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?