Faculty, staff and students from St. Mary’s College of Maryland participated in the annual Transforming Mid-Atlantic (TMA) Service Learning & Civic Engagement (SLCE) Conference on Saturday, Oct. 17, joining higher education professionals and community engagement leaders from across the region to explore collaborative approaches to community building and civic engagement.
This year's conference, titled "Co-Creating Change: Collaborative Community Partnerships," highlighted the importance of partnerships between colleges, universities, and their surrounding communities in addressing shared challenges and creating meaningful opportunities for public service and civic participation.
Transforming Mid-Atlantic is a nonprofit membership association representing public and private two- and four-year colleges and universities, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions. The organization provides leadership and support to institutions in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, West Virginia, and Northern Virginia, encouraging participation in academic and co-curricular public service and civic engagement programs.
Representatives from St. Mary’s College contributed to the conference through two roundtable discussions that showcased the College’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning, community partnerships, and student engagement.
Kelsey Bush, director of community engagement, and Trish Davis, lecturer in the Department of Psychology, led a roundtable discussion titled, "A Collaborative Method of Community Building." Their presentation explored collaborative approaches to strengthening communities and developing meaningful partnerships that connect academic experiences with community needs.
A second roundtable discussion, titled "Interdisciplinary Community Collaborations through Place-based Environmental Citizenship," was led by Environmental Studies faculty Barry Muchnick, Parisa Rinaldi and Matthew Wilfong, along with Sarah Luersen, sustainability fellow in the College’s Office of Sustainability, and students Lauren Brown, Jesse Slingluff and Gwenllyn Mackey.
The discussion highlighted how interdisciplinary, place-based environmental education can foster civic responsibility and strengthen relationships between students and community partners. Through collaborative projects and experiential learning, participants explored ways to connect environmental studies, community resilience, sustainability, and public problem-solving.
The College's participation in the TMA SLCE Conference reflects St. Mary's College of Maryland's ongoing commitment to connecting academic learning with meaningful community engagement. By bringing together faculty expertise, staff leadership, student perspectives, and community partnerships, the College continues to show how higher education can help address local and regional challenges.