March 11, 2019 | |||||
Nationally Recognized Service-Learning Scholar will be Lead Presenter at Symposium on March 27 Paola Lopez-Hernandez Receives National Recognition from Campus Compact Accounting and Law Students Helping Community Members File Federal Income Tax Returns Social Work Students Supporting Hunger-Relief Efforts in Local Community Barry Student Leaders and Administrator Conduct Workshops at National Conference College Brides Walk Cancelled; Other Service Opportunities Available Special Olympics Seeking Volunteers for Annual 5K Run/Walk on April 7
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Nationally Recognized Service-Learning Scholar will be Lead Presenter at Symposium on March 27
Concurrent Presentations and Poster Session also on the Agenda
Dr. Patti H. Clayton, a nationally recognized service-learning and community engagement scholar, will be the lead presenter at Barry’s sixth annual Community Engagement Symposium on March 27. She will conduct a morning workshop and a lunch-hour seminar session.
A former director of the Service-Learning Program at North Carolina State University, Clayton later served as the founding director of that university’s Center for Excellence in Curricular Engagement. She is currently an independent consultant (PHC Ventures) focused on assisting higher education institutions build capacity for community-engaged teaching, learning, and scholarship.
Clayton is a co-author of more than 50 book chapters and journal articles on service-learning and community engagement topics. She co-edited (with Robert G. Bringle and Julie A. Hatcher) the two-volume Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessment.
Clayton served for two terms (2010–2016) on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. IARSLCE presented its award for Exemplary Contributions through Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement: Distinguished Career to Patti H. Clayton and Colleagues in 2018.
Clayton’s workshop on “Implementing, Assessing, and Refining Experiential Learning to Enhance Outcomes” is scheduled for 9:30 to 10:50 a.m. in the Andreas Building, Room 111. “Transformation of and through Community-Campus Engagement” is the title of her seminar presentation during lunch, which begins at noon.
The theme of the Community Engagement Symposium is “Bringing Learning to Life through Community Engagement.” Provost Dr. John Murray will deliver opening remarks at 9 a.m.
The symposium agenda also includes two concurrent sessions – scheduled for 11:00 to 11:50 and 1:30 to 2:20 – and a poster session, which will open at 2:30. Students, faculty members, and community partners will make presentations on various topics connected to the theme of the symposium.
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Paola Lopez-Hernandez Receives National Recognition from Campus Compact
Campus Compact has selected Barry University student leader Paola Lopez-Hernandez as a Newman Civic Fellow. She is one of 262 “community-committed college students” receiving national recognition by being awarded the one-year fellowship.
A junior majoring in international studies, Lopez-Hernandez currentlycoordinates Barry’s Food Recovery Project, which prevents food waste in the university’s main campus dining hall, recovering it for donation to the Miami Rescue Mission.
Since her freshman year, Paola has been actively involved in various efforts to foster environmental stewardship among her peers. From 2016 to 2018, she served as president of the Barry Green Team, a student club whose primary purpose is to support the improvement of environmental practices.
“Those who know Paola well are impressed by her exceptional commitment to serving the community,” said Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, O.P., Ph.D. “She has demonstrated the motivation and potential for civic engagement leadership.”
A Barry Service Corps Fellow with the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), Lopez-Hernandez assists in coordinating civic engagement projects in partnership with local nonprofit organizations such as Miami’s Gang Alternative. She has also engaged in public action with other students to draw attention to the need for fair wages and better working conditions for farmworkers.
“My work supporting my community has propelled me to work harder through partnerships to promote systemic change,” she said.
Lopez-Hernandez will receive Barry’s Community Impact Award during the Community Engagement Awards Ceremony hosted by the CCSI on March 27. The university president nominated her for Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellowship on the recommendation of the CCSI.
The Boston-based Campus Compact is a national coalition of approximately 1,000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. The fellowship honors the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, described as “a tireless advocate for the role of higher education in preparing students for active and engaged citizenship.”
The students awarded the Newman Civic Fellowship this year represent Campus Compact member institutions in 41 states and Washington, D.C., as well as Mexico and Greece.
“We are pleased to acknowledge such an inspiring group of emerging public problem solvers,” said Campus Compact President Dr. Andrew Seligsohn.
Seligsohn said the fellowship “supports the next generation of public problem solvers in their personal, professional, and civic growth.” The fellows will have access to exclusive virtual and in-person learning opportunities during the 2019–2020 academic year, he noted.
The Newman Civic Fellows, including Lopez-Hernandez, are profiled at the Campus Compact website.
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Accounting and Law Students Helping Community Members File Federal Income Tax Returns
Barry accounting and law students are helping low-income community members file their federal income tax returns.
Individuals and families with an annual income of $54,000 or less can take advantage of the free service provided through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
At Barry’s Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, VITA part of a coalition assembled by the Orlando-based Heart of Florida United Way to provide services to the community. Last year, 60 Barry Law student volunteers participated in the program, preparing a total of 242 returns, which resulted in $253,428 in refunds.
The Barry Law VITA has been recognized 11 times with the National Achievement Award from the American Bar Association Law Student Division.
“Community service is central to our mission,” said Leticia M. Diaz, dean of the Barry Law School. “This program is one of the many ways our students embody it by providing tax services for the elderly, our veterans, and other underserved members of our community.”
Frank Schiavo, associate professor of law and faculty advisor to VITA, is usually on site each week during the tax season to assist students with handling some of the complex tax-related issues. The VITA E-Board, composed of students who are elected each year to serve throughout the next tax season, oversees the work of the student volunteers.
The Andreas School of Business provides oversight for VITA on Barry’s main campus. The accounting students are currently taking Associate Professor Dr. Kevin Kemerer’s Federal Income Tax, a designated service-learning course.
On the main campus, income tax returns are prepared by appointment only. Service is provided on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Powers 139 and Mondays between 4 and 8 p.m. in Andreas 105.
Two-hour appointments should be made on the scheduling page <http://www.barryvita.acuityscheduling.com/>.
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Social Work Students Supporting Hunger-Relief Efforts in Local Community
Social work students are currently providing hunger relief and addressing hunger-related issues as part of a designated service-learning course.
Organized in three groups, the 17 students have been serving the community through a partnership with Pass It On Ministries of South Florida and Bread for the World as well as through Barry’s Food Recovery Project.
At Pass It On Ministries, students select and bag food items from a pantry for distribution to community members. Agency Director Mary Pierce has thanked the students for not only getting bags of food ready for clients but also for assisting by updating resource lists and files.
Students assigned to Bread for the World have been planning community outreach activities on anti-hunger programs and policy. Supervised by Regional Organizer Florence French, the students have also been helping to create an outreach survey and a promotional campaign using social media.
Meanwhile, a group of students has assisted with Barry’s Food Recovery Project. Providing hunger relief in the community, the project involves the delivery of food from the Roussell Dining Hall on Barry’s main campus to the Miami Rescue Mission, where community members gather regularly for meals.
SW 323, Service Learning and Social WorkPractice, prepares social work students for their senior-year field education internship by allowing them to apply general skills of helping in service to community agencies. According to the syllabus, non-social work majors are provided with “an in-depth helping experience that affords them critical reflection on the meaning of purposeful service.”
Elizabeth Shaw, a social worker and adjunct faculty member, is the course instructor. | |||||
Barry Student Leaders and Administrator Conduct Workshops at National Conference
Barry student leaders Paola Lopez-Hernandez and Paris Razor conducted a workshop at the IMPACT National Conference on February 22 at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Their workshop was titled “Promoting Social Justice through Student-Led University Clubs and Organizations while Building Mutually Beneficial Community Partnerships.”
Lopez-Hernandez, a junior, is the coordinator of Barry’s Food Recovery Project. Razor, a senior, is the president of the Student/Farmworker Alliance chapter at Barry. Both are fellows in the Barry Service Corps,
Dr. Glenn A. Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives, also conducted a workshop at the conference. His workshop engaged participants in learning how to use exercises and games to build and reinforce skills in leadership for civic engagement.
The annual IMPACT Conference brings together college students, nonprofit professionals, campus administrators, and year-of-service members to share best practices, experiences, stories, and resources related to their work for social change. The 2020 IMPACT Conference will be held on February 13–16 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
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College Brides Walk Cancelled; Other Service Opportunities Available
This year’s College Brides Walk has been cancelled mainly because of scheduling difficulties, the organizers have announced. Students assigned to the event as part of a service-learning requirement are asked to consider opportunities currently offered by various community partners.
Usually held in February, College Brides Walk commemorates the death of Gladys Ricart, who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend on her wedding day in 1999. Over the past eight years, hundreds of college and high school students, faculty and staff, and community members took part in the one-day event, highlighted by the walk from Barry’s main campus to Johnson and Wales University in North Miami.
“Next year will be our tenth, so we are planning something epic,” said Dr. Laura Finley, a College Brides Walk organizer.
Students enrolled in service-learning courses may take advantage of opportunities offered by such community partners as A Child is Missing; Branches; HOPE, Inc.; and the Women’s Breast and Heart Initiative. Details of the opportunities are provided in the Community Engagement Management System (CEMS), accessible from the CCSI home page (click on the "Get involved" link).
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Special Olympics Seeking Volunteers for Annual 5K Run/Walk on April 7
Special Olympics Florida (Miami-Dade County) is seeking volunteers for its Sponsor an Athlete 5K Run/Walk next month. Volunteers will help with registration, crowd control, and incentive distribution.
This annual rain-or-shine event raises awareness and funds for Special Olympics Florida: Miami-Dade County. The event will take place on April 7 at Gulliver Schools (Prep Campus), 6575 North Kendall Drive, Pinecrest.
Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The participants are provided with opportunities to develop physical fitness; demonstrate courage; experience joy; and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with the community.
For additional information and to volunteer, contact Karla Pascua at karlapascua@sofl.org or 305-431-2073.
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