Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.64
Liaison Kimberly Post
Submission Date Feb. 22, 2022

STARS v2.2

Saint Joseph's College - ME
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Greg Teegarden
Professor
Natural Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution offer at least one immersive, sustainability-focused educational study program that is one week or more in length?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s) offered by the institution:

1. The Environmental Science Semester (ESS) is a rigorous, ten-week scientific expedition with Saint Joseph’s College, one of the few programs in the country designed to immerse students full time in the practice of field science for an entire semester. Part of the Environmental & Marine Sciences majors, the Environmental Science Semester delivers a full load of four environmental and geoscience courses, studying such diverse topics as Climate Change and Glacial Geology, Marine Ecology, Oceanography, and Field Methods. The entire program is conducted off-campus between mid-August and late October in locations ranging from Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, Canada to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, to the beaches of Cape Cod, to the coast of Maine aboard a 72’ schooner. All of the courses are sustainability-focused courses, all include assessing human interaction with and impacts on natural and anthropogenic systems and problem-solving to develop sustainable solutions.

2. SJC Science Scholars Program. In 2017, Saint Joseph’s College was awarded a $647,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund the Saint Joseph’s College Science Scholars Program. This program encourages academically-talented students who have demonstrated need of financial assistance to enter into and succeed in a community of young scientists. The grant provides up to $7,200 per year, for each of the recipient’s four years in college. The new group of Saint Joseph’s College Science Scholars was selected from first-year students entering in the fall of 2021 who are committed to pursuing a range of science fields, including: chemistry, biology, environmental science, biochemistry, and marine science. The selected Saint Joseph’s College Science Scholars benefit from receiving: Four years of scholarship support at levels generally ranging from $5,000 to $7,200 each of four years; A field experience prior to the freshman fall; Science Scholar seminars, conferences, and research experiences; Support from faculty and upperclassmen mentors; Use of a mac airbook laptop for four years.


Website URL where information about the institution’s immersive education programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

1. A video synopsis of the ESS, including mention of the sustainability focus is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQz-zKUM5xE

2. Science Scholars: https://www.sjcme.edu/admissions/oncampus/applying-to-sjc/science-scholars-program/


1. A video synopsis of the ESS, including mention of the sustainability focus is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQz-zKUM5xE

2. Science Scholars: https://www.sjcme.edu/admissions/oncampus/applying-to-sjc/science-scholars-program/

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