| Abstrakt: |
Service-learning programs have been identified as an important contributor to campus and community or "town and gown" relationships. These relationships offer the potential to tackle societal problems that are too large for any single organization. In addition, assessments have shown that engineering students engaged with community partners on design projects have a stronger view of engineering as a means to better society and are more likely to be involved in their communities after graduation. This paper presents an overview of service learning and community engagement with an emphasis on sustainability. In particular, it highlights a case study of the EPICS Sustainability team and their partnership with the Rapid City Sustainability Committee (RCSC). The paper highlights the positive effects of the partnership between the student-led design team and the city on the students, the campus, and the community. In 2011, the City of Rapid City, South Dakota established the Rapid City Sustainability Committee (RCSC) whose mission is to encourage education, stewardship, and policy leadership to increase the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the community. A recent priority of the RCSC is to improve energy efficiency of city buildings to meet EnergyStar standards. In the fall semester of 2017, an official partnership between the RCSC and the Engineering and Science Projects in Community Service (EPICS@mines) program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SD Mines) was formed to help the RCSC meet this goal. The EPICS@mines program allows students to earn course credits for partnering with the committee to investigate, monitor, and plan an initiative for improving the energy efficiency of city buildings to meet Energy Star Building Certification. The creation of the student design team has had a positive impact on students and the community and it has led to the development of unanticipated partnerships in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
