served as a graduate assistant at Arizona State. She has a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College, where she double majored in environmental science and sustainability and Spanish, and interned with the Office of Sustainability. A Phi Beta Kappa student at Allegheny, she graduated summa cum laude and was president of the Phi Sigma Iota honor society for students of modern and classical foreign languages.

A native of Ontario County in New York state, Swing served between May 2020 and August 2021 as a lead watercraft steward with the Finger Lakes Institute, practicing her interview, survey and communication skills by having one-one-one educational conversations about aquatic invasive species in the Finger Lakes and how those who use the lakes can prevent furthering their spread.

While students were on summer break, Swing has been developing the fall edition of the Sustainability Office's newsletter, Keeping it Green. Green Reps will use this in their promotional activities. Swing also has begun work on the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) report for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

For more information, contact Swing at 607-753-5582.

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