Student Environmental Leadership Training
Heifer Ranch - Perryville, AR
October 13-15, 2000

Twenty student interns from 13 ACS institutions attended the October 13-15, 2000 training workshop at Heifer Ranch. The program was facilitated by Cindy Stokes, Damon Waitt & Kim Thurlow. Training sessions included The Ideal Intern, Collaboration: Discovering the Strengths of Faculty, Staff, Administration & Students, Planning Projects & Activities, Outreach & Involvement< & ACS Collaboration. Additionally, the group participated in the Global Village experience to enhance group bonding, as well as to reinforce the subject of global sustainability.

The goal of this workshop was to enhance the structure & effectiveness of the ACS environmental internship program through effective intern leadership training & collaboration. Interns gained skills to facilitate positive & effective environmental projects & activities on their campuses, & participated in strategy sessions in which they discovered ways to capitalize on faculty, staff, administration & student strengths as a way to overcome potential obstacles when working with different campus interests. Additionally, students explored strategies for recruiting & advertising campus initiatives, & learned how to develop project ideas that appeal to their campus communities. By the end of the weekend, the interns had developed a strong support network.

Collaboration

In following with the ACS goals to enhance collaboration among ACS institutions, this workshop provided the opportunity for inter-institutional collaborative projects, while allowing the sharing of previous ideas & experiences. This educated the group about past successes & failures, while providing a resource base & bonding experience simultaneously. Most interns commented that they plan on looking to one another for advice, ideas & support in the coming academic year.

Skills & Leadership

This workshop provided interns with the skills they will need to effectively organize events, activities, & projects, as well as general leadership skills.

Expectations

We reviewed the role of the student intern & ACS internship expectations, which include a preliminary plan of action, monthly updates & semester updates. Also, interns were informed that they are expected to provide assistance to the ACS environmental fellow & any ACS projects on their campus, & to contribute to periodic requests for articles or information for the quarterly environmental newsletter & for the ACS web site.