(May 4, 2017) Political science and environmental studies students at Salisbury University recently collaborated with officials from the Town of Berlin on how to reduce the town’s impact on the environment, and the results were so encouraging that the school and official plan to work together again.
Students in Dr. Sarah Surak’s senior seminar class received a tour of town, heard presentations from department heads and broke into groups to work on. Next Monday, May 8, the students will present some of their finding at a mayor and council meeting at Town Hall.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said she met Surak during a flight from Philadelphia several months ago and the pair connected right away.
Surak is an assistant professor in the political science and environmental studies departments as well as the co-director and the director of faculty engagement for the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Salisbury University.
“We were both on a flight from somewhere to Philly and then from Philly to Salisbury, and our flight from Philly to Salisbury got canceled. She and I were one of six or seven people who rented a car and drove back,” Allen said.
“Sarah and I were in the way-back of this van and struck up a conversation and I was telling her how interested I was in getting the town more connected with Salisbury University [and] getting more students to realize that local government can be a career choice,” Allen continued. “You can go to a university and live and work and stay on the Eastern Shore that you enjoy so much if you look at local government as an option.”
It just so happened that Surak was looking for a community-based project for her senior seminar students at the time, hoping to have someone talk about how town governments work and what makes them successful.
“The students were reading a book on eco villages that’s structured four different ways to think about how you can be sustainable within a town,” Surak said. “We divided the class into four groups and they were all doing different projects that are related to different elements of town sustainability.”
The task was a culminating project for the students, all of which will graduate in May, Surak said.
In Berlin, students toured the town and heard presentations from key staff in February. Breaking into groups, some worked with Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells on sustainability projects, while others toured Berlin’s spray irrigation site with Public Works/Water Resources Director Jane Kreiter.
“I talked about what local government does in general in Berlin and specifically sort of an overview of our programs and services,” Allen said. “Ivy talked about economic development and they were particularly interested in sustainability around economic development. She talked about the Main Street program and her efforts to get folks to buy local.”
Kreiter talked to the students about the town’s environmental efforts and improving water quality, Allen said.
The town operates the Five Mile Branch Spray Irrigation Facility on Five Mile Branch Road in Newark. Built in 2012, the $3.5 million facility was funded in part by state grants and has helped reduce surface discharge into coastal bays by spray irrigating treated wastewater into forested areas, which can then be harvested and used elsewhere.
Manager Director Jeff Fleetwood, in charge of human resources, later spoke to the students in Salisbury about job prospects after graduation, and how to do well during the application and interview process.
“The town has been incredibly supportive of my students, taking the time to work with them, taking them through the process, listening to their input and suggesting how to work with a town,” Surak said. “One of the goals that I have in the class is that I want students to be empowered to know how to get involved in their local community after they graduate. This has been such a great opportunity because they’ve not only learned what the different people in towns do, the different types of jobs, but also how to connect with town administrators and then how to make a difference in those connections.”
Because of the success of the collaboration, Surak said she is looking forward to working with the Town of Berlin again – perhaps even on a regular basis.
“I think this was a good partnership for both of us,” she said. “My students get the chance to work with community leaders and actually implement sustainability projects.
“College students know how to do research, they know how to do program design coming out of environmental studies and they’re going to have real, applicable, tangible projects that they can talk about with future employers [and] that they can take to their own towns when they want to make a difference,” Surak added.
Surak said the project could lead to other forms of partnership between the town and the college.
“Most definitely,” she said. “The Town of Berlin has been absolutely amazing and I really look forward to our continued partnership. It definitely set the stage and I can’t emphasize enough how wonderful it’s been. As a faculty member you can ask, but if folks aren’t interested in working with you then you don’t have a lot of options. The Town of Berlin has been the model for that and I look forward to our continued partnership and relationship.”
She and Allen have also discussed publishing a paper on the collaboration and distributing it to other universities as an example of “models for successful programing.”
“I’m totally psyched about this. It’s been an absolutely fertile ground and my students have learned so much. I’ve bee incredibly appreciative,” Surak said.
Allen also had high praise for the students – and for Surak.
“I think it’s been a pretty cool experience,” Allen said. “She is very thoughtful about how she goes about her student selection and her syllabus, so the expectation is that folks will come and actually do work. She’s got a really good collection of interested and focused students, and she’s doing some great work too.”
Students in Dr. Sarah Surak’s senior seminar class received a tour of town, heard presentations from department heads and broke into groups to work on. Next Monday, May 8, the students will present some of their finding at a mayor and council meeting at Town Hall.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said she met Surak during a flight from Philadelphia several months ago and the pair connected right away.
Surak is an assistant professor in the political science and environmental studies departments as well as the co-director and the director of faculty engagement for the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Salisbury University.
“We were both on a flight from somewhere to Philly and then from Philly to Salisbury, and our flight from Philly to Salisbury got canceled. She and I were one of six or seven people who rented a car and drove back,” Allen said.
“Sarah and I were in the way-back of this van and struck up a conversation and I was telling her how interested I was in getting the town more connected with Salisbury University [and] getting more students to realize that local government can be a career choice,” Allen continued. “You can go to a university and live and work and stay on the Eastern Shore that you enjoy so much if you look at local government as an option.”
It just so happened that Surak was looking for a community-based project for her senior seminar students at the time, hoping to have someone talk about how town governments work and what makes them successful.
“The students were reading a book on eco villages that’s structured four different ways to think about how you can be sustainable within a town,” Surak said. “We divided the class into four groups and they were all doing different projects that are related to different elements of town sustainability.”
The task was a culminating project for the students, all of which will graduate in May, Surak said.
In Berlin, students toured the town and heard presentations from key staff in February. Breaking into groups, some worked with Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells on sustainability projects, while others toured Berlin’s spray irrigation site with Public Works/Water Resources Director Jane Kreiter.
“I talked about what local government does in general in Berlin and specifically sort of an overview of our programs and services,” Allen said. “Ivy talked about economic development and they were particularly interested in sustainability around economic development. She talked about the Main Street program and her efforts to get folks to buy local.”
Kreiter talked to the students about the town’s environmental efforts and improving water quality, Allen said.
The town operates the Five Mile Branch Spray Irrigation Facility on Five Mile Branch Road in Newark. Built in 2012, the $3.5 million facility was funded in part by state grants and has helped reduce surface discharge into coastal bays by spray irrigating treated wastewater into forested areas, which can then be harvested and used elsewhere.
Manager Director Jeff Fleetwood, in charge of human resources, later spoke to the students in Salisbury about job prospects after graduation, and how to do well during the application and interview process.
“The town has been incredibly supportive of my students, taking the time to work with them, taking them through the process, listening to their input and suggesting how to work with a town,” Surak said. “One of the goals that I have in the class is that I want students to be empowered to know how to get involved in their local community after they graduate. This has been such a great opportunity because they’ve not only learned what the different people in towns do, the different types of jobs, but also how to connect with town administrators and then how to make a difference in those connections.”
Because of the success of the collaboration, Surak said she is looking forward to working with the Town of Berlin again – perhaps even on a regular basis.
“I think this was a good partnership for both of us,” she said. “My students get the chance to work with community leaders and actually implement sustainability projects.
“College students know how to do research, they know how to do program design coming out of environmental studies and they’re going to have real, applicable, tangible projects that they can talk about with future employers [and] that they can take to their own towns when they want to make a difference,” Surak added.
Surak said the project could lead to other forms of partnership between the town and the college.
“Most definitely,” she said. “The Town of Berlin has been absolutely amazing and I really look forward to our continued partnership. It definitely set the stage and I can’t emphasize enough how wonderful it’s been. As a faculty member you can ask, but if folks aren’t interested in working with you then you don’t have a lot of options. The Town of Berlin has been the model for that and I look forward to our continued partnership and relationship.”
She and Allen have also discussed publishing a paper on the collaboration and distributing it to other universities as an example of “models for successful programing.”
“I’m totally psyched about this. It’s been an absolutely fertile ground and my students have learned so much. I’ve bee incredibly appreciative,” Surak said.
Allen also had high praise for the students – and for Surak.
“I think it’s been a pretty cool experience,” Allen said. “She is very thoughtful about how she goes about her student selection and her syllabus, so the expectation is that folks will come and actually do work. She’s got a really good collection of interested and focused students, and she’s doing some great work too.”