27.08.2024
Red is green at SUNY Cortland.
And Megan Swing, in her newly created position as Energy and Sustainability Engagement Coordinator, is looking for about 10 Red Dragons to serve as Green Reps in the 2024-25 school year to help spread that message.
Student Green Reps are paid to inspire greener lifestyles through peer-to-peer environmental education programs that lead to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable campus and lifelong behaviors.
“We’re looking for students who will bring sustainability to the campus community,” said Swing, who was recently appointed by the university’s Facilities Management Office. She said students interested in becoming Green Reps can learn the details and apply through this secure link using their myRedDragon login credentials.
Green Reps will train the Cortland campus community on:
- Development of sustainability communication and outreach campaigns, such as newsletter articles
- Implementation of programs inside and outside the dormitories
- Collaboration in organizing campus-wide events each semester
Swing, formerly known as the Green Representative Program, revives the campus’s successful sustainability initiative after it was scaled back during the COVID-19 pandemic as students learned remotely and avoided social gatherings for public health reasons. The program is sponsored by Residence Life and Housing and Facilities Management and implemented by the campus’s Sustainability Office.
A Green Rep is not limited to a specific major or minor. Swing encourages students who are interested in making the campus—and the world—more sustainable and environmentally conscious to apply to be a Green Rep.
“Anyone who is passionate about environmental and social issues and wants to learn more and make a difference is welcome to apply,” Swing said. “Through this work, a student can make an impact on campus and in the Cortland community and develop professional skills in leadership, event planning, communication and peer education.”
Swing, who joined Facilities Management last summer, will assume sustainability responsibilities that were previously led by Matthew Brubaker, the campus energy manager.
Swing, who has been the project manager of the Environmental Dashboard at Oberlin College since September 2023, also worked as a public relations specialist for The Cronkite Agency at Arizona State University in preparation for earning her Master of Mass Communication with a concentration in strategic and environmental communications in 2023. Swing has also worked as a graduate assistant at Arizona State. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College, where she double majored in environmental science and sustainability and Spanish and interned in the Office of Sustainability. A Phi Beta Kappa student at Allegheny, she graduated with honors and served as president of the Phi Sigma Iota honor society for students of modern and classical foreign languages.
A native of Ontario County, New York, Swing served as the lead watercraft stewardess at the Finger Lakes Institute from May 2020 to August 2021, practicing her interview, questioning and communication skills through one-on-one educational sessions about invasive aquatic species in the Finger Lakes and how lake users can prevent their further spread.
During the summer break, Swing developed the fall edition of the Sustainability Office newsletter, Keeping it Green, which Green Reps will use for their promotional activities. Swing also began 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.
