Colorado Mountain College
EN-10: Community Partnerships

GOL Vision: GOL’s vision is that Leadville-Lake County is a community where people of all ages, abilities and cultures imagine and create a better world through connections to the outdoors and to each other.

GOL Mission: GOL’s mission is to connect youth and families to the outdoors to inspire dreams, foster stewardship, build leadership, and strengthen community.

There is two-way material support between GOL and CMC Leadville Campus in the form of leased space on the campus, access to GOL resources and programs for students, and student help and volunteering with GOL efforts. This partnership has been active for five years and is ongoing. This partnership helps the community move toward a number of the UN SDGs, including: #4 - Quality Education; #10 - Reduced Inequalities; #13 - Climate Action; #15 - Life on Land.

https://www.getoutdoorsleadville.org

The partnership hosts an annual conference (2017-), supports original conjoined courses in Sustainability Studies and in Ecosystem Science and Stewardship (for credit), and has hosted a prestigious summer research internship program for CMC students (2019-) and a meteorological monitoring station network (2021-).

Along with CMC, partners in this holistic effort include:

City of Steamboat Springs
Upper Yampa Water Conservation District
Steamboat Ski Resort (SSRC)
Friends of the Yampa
Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Material support from CMC is provided in the form of faculty service to partnership co-leadership, steering committee chair and membership, grant co-authorship (silent writer, non-cash award recipient), conjoined course offerings (for credit), undergraduate student mentorship, and in-kind use of facilities during conferences. An official MOU is in place.

https://friendsoftheyampa.com/yampa-basin-rendezvous/

Underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations are engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation, and review:

This partnership highly values inclusivity in all its efforts. The diversity of personal experiences, values, and world views that arise from differences of culture and circumstance among students, faculty, and staff engaged in the Yampa Basin Rendezvous strengthens its partnerships, institutions, and mission.

CMC-CW3 Internship (Underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations):

CMC-CW3: This program welcomes applications from both students with prior research experience and students who have not had prior research experience or may not have access to a research lab at their home institution; however, the overall goal of the program is to expand access to summer research opportunities to those who may not have had them before.

Program Goals:

-Diversity in STEM
-Equal opportunities for CMC-CW3 internships; promoting diversity and inclusion for underrepresented groups
-The mission is to bring in early-career professionals by doing an internship program in the summer (CMC-CW3) that connects with the Yampa Basin Rendezvous participants. Prior year students share from the previous year of their experience, and new students join as attendees.

Is an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) designed to expand diversity in STEM.

Vail Valley Campus and New Roots Colorado: New Roots Colorado is a sustainability-focused organization whose efforts directly help provide sustainable food security for the community. It is well-supported by CMC. New Roots grows food at the Vail Valley Campus.

https://newrootsco.org

Steamboat Campus - Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC): recruitment of interns from CMC for its fall, spring, and summer internship programs.

Steamboat Campus - U.S. Forest Service; Rocky Mountain Land Management Internship: partnership that supports chosen students' studies in their junior and senior years and offers them paid employment by the USFS.

Summit County Campuses - High Country Conservation Center (HC3)

Vail Valley/Edwards Campus - Walking Mountains Science Center's Sustainability Intern Program

Glenwood Springs - CLEER and Garfield Clean Energy

All projects and associations with local community partners are focused on local area conservation projects, as well as focusing on sustainability goals across areas such as energy, food availability, and waste management. Partnerships range from community activities and events, to internships available to students and partnering on education services. The college also works closely with these partners in order to enhance educational experiences, both for CMC students and for the greater community at large.