Community Engagement News

September 10, 2018

In This Issue:

Students Prepare for Social Justice Advocacy Roles as Part of Civic Leadership Program

Undergraduate Computer Science Course Gets Service-Learning Designation

Faculty Member Awarded Service-Learning Fellowship for Current Academic Year

Barry Student Selected as Campus Election Engagement Fellow

All Set for Saturday’s International Coastal Cleanup Project at Virginia Key Beach

Deliberative Dialogue on Felons’ Right to Vote Takes Place on September 20

Community Partners to Showcase Programs and Services at Community Engagement Fair

CCSI Annual Report Available in Community Engagement Management System

Students Prepare for Social Justice Advocacy Roles as Part of Civic Leadership Program

A group of undergraduates recently prepared for social justice advocacy roles as part of a civic learning and leadership development program. Throughout the academic year, they will promote social justice in the areas of civic health, equitable communities, and global citizenship.

The 17 students are fellows in the Barry Service Corps, a civic engagement program with a leadership development component. Designed to cultivate civic-mindedness, including civic leadership skills, the program prepares students to demonstrate appreciation for diversity, skills in communicating across difference, knowledge of social issues, and the ability to organize groups for social change.

Each student leader is assigned to one of three social justice teams: civic health, focused on engagement in democratic structures and processes; (2) equitable communities, addressing food access and community well-being in Liberty City and Little Haiti; and (3) global citizenship, promoting human rights in geopolitical and global economic systems.

 “Throughout the academic year, the fellows will also work on individual projects to address social issues,” said Courtney Berrien, associate director the Center for Community Service Initiatives. “The projects require each student to identify an issue of social concern that affects the local community, collaborate with community partners to design and complete a project that addresses that issue, and identify and measure community impact outcomes.”

In addition, Berrien said, the fellows will support various co-curricular community engagement programs and facilitate community service opportunities for students enrolled in selected service-learning courses.

During their weeklong orientation and training, the fellows learned several methods of working towards social change, including intergroup dialogue, community organizing, voting in elections, and direct action. They also practiced facilitation techniques and participated in activities geared to foster cultural competency and understanding of diverse community contexts.

Representatives of Urban GreenWorks, PACT (People Acting for Community Together), Dream Defenders, Gang Alternative, and the Little Haiti Cultural Center and Marketplace led sessions during which they shared information on social challenges facing neighborhoods near Barry’s Miami Shores campus. The community partners also introduced the student leaders to a number of initiatives aimed at addressing the identified issues.

The student leaders discussed previous years’ civic engagement activities involving Barry’s Campus Democracy Project, Church World Service, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and the Food Recovery

Network.

During a lunchtime session featuring the work of Church World Service, an Afghan refugee now living in North Miami shared the story of her family’s two-year asylum experience in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.She also spoke about the challenges she and her family faced after arriving in the United States and the support they received from Church World Service Miami.

Church World Service is a refugee resettlement agency, and Doral-based Church World Service Miami is a Barry community partner.

Members of this year’s cohort of BSC fellows are Gabriel Bouani, Erica Cruz, Sydney Ingram, Joulinsa Jean-Charles, Paola Lopez-Hernandez, Jasmine McKee, Martina Muñoz, Pa Sheikh Ngom, Stephanie Nguyen, Anel Ramirez, Shayna Ramirez, Paris Razor, Antonio Rodriguez, Dai’Jonnai Smith, Samantha Ternelus, Alexis Toussaint, and Tatyana Wimbley.

Undergraduate Computer Science Course Gets Service-Learning Designation

An undergraduate computer science course was recently approved for the service-learning designation.

Students taking CS 332-01: Computer Hardware Organization will repair donated computers, install hardware components and software, and configure systems serving community-based nonprofit organizations. They will also provide system software and application training to community partners.

CS 332-01 is offered by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. James Haralambides, professor of computer science, is the course instructor.

Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates relevant community service with course work and critical reflection to enrich the learning experience, foster social responsibility and civic engagement, and strengthen communities.

Courses that meet specific criteria are given the service-learning designation. The criteria include “direct and deliberate connections between the community service or community-focused assignment and the course content.” Also, students should be required to complete a minimum of 10 hours of community service as part of a three-credit course, and 20 percent of the total course grade should be allocated to the service-learning component.

The university registrar labels service-learning courses in WebAdvisor (course schedule) and on students’ transcripts.

The Center for Community Service Initiatives invites faculty members whose courses include a service-learning component to apply for the service-learning designation at any time during the academic year.

Faculty Member Awarded Service-Learning Fellowship for Current Academic Year

Dr. Sean Erwin, an associate professor in the Department of Theology and Philosophy and PACE (School of Professional and Career Education), has been awarded a service-learning fellowship for the 2018–2019 academic year.

He will participate in a program designed to promote faculty professional development in the areas of service-learning and community-engaged scholarship.

Erwin is expected to develop a service-learning component for PHI 191: Judeo-Christian Doctrine. The proposed service-learning component will include the coordination of undergraduates taking the course as introductory classical language mentors with already identified elementary schools seeking to generate elementary classical language study in Miami-Dade County.

Throughout the academic year, the service-learning fellow will participate in faculty development seminars and in the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship.

Erwin received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1998. His current areas of specialization are political philosophy, medieval and renaissance philosophy, and 20th-century philosophy.

Barry Student Selected as Campus Election Engagement Fellow

Mona Burrows, a sophomore in Barry’s pre-law program, has been named a fellow for the Campus Election Engagement Project, or CEEP. Her primary responsibility will be to encourage students to vote.

CEEP fellows help to register their fellow students to vote, distribute nonpartisan candidate guides and other literature, and organize get-out-the-vote activities.

At Barry, the CEEP fellow serves on the committee that organizes the Campus Democracy Project, a civic engagement initiative.

Burrows says she wants to help students “learn how to make their voices heard and get a say in their government.” She plans to pursue a career as a lawyer and eventually to “go into politics.”

Florida CEEP Director Monica Matteo-Salinas and Barry’s CEEP Liaison Dr. Sean Foreman congratulated Burrows on her semester-long fellowship.

CEEP is a national nonpartisan project that helps college and university administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders engage students in federal, state, and local elections. Working with CEEP, colleges and universities assist students in registering to vote, volunteering in campaigns, educating themselves on candidates and issues, navigating voting laws, and turning out at the polls.

All Set for Saturday’s International Coastal Cleanup Project at Virginia Key Beach

All arrangements are in place for Saturday’s International Coastal Cleanup project at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park in Miami. Students, faculty, and staff will take part in the project as part of Barry’s second major day of service for this academic year.

The International Coastal Cleanup is the world's largest, one-day volunteer effort to clean up the marine environment and raise awareness about this issue. Spearheaded by Ocean Conservancy, the annual effort, now in its 33rd year, takes place on the third Saturday of September.

VolunteerCleanup.org coordinates Miami-Dade’s participation in this global event with more than 40 simultaneous shoreline cleanups throughout the county. Volunteers not only remove marine debris but also catalog and tally what they find, using Ocean Conservancy’s data collection cards or Clean Swell app.  

Barry participants will remove debris and other items from the shoreline and nearby areas at Virginia Key Beach and will keep a record of items collected. Over the years, cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic beverage bottles, and plastic bottle caps have been on the list of “top 10 items collected.”

All registered participants are asked to meet in the Landon Events Room at 7:45 a.m. Each participant is asked to take along a reusable water bottle and to wear closed-toe shoes. Transportation and a light breakfast will be provided. The service project is scheduled to end at lunch time.

Deliberative Dialogue on Felons’ Right to Vote Takes Place on September 20

This academic year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series will begin on September 20 with a forum focused on the proposed Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018).

The Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative is on the November 6 ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment.

A “yes" vote supports this amendment to automatically restore the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole, and probation. A "no" vote opposes this amendment.

In Florida, a proposed constitutional amendment requires a 60 percent “yes" vote to be approved.

Florida is one of four states – the three others being Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia – where convicted felons do not regain the right to vote, “until and unless a state officer or board restores an individual's voting rights.” If Amendment 4 passes, Florida would join 19 other states that restore the right to vote after the completion of prison time, parole, and probation.

The 90-minute forum will be held in the Andreas Building, Room 112, beginning at 4 p.m.

Community Partners to Showcase Programs and Services at Community Engagement Fair

A representative number of Barry’s community partners will be coming to campus on September 26 for the annual Community Engagement Fair.

From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the community partners will showcase the programs and services offered by the organizations they represent. They are expected to provide students, faculty, and staff with information on opportunities for volunteer work, service-learning and community-based research projects, and community-focused internships.

The Community Engagement Fair, which will be held in the Landon Student Union, will include a workshop for community partners, starting at 9 a.m.

For additional information on the Community Engagement Fair, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.

CCSI Annual Report Available in Community Engagement Management System

The Annual Report of the Center for Community Service Initiatives is available in the Community Engagement Management System, or CEMS.

Highlights of the report include community partners’ participation in an on-campus workshop focused on community impact and the advancement of Barry’s partnerships with organizations in the northwestern region of Haiti. 

The theme of the CCSI Annual Report is “Implementing Civic Action to Create Community Impact.” The main sections of the 60-page report cover awards and accolades, community partnerships and projects, service-learning, co-curricular programs and participation, other community engagement activities, and community-based research and scholarship.