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Office of Sustainability Initiatives
Faculty Director, Elise AmelProgram Manager, Maria Dahmus
http://www.stthomas.edu/gale/sustainability/
OSI Mission
Our mission is to create opportunities for experiential, community-engaged learning across undergraduate and graduate programs through the Sustainable Communities Partnership and to facilitate the integration of sustainability across the curriculum.
Office of Sustainability Initiatives
• Sustainable Communities Partnership• 2 years of Strategic Initiatives funding
• Sustainability Across the Curriculum• Designating sustainability courses on Murphy
• Potential Home for Future Initiatives
Sustainable Communities Partnership
SCP partners with a city for a year to advance their high-priority, self-identified quality of life and sustainability projects, linking existing graduate and undergraduate courses or program requirements to these city-identified projects
SCP Advisory Board
Charlotte BerresSt. Paul Seminary School of Divinity
Patricia Jensen College of Leadership & Counseling
Avinash Malshe Opus College of Business
Kundun Nepal School of Engineering
Ande Nesmith School of Social Work
Debra PetersenCollege of Arts and Sciences
The Aspirational Model
2015 ASHOKA
Innovation Awardee
Historical Precedent ACTC Consortium
ENVR CapstoneResidential Impervious Cover Assessment
A research, analysis, and recommendation project helping the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections define “impervious surface” and determine whether amendments to the City’s maintenance code for residential lots are required to eliminate conflicts and redundancies. Students addressed possible need to set minimum green space requirements for residential lots citywide to combat water resource degradation.
Urban EcosystemsCommunity Garden Compost Survey
A research and survey helping Saint Paul’s Recycling & Composting program assess whether community gardens could manage and sustain increased volumes of compost and potentially become neighborhood compost drop-off sites. Students paid special attention to the needs of community gardeners, the nutrient capacity of the gardens’ physical space, and the level of organic waste produced by households.
Psychology & Work
Volunteer Park Patrol Project
Research, analysis, & recommendations for implementing a new ‘job’.Students created an HR system for developing and implementing a program to recruit, manage, and retain volunteers in the city’s parks
2014 Sustainable St. Paul Award
Sustainable Partnership
Working Model
SCP Program Manager Maria will provide collaborative support throughout the semester including:•Curriculum development consultation;•Funds for course materials necessary for project completion;•Obtaining available data from the city for projects;•Logistical support (e.g., students’ visits to cities, managing deliverables);•Problem solving or trouble shooting project needs.
SCP: BenefitsFor Students:
• Uses the best practices of Service Learning• Collaboration with Community to
address their needs• Academic Reflection
For Communities:• Addresses underlying systems
For Faculty:• Enriches teaching experience
For Program:• Dedicated Funding for Program Manager• Engaged City Liaison
For Students• Managing workload perceptions
For Communities:• Needs v. Ideas• Timing of Academic Semesters
For Faculty:• Timely matching of courses & projects• Preparing the Deliverables
SCP: Challenges
SCP: Next Steps
• Pilot Partner(s)• Build Faculty Database• Future Funding
Questions?
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