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.