Getting students involved with their community is what USM alumnus
Marie Stolzenburg and Professor Robert Sanford are all about. Their
work this past year bringing civic engagement to USM earned them both a
Maine Campus Compact Award, presented during a ceremony held at the
State House last April.
Maine
Campus Compact is an organization whose mission is to "catalyze and
lead a movement to reinvigorate the public purposes and civic mission
of higher education." according to their website. Eighteen Maine
colleges are members, and each year students and faculty members are
recognized for their work toward this goal. They are nominated by their
peers and then are asked to submit a written account of the work they
did.
Stolzenburg received the Heart and Soul Student Award which
is given to six students throughout the state. Sanford was awarded the
Donald Harward Faculty Award for Service Learning Excellence.
"It generates awareness at the legislature and university that we want to do this," said Sanford of the award.
Stolzenburg
campaigned for two years to bring a chapter of the Public Interest
Research Group (PIRG) to USM. The group provides resources and
leadership skills to those students who want to make a difference in
the world. Stolzenburg said she had the desire to leave something
behind after she graduated that would help students connect with their
community, finally deciding on PIRG for its projected sustainability. A
lengthy process of campaigning and gathering support soon followed. She
was able to gain student support and start the group's first campaign
tackling student debt with help from the national PIRG organization,
Stolzenburg said.
After a successful 2006-2007 campaign,
Stolzenburg approached the student senate to present PIRG as a viable
student group. Last spring, still $1,000 shy of their initial funding
goal, MainePIRG became an official chapter on campus in time to see
Stolzenburg graduate with a degree in English and a minor in
philosophy. She said her future plans include grad school and teaching.
"I want to work on engaging people on their community," she said.
Anna Korsen, a senior sociology, major, is the current chair for USM's PIRG chapter.
Sanford,
an associate professor of environmental science, has promoted civic
engagement in his classroom for years. He challenges students to think
about how to put their knowledge to practical use within their
community. In each of his classes he assigns a project asking students
to choose an issue relative to them and their community, and then
create a plan to either alleviate or generate awareness of the issue.
Students must see their project through, said Sanford, adding if they
create a flier they must find a way to get it distributed, if they plan
an awareness drive they must facilitate it.
Sanford also more recently played a role in establishing an environmental sustainabilty minor at USM.
