Student Sustainability Leader

University of St Thomas • Saint Paul, MN

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Office of Sustainability Initiatives is seeking students to join its Student Sustainability Leadership Program (SSLP) and serve as student leaders for the 2026-2027 academic year. The position will begin in September 2026. SSLP is designed to prepare the next generation of sustainability leaders by providing hands-on experience with sustainability projects. Student Sustainability Leaders will work to assess, implement, and promote sustainability-focused projects, events, and initiatives at the University of St. Thomas. The leaders will help to advance the University's sustainability goals by conducting educational outreach and fostering active engagement of students, faculty, and staff in sustainability initiatives. The program will focus on campus sustainability in several areas such as waste reduction, energy conservation, carbon neutrality, and sustainable transportation (walking, biking, busing, etc.). To prepare student leaders for these tasks, SSLP will provide some training and materials throughout the semester on topics surrounding campus sustainability and student leadership. The Office of Sustainability Initiatives will identify project priorities for the semester, which may include the following types of activities: sustainability assessments, developing and piloting new initiatives, multi-week competitions/challenges, creating educational materials, outreach campaigns, hosting information tables, and hosting events. Examples of projects from the 2025-2026 academic year include conducting outreach on smart salting, coordinating and hosting events for Campus Sustainability Month and Sustainability Week, establishing the Games and Puzzles Shelf, etc.

Requirements

• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Ability to commit to an average of 8 - 10 work hours per week during business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm) with occasional night and weekend requirements
• Available to attend team and one-on-one check-in meetings
• Demonstrated interest in sustainability and environmental topics
• Strong ability to communicate and engage with students across diverse backgrounds and interests
• Proactive, detail-oriented, collaborative, and committed to follow through
• Experience or coursework in at least two of the following areas: oral and written communication, teamwork, outreach, design, education, engineering, environmental studies, environmental science, entrepreneurship, event planning, leadership, marketing, management, sustainability
• Students of all years, majors, and residential status are encouraged to apply
• Degree seeking at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.
• Actively enrolled at least part-time in courses for credit.

Nice To Haves

• Preference will be given to candidates who can commit to prioritizing this work above other non-academic obligations.
• Seeks candidates who can commit to working for the entire duration of the academic year.

Responsibilities

• Organize and facilitate events, projects, and campaigns to promote sustainable behaviors on campus. These projects may address topics including, but not limited to: Reuse and waste reduction, Energy and water conservation, Transportation options, Sustainable living and dining.
• Design and lead own projects that may align with their own interests pertaining to campus sustainability.
• Support creation of signage, posters, and guides to promote campus sustainability and use them to conduct educational outreach.
• Proactively and regularly communicate and collaborate with diverse groups of students about sustainability events on campus and actions they can take in their own lives.
• Explore and advance collaboration opportunities with student clubs, organizations, and university departments.
• Track and record metrics from events, initiatives, and outreach to quantify the impact of SSLP’s efforts.
• Document activities completed, reflections, and lessons learned.
• Complete all work in the SSLP office located in ASC during weekly scheduled office hours and attend all SSLP training sessions and meetings, approximately once per week.
• Fully dedicate office hours to SSLP work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed