10/5/2021

Present: Stacy Gloss and Eric Green

Background:

8.5 [iSEE] By FY23, collaborate with colleges and community groups to inventory existing certification opportunities for green jobs and identify gaps.

• • Review findings from student research about green job opportunities
  • Assist iSEE staff to complete this inventory
    • Deliverable: provide inventory content to iSEE communications team by 1/31/22
    • Deliverable: update iCAP Portal inventory page with link to iSEE page by 3/15/22

Meeting Notes:

Stacy and Eric discussed a wide range of topics related to green jobs including the background and tasks related to iSEE 8.5.  Connection was made that Objective 8.5 is linked by category of “green jobs” to:

iCAP Objective 6.4 - “Develop a sustainability internship program through partnering with businesses, nonprofits, local government, and cultural institutions in Central Illinois. The total number of internships awarded will be reported each year.” The responsible campus unit for championing this objective is iSEE. Progress is tracked in the iCAP Portal project page for the Sustainability Internship Program

iCAP Objective 6.5 ““Partner with The Career Center and potentially other career offices in FY22 to help students explore and discover career opportunities that are connected to professional interests and goals related to sustainability. Incorporate a sustainability component at a minimum of two events beginning in FY22.” The responsible campus unit for championing this objective is Career Center with the support of iSEE. Progress is tracked in the iCAP Portal project page for Sustainability at Career Fairs.”

In Spring 2021, Carissa Mysliwiec was as ENVS 491: Campus Sustainability Intern who worked with instructor Eric Green to focus on designing a sustainability internship program as part of Objective 6.4.

In our discussion we talked about high-level barriers to internship programs:

• Interns need significant guidance
• Pay is an issue, who will pay $3,000 - $4,000 for a summer intern?
• Businesses don’t always identify sustainability needs 

We also discussed the challenges of identifying green jobs for the purposes of a creating a green-jobs fair or a sustainable jobs fair. What identifies green jobs? This topic should be explored further.  Talk to SECS, perhaps? How are students defining green jobs today?

During the conversation Stacy pitched an entry-level paid program (post-graduation internship?) to be staffed for 1-2 years by recent graduates to help organizations build capacity, set targets and meet goals. This would be full-time work in lower-level/entry-level positions that serve as a spring board to sustainability careers.

Stacy presented a Green Certifications Excel document she started working on.  Next steps would be to ask for campus & community input to answer questions such as:  Are these certifications offered here @UIUC or locally?  Who from campus is involved, can be a contact, or serve as a resource? What kind of jobs do people get with the certifications? Who hires locally? How do we prevent locally trained folks from leaving, what incentives are there to stay once advanced certifications are achieved?

Eric will see if there are any students that might want to do some of the legwork involved in bolstering the green certifications list.

We'll stay in touch and set up a meeting for about a month from now.