Alma Collaboration Finalist for Carter Partnership Award
For the second straight year, Alma College’s partnership with the
Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force has been selected as a finalist
for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award of Campus-Community
Collaboration.
The partnership is one of four Michigan campus-community partnerships
identified by the Carter Award Selection Committee for their
“exceptional quality and impact,” according to Amy Smitter, executive
director of Michigan Campus Compact (MCC).
The finalists will be announced at the 12th annual Institute for
Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Awards Dinner Feb. 7 at Central
Michigan University.
The other finalists include community collaborations at Central
Michigan University, Northern Michigan University and Hope College.
A $10,000 prize will be awarded to one of the four finalists in June during the annual Governor’s Service Awards Dinner.
The Carter Partnership Award recognizes colleges and community groups
that work together in exceptional ways to improve peoples’ lives and
help college students learn the value of community service. The award
is coordinated in Michigan by MCC and inspired by the Jimmy and
Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation.
The Pine River was declared a Superfund site in the 1970s due to
accidental PBB and DDT contamination. In 1998, the Environmental
Protection Agency determined the river was not undergoing the expected
“natural attenuation” of the chemical DDT. After learning of the EPA’s
recognition of emergency removal and remedial action of DDT
contamination, Alma College and the community collaborated to form the
Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force, an EPA-sanctioned Community
Advisory Group (CAG).
The Task Force is recognized as one of the most influential and active
CAGs nationally and as having the largest membership of any CAG in the
United States.
“Many of us who are involved with the Community Advisory Group are
members of both the College and local communities,” says Melissa
Strait, professor of chemistry at Alma College. “In fact, Task Force
Chairwoman Jane Keon has taught classes at Alma. Over the years we have
worked with the EPA on issues related to contamination clean-up and
provided expertise to address scientific and political issues.
“In March, the College and CAG are co-sponsoring the Eugene Kenaga
International DDT Conference, which will bring in a number of national
and international experts to examine what is known about the impact of
DDT on human health and the environment,” she says.
Students have become a part of this partnership through research,
coursework and independent study in a variety of subjects and academic
fields, says Anne Ritz, service-learning coordinator at Alma College.
Many students assist with river clean-up and other service-learning
activities.
“The success of the college-CAG partnership can in many ways be
attributed to the program’s extensive opportunities for involvement,
seeking and incorporating diverse interests and skills to enable a
multi-faceted, meaningful and creative collaboration with its members,”
says Ritz.
The college-community team hosts forums and speakers, provides outreach
programs and public meetings, and sponsors the annual fishing derby in
St. Louis, among other events and activities, said Ritz. The CAG also
has enabled community members and college students to interact with
government officials and environmental agencies. Students and faculty
also experience the benefits of hands-on learning and how their
involvement positively impacts and influences the people,
organizations, and environment around them.
The MCC promotes the education and commitment of Michigan college
students to be civically engaged citizens, through creating and
expanding academic, co-curricular and campus wide opportunities for
community service, service-learning and civic engagement.
Posted: Mon, January 28th, 2008 at 8:12AM
