Community Engagement News

Posted On : January 16, 2018

January 16, 2018

In This Issue:

Nominations for Community Engagement Awards Close January 26

Deadline for Symposium Presentation Proposals Fast Approaching

Theology and Sociology Students Complete Service-Learning Projects

Class Contributes Promotional Photographs to Community Partners

Students Provide Homework Support to Neighborhood Youth

Basketball Teams Participate in Community Service Projects

Community Engagement Fair Set for Next Tuesday, January 23

Faculty Invited to Apply for Service-Learning Fellowships

Faculty Learning Community Schedules Semester Sessions

Nominations for Community Engagement Awards Close January 26

Nominations for the 2018 Community Engagement Awards will close on Friday, January 26.

The categories of awards are the same as in previous years: Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.

The primary purpose of the awards is to publicly recognize students, faculty and staff members, departments, and community partners for their community engagement participation, contributions, and achievements. The awards are also designed to encourage excellence and to inspire similar achievements by others.

AWARD CATEGORIES

Community Impact Award	Presented to individual students and student organizations for exemplary community engagement – including service, research, and/or advocacy – that has a measurable impact on the community. Individual winners (current or previous) who are freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are eligible for selection by the university president as Barry’s nominee for (National) Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellows Award.

Community Partnership Award	Recognizes exemplary partnerships between university and community constituencies that produce measurable improvements in people’s lives while enhancing higher education. Special consideration is given to partnerships that strive to achieve the systems and policy changes needed to address the root causes of social, economic, health, and environmental disparities in the community. The award is presented to community partners.

Community-Based Research Award	Recognizes scholars (faculty and/or students) who conduct rigorous research with community partners in response to community concerns, issues, or needs.

Engaged Scholarship Award	Recognizes faculty members for significant scholarly work across the faculty roles of teaching, research, and service – including related publications and presentations – that addresses community issues.

Community Engagement Educator Award	Honors an employee for significant contributions to the institutionalization and enhancement of community engagement at Barry University. Winners of this award are administrators, staff members, or faculty members who have promoted institutional commitment to community engagement, contributed to campus–community partnerships, and supported students and colleagues in community engagement activities.

Service-Learning Faculty Award	Recognizes faculty members for exemplary integration of community service into the curriculum or for demonstrating excellence in using service-learning as a teaching and learning strategy. Instructors of SL-designated courses are prime candidates for this award.

Engaged Department Award	Presented to a department (within a division, college, or school) for achievements in advancing the community engagement goals of the university, educating students for civic and social responsibility, and improving community life. Departments in which faculty and staff members engage in significant community/public service, individually or collectively with students, are prime candidates for this award.

The nomination forms are available in CEMS – the Community Engagement Management System.

The CCSI will host the fifth annual Community Engagement Awards on March 28, beginning at 5 p.m.

For more information on this event, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.

Deadline for Symposium Presentation Proposals Fast Approaching

Barry University’s fifth annual Community Engagement Symposium will be held on March 28, and the deadline for the submission of proposalsfor concurrent-session presentations is fast approaching.

Proposals should address the symposium’s theme, “Demonstrating Social Responsibility through Experiential Learning.” The deadline for the submission of proposals is Friday, January 26.

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Implementation Committee will host the event. For further information, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or QEP staff at qep@barry.edu.

Theology and Sociology Students Complete Service-Learning Projects

Students taking theology and sociology courses last semester completed service-learning projects with over 80 community partners and programs.

Theology students provided 1,890 hours of service as part of three theology courses, reported Experiential Learning Coordinator Liz James. Sociology students logged approximately 400 hours of service.

Service sites included natural habitats, churches, schools, and community centers. Among the community partners and programs were A Child is Missing, Church World Service, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Cross Catholic Outreach, His House Children’s Home, HistoricVirginia KeyBeach, the Life of Freedom Center, and PACT (People Acting for Community Together).

In an end-of-semester report, James noted that 297 students were enrolled in THE 201: Theology, Faiths, Beliefs, and Traditions (10 sections); THE 306: Dynamics of Faith, Beliefs, and Theology; and THE 311: Sexuality, Sex, and Morality.

The instructors for THE 201 were Dr. George Boudreau, the Rev. Richard Clements, Luis De Prada, Sister Mary Frances Fleischaker, Dr. Christopher Jones, Fr. José David Padilla, Fr. Jorge Presmanes, Karen Stalnaker, and Fr. Mark Wedig. Dr. James Nickoloff taught THE 306 while Jones was the instructor for THE 311.

James reported that 155 students were enrolled in SOC 200: Perspective Consciousness (4 sections) and SOC 426: Sociology of Violence.

The instructors for SOC 200 were Drs. Laura Finley and Lisa Konczal. Finley was also the instructor for SOC 426.

Class Contributes Promotional Photographs to Community Partners

A documentary photography class contributed promotional photographs to six of Barry’s community partners recently.

The students produced the photos as part of a designated service-learning course taught by Scott Weber, professor of photography in the Department of Fine Arts.

Working mostly in pairs, the 11 students took photos that captured aspects of the community partners’ mission and work. Saeed Alktebi, Rashed Alyammahi, Remijin Camping, Kassandra Cruz, Brian Delgado, Anna Eizman, Giuliana Nakashima, Victoria Newell, Kristian Rodriguez, Alexandra Tercius, and Courtney Wrobleski visited community partner locations to discuss photos ideas before they put their cameras to work.

The community partners were Everglades Wildlife Alliance; Mount Tabor Baptist Church; North Miami Foundation for Senior Citizens’ Services, Inc.; Pass It On Ministries of South Florida; Urban GreenWorks, and URGENT, Inc. They will use the photos primarily for promotional purposes, especially on websites and in brochures.

In Photography 426, the class explores the use of the camera as a tool for documentation with emphasis placed on the development of individual and group projects dealing with topics that arise from cultural, political, and social issues. Students exhibit their work at the end of the course.

The Documentary Photography Exhibition in the Andy Gato Student Gallery opened on December 8 and will close on February 11.

Students Provide Homework Support to Neighborhood Youth

Barry students have been providing homework support and serving as mentors to middle- and high-school youth in Little Haiti.

This is part of an initiative coordinated by the CCSI in partnership with Gang Alternative since the fall of 2015.

Located in that Miami neighborhood, Gang Alternative is a faith-based nonprofit organization and a recipient of Barry’s Community Partnership Award. The organization’s BLOC (Building Leaders of Character) program, through which Barry students serve the youth, is aimed at instilling values and building skills that will help adolescents transition to positive, productive adult lifestyles.

Students have been providing service as part of service-learning courses as well as the Barry Service Corps (BSC) program.

Last semester, BSC members Wills Compere, a senior, and Shan-Ja Brown, a freshman, each served about 10 hours a week at Gang Alternative. They helped with math, English, social studies, and science homework.

In addition, a group of student leaders in the Barry Service Corps served as mentors. These BSC fellows planned and facilitated financial literacy and related activities with support from students completing the service-learning requirements of theology and sociology courses.

“I’ve had a really unexpected experience with the youth,” said Pa Sheikh Ngom, one of the student leaders. “At first, it was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. I went in thinking things would go one way, but they didn’t go as expected. When we started listening to what the kids wanted, and adjusted our lesson plans accordingly, we started to establish a connection with the kids.”

Sheikh Ngom said he hoped to work on strengthening the connection this semester.

Jenifer Acosta also facilitated activities with the Gang Alternative youth through her role as a BSC fellow.

“The high schoolers are funny and charismatic. I really enjoy working with them,” Acosta noted. “They have a lot to say and just want to be heard. I hope that being a part of Gang Alternative can help them make wise decisions, choose the right path, and develop into the leaders of tomorrow that they are.”

Gabriel Bouani, Paola Lopez-Hernandez, and Dominique McMillan were the other BSC fellows who served as mentors last semester. CCSI Program Coordinator Asha Starks supervised the Barry student leaders.

Basketball Teams Participate in Community Service Projects

Barry University’s basketball teams were active in community service projects during the fall semester and holiday break.

During the holiday break, the women’s team served over 500 meals to homeless people at the Miami Rescue Mission. Fifteen student-athletes and two coaches represented the Buccaneers.

The women’s basketball team serves at the Rescue Mission every year.

“It's just a worthwhile experience for us,” Barry Head Coach Bill Sullivan said. “The players enjoy it, serving the homeless.”

The Buccaneers men’s team lent their time on four different occasions during the fall semester. They helped with the Light the Night for Lymphoma and Leukemia Society by unloading supplies.

The team also served at a childhood obesity project in Miramar, Challenge 2 Change, and the Miami Shores Community Fest.

“Part of the mission of the Catholic church and our institution is service,” Bucs Men’s Head Coach Butch Estes said. “I think it’s important for young people to learn the value of giving back or paying forward. I’m happy our guys are a part of it.”

The men’s team was presented with a plaque for its continued service with the Light the Night project.

Community Engagement Fair Set for Next Tuesday, January 23

The annual Community Engagement Fair will be held next Tuesday, January 23, in the Landon Student Union. A workshop for community partners will precede the showcase segment of the fair.

Scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., the showcase will be an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to meet some of Barry’s community partners and to learn about their work. The community partners will provide information on their programs, the issues they address, and the roles played by volunteers and students taking service-learning courses.

“Creating, Sustaining, and Assessing Community Impact” is the topic of the workshop, which will get underway after brief opening session at 9 o’clock. Dr. Victor Romano, associate vice provost for student success and undergraduate studies, will deliver opening remarks.

CCSI staff will facilitate segments of the workshop, capped by a segment on “Assessing Community Impact” presented by Dr. Tisa McGhee, an associate professor of social work.

This academic year’s Community Engagement Fair, originally scheduled for September, was moved to January because of Hurricane Irma.

For more information on this event, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.

Faculty Invited to Apply for Service-Learning Fellowships

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) invites faculty members to apply for service-learning fellowships for the 2018–2019 academic year. Two fellowships will be available.

Through the fellowships, successful applicants participate in a yearlong faculty development program focused on service-learning pedagogy, practice, and associated scholarship. Each service-learning fellow gets a course release to complete a special project and eventually to serve as a faculty mentor and engaged scholar.

Fellowship details and the application form are available in the Community Engagement Management System (CEMS), which may be accessed from the CCSI homepage. The extended application deadline is February 5.

For further information, contact Dr. Glenn Bowen in the CCSI at gbowen@barry.edu or 305-899-4711.

Faculty Learning Community Schedules Semester Sessions

The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) has scheduled three sessions for the spring semester. Engaged scholarship seminars are set for January 23 and February 20, and a regular meeting is scheduled for April 17, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., in the CCSI, Adrian 208.

Engaged scholarship is shorthand for the scholarship of engagement, the term used in 1995 by Ernest Boyer, then president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This kind of scholarship integrates faculty work in the areas of teaching, research, and service that addresses community needs, issues, and priorities.

Any faculty member may join the FLC. For further information, contact Dr. Laura Finley, the FLC facilitator, at lfinley@barry.edu.