September 27, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

• Barry Volunteers Connect and Collect Trash on International Coastal Cleanup Day
• Students, Faculty, and Staff Continue to Support Farmworkers Through Florida-Based Organization
• Faculty Learning Community to Celebrate Publication of Experiential Learning Book on October 28
• Faculty Members Present Workshop Session at International Conference on Engaged Scholarship
• Campus Compact’s National Webinar Series Offered Free of Charge to Faculty, Staff, and Students

Barry Volunteers Connect And Collect Trash On International Coastal Cleanup Day

Participants Log 130 Hours Of Service At Virginia Key Beach

Barry volunteers picked up more than 900 items of trash at Virginia Key Beach in Miami earlier this month, logging 130 hours of service as part of an International Coastal Cleanup project.

Just over 40 Barry volunteers—39 students, two faculty members, and two staff members—cleaned up a section of the coastline adjacent to Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. And they used Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app to document the items they collected. 

Spearheaded globally by the Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup is organized annually in Miami-Dade County by VolunteerCleanup.org. Some 50 shoreline cleanups took place around the county on the world’s largest day of service focused on ocean health.

“Being able to help out and keep our environment clean was an amazing experience,” said Yasniel Roque, a sophomore majoring in marine biology. “I enjoyed the experience and hope to do more in the future.”

International Coastal Cleanup Day, the third Saturday of September, was the first major day of service at Barry for the 2021–2022 academic year. The organizers invited students and others to contribute to efforts to preserve South Florida’s coastal ecosystem.

After an on-campus orientation, the Barry group journeyed to Virginia Key, where they were introduced more fully to the work of the Virginia Key Beach Park staff and supporters. Charlie Weyman, the education and outreach coordinator, emphasized the importance of keeping the waterways clean. 

The 925 pieces of discarded items that Barry participants picked up contributed to a total of 3,600 items collected by all volunteers at the beach park that day.

The Barry participants included 39 students, 16 of them from two orientation classes. Orientation course instructors Chery Pratas and Frank Gonzalez joined their students for the cleanup project.

Also taking part were 16 Barry Service Corps Fellows and seven other students.

As part of the First-Year Experience program, the university’s Office of Mission Engagement sponsored a post-service dinner for Barry participants at the beach park. 

AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members Kaitlyn Gallagher and Gabriel “Gabe” Bouani coordinated Barry’s participation in the International Coastal Cleanup project on September 18. Gallagher and Bouani are based in the Center for Community Service Initiatives.

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Students, Faculty, And Staff Continue To Support Farmworkers Through Florida-Based Organization

Barry students, faculty, and staff continue to support farmworkers through an Immokalee, Florida-based organization.

A representative group from Barry will participate in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) National Week of Action in November. On November 20, they are expected to be at the forefront of the Miami Fair Food Action. 

A group of Barry students attended the Student/Farmworker Alliance’s (SFA) Encuentro on September 18–19.

SFA describes Encuentro as “a decade-long grassroots organizing tradition that brings together students and young people from across the country for a weekend of creativity, strategizing, skill-building and reflection to strengthen our farmworker solidarity network.”

Normally, participants converge in Immokalee—the birthplace of the historic farmworkers’ rights movement led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers—"to learn from one other and envision together the path forward to transform our food system for the better.” Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this year’s event was slated for a virtual space, SFA said. 

The CCSI promotes support for CIW and SFA work as an opportunity to advance social justice in the community. Social justice is one of Barry’s core commitments.

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Faculty Learning Community to Celebrate Publication Of Experiential Learning Book On October 28

Members of the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) will get together on campus next month to celebrate the publication of their book on experiential learning. The celebration will coincide with the Presidential Faculty Seminar Series.

President Mike Allen and Provost John Murray have been invited to the event, which will be hosted jointly by the Faculty Senate and the FLC. 

Authors of “Experiential Learning in Higher Education” are expected to share information and highlight themes from their chapters. 

FLC members are inviting their faculty colleagues to the seminar, which is scheduled for 12:20 to 1:30 on October 28. They will meet under the big tent on the Campus Mall. 

The FLC is scheduled to meet virtually on November 18, from 12:20 to 1:30, and sometime in February. The November meeting will focus on “place-based community engagement,” the organizers said.

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Faculty Members Present Workshop Session At International Conference On Engaged Scholarship

Barry faculty members Dr. Dale Hartz and Dr. Katsiaryna Matusevich were among the presenters at an international conference on community-engaged scholarship earlier this month.

Hartz and Matusevich co-presented an engaging workshop session titled “Going Beyond Your Building: How to Build Successful Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaborations” at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) International Conference on September 13.

Hartz is an assistant professor of management in the School of Business; Matusevich is an associate professor of human resource development in the School of Education. 

Their session was designed to “facilitate insights and ideas that lead to successful interdisciplinary community engagement projects.” Hartz and Matusevich described effective interdisciplinary faculty collaborations as “a vehicle to enhance student learning and development, a comprehensive approach to solving complex community problems, and innovative ways of promoting community engagement.”

Conference Panel of Journal Editors

Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), participated in the Journal Editors Panel at the ESC conference on September 14. Bowen is an editor of the International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. 

Also on the panel were the editors of the Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education, Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, and Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning.

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Campus Compact’s National Webinar Series Offered Free Of Charge To Faculty, Staff, And Students

Campus Compact launches its 2021–2022 National Webinar Series this week—and Barry faculty, staff, and students may attend free of charge. 

The webinars cover such topics as teaching social action, global citizenship education, civic identity, and deliberative polling. One webinar will look at ethical and collaborative relationships with community partners; another will consider how to re-imagine “community service” for full participation; yet another will focus on higher education’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Campus Compact said the series of 13 webinars “takes the great and varied work happening on the ground around the country and brings it straight to [each attendee’s] desk.” The organization added, “Topics touch on issues of relevance to faculty, staff, students, and their partners in education and community building.” 

The series will begin this Thursday (Sept. 30) at 3 p.m. with a one-hour webinar titled “Democracy in Action: How Can We Encourage and Safeguard Voting?” 

Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. The coalition aims to “build democracy through civic education and community development.”

The National Webinar Series is free for Campus Compact member institutions. Registration is required.

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