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Job Summary 

Are you passionate about sustainability and already working towards being an agent of change in advancing sustainability? We are gathering a first pilot cohort of SPIKE Student Scholars of 10-14 undergraduate and graduate students from any CU Boulder college or major to assist in exploring, articulating, and disseminating student engagement within the newly formed Buckley Center for Sustainability Education (aka, the SPIKE Center). This position will pay $20/hour for undergraduates and $22.50/hour for graduate students. Eligible students may work up to 20 hours per week based on availability, interest, and needs of our work together and in accordance with CU Student Employement Policies. Both work-study and non-work-study students are welcome to apply. The position you are applying for begins February 2, 2026, and continues until May 23, 2026. You may reapply for the next years’ cohorts into the future (AY26-27, AY27-28, AY28-29, AY29-30). 

Through this SPIKE Student Scholars community, we will engage in co-imagining the world we want by drawing upon our diverse lived experiences and ways of knowing. We will engage in collective sustainability problem-solving that goes beyond the capacity of individuals. We will do together what we cannot do alone. We will engage in creative and embodied methods for how we come together to collectively solve problems and transform. Together we will be a community of co-teachers and co-learners of generative approaches that nurture this work, and a community of un-teachers and un-learners of methods and approaches that impede this work. 

 

Key Responsibilities 

SPIKE Student Scholars will primarily work with Faculty Associate Director for Student Engagement (Professor Beth Osnes-Stoedefalke) and also the yet-to-be-hired Program Manager for Student Engagement (staff full-time position). Responsibilities will include attending weekly creative meetings to do and plan for the following:  

(1) In the spirit of “nothing about us without us” we want student participation in designing and defining the roles, responsibilities, duties, and opportunities of and for the SPIKE Student Scholars.  

(2) We will work with the larger SPIKE Center team to establish criteria and protocols for support and funding by the SPIKE Center for proposed initiatives and projects.  

(3) Your role will include contributing to events for a wide variety of students to co-imagine and contribute their ideas and priorities for student engagement within the SPIKE Center.

(4) We will all participate in research, assessment, and shared analysis of possibilities for student engagement.

(5) We will hold a retreat in May after the Spring semester concludes to co-imagine what can be made possible through our student engagement work through the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education.  

 

Minimum Qualifications 

  • currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student at CU Boulder 
  • eligible to work in hourly student employee role Spring 2026 semester and attend retreat at end of semester (dates to be determined) 
  • passion for sustainability and some experience and initiative in acting upon this passion 
  • strong communication and interpersonal skills or strong interest in developing them 

 

Preferred Qualifications 

  • students far along in their practice, understanding, and/or study of sustainability in action 
  • can responsibly submit bi-weekly timesheets and work unsupervised at times
  • willing to work collaboratively through various iterations of actions in a manner that is responsive, agile, open-minded, kind, and energize
  • aptitude for collaborative, creative, and embodied work in community
  • willingness to share work publicly at events during Earth Month (April 2026) and/or online to reflect on what this type of opportunity means for students 
  • willingness to engage in co-imagining the world we want by drawing upon our diverse lived experiences and ways of knowing--to engage in collective sustainability problem-solving that goes beyond the capacity of individuals—to be willing to do together what we cannot do alone 
  • willingness for radical interdisciplinarity to intentionally direct our efforts—for example, engineers co-producing an Indigenous gathering for dance that provides balance and harmony necessary for sustainable worlding practices, artists learning plant species identification to create resources for our campus as a Living Learning Lab—willingness to intentionally stir it up and all learn to feel comfortable as we step beyond our ‘comfort zones’ 

 

Learning Outcomes 

CU Boulder student employees will be able to take an active role in co-creating the beginning work of the SPIKE Student Scholars and student engagement more broadly conceived while working on their own growth in understanding sustain ability by setting goals, reflecting on their experiences, seeking feedback, and building relationships that support their career development. 

By the end of this position, you will be able to:  

  1. Identify your strengths and areas for growth based on our collective sustainability work. 
  2. Set goals to build skills and improve their sustainability work individually and collectively. 
  3. Seek out and use feedback from supervisors, coworkers, and others. 
  4. Build positive relationships through this collective work that supports your learning and future career plans. 

 

What You Need to Know 

  • Interviews will be scheduled as applications are received.
  • Job offers will be made once interviews are complete. 
  • All student employees must verify their employment eligibility within the first three days of employment through the I-9 process. Please reference the I-9 requirements page for more details.
  • Please email questions to buckleycenter@colorado.edu. 

 

How to Apply 

Submit your application on Handshake by January 22, 2026 and include a document answering the following questions: 

 

  1. Name: 
  2. Year in School as Undergraduate or Graduate Student: 
  3. Declared Major(s) and Minor(s), or Field of Study as Graduate Student: 
  4. Describe what draws you to applying to be a Buckley Student Scholar (approximately 50 words): 
  5. Please share ten words or short phrases that describe your commitment to sustainability: 
  6. Will you have any other Spring 2026 student employment positions (e.g., work-study, LAship, RAship, TAship)? 
  7. Could you commit to 5-20 hours a week of paid student employee time dedicated to being a Buckley Student Scholar Program?  
  8. Please share anything you would like us to know about other commitments.  
  9. Describe your practice, understanding, and/or study of sustainability in action and why it matters to you (approximately 100 words): 
  10. Describe any experience you have working collaboratively or in an interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary way especially as related to sustainability (approximately 100 words): 
  11. What Type of Idea Are You? Please consider answering this question by identifying with a type of seed/bulb/fungi as it goes from seed or spore (idea, creative urge, research plan) to activation (sprouting, flowering, connecting). Ex. I am like a burr that grabs on when you don’t even notice it and travels with you… (approximately 100 words).