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

STARS v2.2

Saint Joseph's College - ME
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Kimberly Post
Community-Based Learning Director
Community-Based Learning
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Riverton School pre-service teaching and workshops

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:

Saint Joseph's College began collaborating with the Riverton School in support of their challenges over 10 years ago. The Riverton School community works diligently to balance the needs of a diverse transient student population with Maine’s requirement for academic accountability, but they struggle with a high rate of student mobility, increasing numbers of English Language Learners, and low socioeconomic status. Pre-service teachers (in SJC's education majors) provide hands-on science lessons every year, and Dr. Patricia Waters, the driving force behind the partnership, regularly writes grants to fund supplies. The College also collaborates with the state coordinator of Project WET and Poland Spring in Poland, Maine to offer Make a Splash Day annually on campus for Riverton students. The program is designed to ensure that students experience interactive learning stations emphasizing water behavior and conservation. Pre-service teachers facilitate all of the activities, while Poland Spring finances all materials, food, and transportation.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Little Sebago Lake Association

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Not Sure

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):

Saint Joseph’s and Little Sebago Lake Association are modeling a partnership that joins faculty science expertise and student experiential STEM training with conservation testing efforts of a 94-year-old, 4,000-member Lake Association. The partnership is a model of how a college works with a lake association for mutual benefit. Outcomes include products of a dataset and partnership whitepaper, which will lower the entry barrier for other Maine colleges, schools, and lake associations to tackle sustainability problems in their locales.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Sustainable Communities Initiative

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Short-term project or event

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):

The Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) is a year-long interdisciplinary program sponsored by the College that partners faculty, staff, and students with a local community to engage in real-world problem solving aimed at increasing the level of sustainability in its broadest sense, from environmental action and economic viability to social integrity. Each semester, municipal partners work with the College to identify relevant projects for community-based learning courses. The program is beginning its 8th year and is currently working with the town of Standish to do a resilience assessment.


A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:

The Center for Sustainable Communities at Saint Joseph's College has partnered with the Greater Portland Council of Governments to address broadband access in rural communities.


Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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