May 3, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

• Campus Compact President Emphasizes Importance of ‘Educating Students for Bridge Building’
• Barry Service Corps Member Rodney Morvan Provides Community Engagement Program Support
• Community Engagement at Barry Over the Years: A Pictorial Report
• Course Instructors Invited to Apply for Service-Learning Designation
• Impact America Offers Opportunities for Service After College Graduation

Campus Compact President Emphasizes Importance Of ‘Educating Students For Bridge Building’

Focus Of Efforts Should Shift To Community Outcomes

Dr. Andrew J. Seligsohn, president of Campus Compact, has emphasized the importance of “educating students for bridge building” to meet societal challenges. 

According to Seligsohn, “bridge-building learning happens when students are embedded in real work in real relationships in real community settings.” He said the process of providing students with the knowledge, skills, and orientations that will enable them to become bridge builders should not be limited to student learning but should also focus on community outcomes. 

Speaking at Barry University’s eighth annual Community Engagement Awards last month, Seligsohn stressed the need to educate students to help improve our community and specifically to improve life for “people who may not have had the opportunity for full participation in the benefits of our society.”

Seligsohn said higher education institutions should provide support for critical analysis and reflection so that students can understand why particular social problems exist and what policies and practices, norms and systems are related to those problems. He said further that students should also be offered opportunities for growth and development over time—opportunities to “do one thing and then move to deeper more significant engagement, with increasing responsibility.”

Providing context for his recommendations, Seligsohn earlier identified the challenges posed by persistent inequality, physical and social segregation, “a toxic form of partisanship”, and both misinformation and disinformation. “And we experienced them as a kind of chasm separating us from others again along lines of race, along lines of class, along lines of wealth and opportunity, along lines of partisanship,” he added.

Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and universities dedicated to the public purposes of higher education.

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Barry Service Corps Member Rodney Morvan Provides Community Engagement Program Support

By Heather Johnson Desiral 

Quiet and unassuming, Rodney Morvan has contributed to community engagement at Barry University by providing mostly behind-the-scenes program support in the Center for Community Initiatives (CCSI). He has also done a considerable amount of work in the Barry Urban Garden.

A senior about to graduate, Morvan is a member of the Barry Service Corps. His community engagement program support assignments have included assistance with a Miami-Dade PACT (People Acting for Community Together) event called Nehemiah Action and with various CCSI-organized events. Among such events are Days of Service and the Community Engagement Symposium. 

“Rodney has contributed to community impact through his role as a CCSI program assistant,” noted Liz James, experiential learning coordinator. “He has supported the CCSI’s work from behind the scenes … and has run countless errands on campus and in the community to help make our programs and events run smoothly.” 

Morvan usually assists with tasks like event setup and breakdown, and sometimes with registration. He helps to update the community engagement bulletin boards and to keep the CCSI storage space organized. At some events, he is found behind the camera. 

“For the past three to four years,” James explained, “it has largely been Rodney who has entered data on [students’ community] service activity in our databases.”

In the Barry Urban Garden, he has helped to plant and harvest crops and to maintain the garden plots. 

While in high school, Rodney participated in community service; at Victory Wesleyan Gospel Church in Palm Beach, where his dad has been the pastor, Rodney has served in the youth ministry. 

As he indicated, his Barry Service Corps experience has allowed him to gain a new, deeper understanding of community engagement and the difference it can make in the lives of people who are less fortunate.

A criminal justice major with a minor in computer information science, Morvan wants to pursue a career in cybersecurity. As a licensed real estate agent, he balances his job of representing buyers and sellers in real estate transactions with the demands of being a full-time, civically engaged student. It is quite a challenge for him, but he has been coping well.

“Knowing how to thrive in a structured work environment” is key to balance, he said. “In my junior year, I was taking seven classes with a lab—but the CCSI allowed me a flexible schedule and recognized I was a student first.” 

Guided by his strong work ethic and commitment to civic involvement, Morvan is finding his place in the world. Commitment is important, he said, “even when you’re not in the mood” to do something. 

Noting his own professional growth, he acknowledged that the CCSI has provided him with a training ground, allowing him to gain skills in such areas as phone etiquette, email communication, data organization and management, and the use of technology.

Rodney Morvan has worked largely out of public view, helping to ensure that CCSI-organized community engagement programs and events are successful. In his own way, he has contributed to community impact. 

Editor’s Note: Heather Johnson Desiral is a CCSI-based experiential learning project assistant.

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Community Engagement At Barry Over The Years: A Pictorial Report

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Course Instructors Invited To Apply For Service-Learning Designation

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) is inviting faculty members whose courses include a service-learning component to apply for the service-learning designation.

Sections of courses, internships, practicum assignments, field education, capstones, community-based research, and similar community-focused or community-based work also may be designated as service-learning. 

“Designating courses as service-learning promotes deep integration of thoughtfully organized community service into the curriculum and high standards of service-learning practice,” according to a statement from the CCSI. “Service-learning courses demonstrate the value of applied learning, student engagement with the community, and critical reflection.”

The Service-Learning Designation Committee uses specific criteria to review applications. Courses that meet all criteria are labeled “service-learning” in the course schedule and are listed as such in the university catalogs. 

Additional information on the service-learning designation is available at the CCSI website.

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Impact America Offers Opportunities For Service After College Graduation

Soon-to-be graduates interested in community leadership opportunities or nonprofit work can take advantage of opportunities offered by Impact America.

The organization is currently recruiting AmeriCorps members for a July/August 2021 start date, and applications should be made online.

Impact America is a nonprofit organization that hosts AmeriCorps members for a year of service after graduation and provides services across the Southeast.

“Team members work to mitigate the effects of poverty, while also gaining professional skills and a broadened perspective,” says Tyler Hill-Whatley, one of the team leaders. “Our Corps members make a real impact. For instance, our team provided free, comprehensive vision screenings to over 67,000 preschoolers in the Southeast just last year.”

For answers to questions about the hiring process or about AmeriCorps, contact Impact America’s Recruitment Manager Grace Standridge at recruiting@impactamerica.com.

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