Community Engagement News

Posted On : November 06, 2017

November 6, 2017

In This Issue:

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign Underway

All Set for Thursday’s Deliberative Dialogue on Homelessness

Community Engagement Symposium Proposals Being Accepted

CCSI Calls for Community Engagement Award Nominations

Engaged Scholarship Seminar Set for November 29

Variety of Community Engagement Literature Available in CEMS

Barry Volunteers Support Hurricane Clean-up Efforts

Volunteers Needed for Thanksgiving Event in Hollywood

Organization Offers Opportunity for Grads to Make “Real impact”

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign Underway

A Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign is underway here at Barry University.

The major elements of the campaign are a day of service, a deliberative dialogue on homelessness prevention, a demonstration in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program, and a Thanksgiving celebration with refugee families.

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) launched the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign on October 28 as part of Make a Difference Day activities. Community service projects on Make a Difference Day were focused on food access and the prevention of homelessness.

Homelessness is a public health concern. More than 1,000 people were living on the street and some 2,800 homeless people slept in shelters, the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust reported recently.

A deliberative dialogue titled “Preventing Homelessness: Responding to the Challenge” will take place this Thursday (see story below).

This Saturday (November 11), Barry students will take to the streets to demand attention to the rights of farmworkers. The demonstration will support the CIW in its efforts to secure an improved quality of life for farmworkers, who face injustices in the agricultural and food-supply systems.

The final event on the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign calendar is Miami’s Church World Service Turkey Day. For four hours on November 18, Barry students and some staff members will gather with refugee families at the Miami Lakes Congregational Church for the Thanksgiving celebration.

All Set for Thursday’s Deliberative Dialogue on Homelessness

All arrangements are in place for this Thursday’s forum on the prevention of homelessness. Part of the Deliberative Dialogue Series, the forum is scheduled for 4 to 5:30 p.m., in Room 112 of the Andreas Building.

A Barry alumna currently working as a clinical case manager at KID, Inc. in Broward County and a psychiatric nurse practitioner from a Miami-based agency that assists homeless people are among the community members who will be lead participants at the forum.

Ruth Auguste, who earned a master’s in social work at Barry, will share her case management experience. She may talk about how she has found fulfillment in assisting seriously mentally ill clients and their families.

Rose Anderson is a psychiatric nurse practitioner for Camillus Health Concern’s Lazarus Project, which provides intensive outreach services to homeless persons suffering from serious mental illness.

Camillus Health Concern runs a clinic for homeless people and has provided direct medical care in the community for 24 years.

Other lead participants at the forum will include an administrator of a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center and a former substance abuse counselor currently pursuing a master’s in counseling at Barry.

The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

Organized by the CCSI, the Deliberative Dialogue Series brings together campus and community stakeholders to seek solutions to social issues of current concern.

Community Engagement Symposium Proposals Being Accepted

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Implementation Committee invite students, faculty, staff, and community partners to submit proposals for concurrent-session presentations at Barry’s fifth annual Community Engagement Symposium.

Proposals should address the theme of social responsibility through experiential learning. Successful proposals will specify the social issues addressed; the strategies, programs/projects, and related activities undertaken; and the social responsibility outcomes achieved.

For additional information regarding concurrent-session presentations, contact the CCSI at ccsi@barry.edu.

Meanwhile, the CCSI has issued a separate call for poster-session proposals. Further information on the poster session is available from QEP Project Assistant Daniqua Williams at qep@barry.edu.

The symposium will be held on March 28, and the deadline for the submission of all proposals is January 26.

CCSI Calls for Community Engagement Award Nominations

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) has issued a call for nominations for the 2018 Community Engagement Awards.

The award categories are as follows: Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.



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 fifth annual Community Engagement Awards will be held on March 28, 2018, beginning at 5 p.m. Nominations for awards will be accepted through January 26.

Engaged Scholarship Seminar Set for November 29

The Faculty Learning Community’s first Engaged Scholarship Seminar for this academic year is scheduled for November 29, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. The CCSI will host the seminar in Adrian Hall, Room 208.

All FLC members and prospective members are urged to attend the seminar.

The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship is a cross-disciplinary group of faculty members who participate in a collaborative program focused on the scholarship of engagement, or community-engaged scholarship. The FLC provides an intellectual venue in which faculty members exchange ideas with an academically diverse group and learn from one another’s experiences.

FLC members also participate regularly in seminars and other professional development activities through which they become familiar with the tools and resources needed for the practice of engaged scholarship.

Variety of Community Engagement Literature Available in CEMS

A variety of community engagement literature is available through the Community Engagement Management System, or CEMS. Among the literature are books and book chapters, journals and journal articles, manuals, and fact sheets.

The literature may be accessed directly from the “Resources” section of CEMS.

Examples of books in CEMS are Community-Based Research and Higher Education: Principles and Practices; Service-Learning and the Liberal Arts: How and Why It Works; and The Promise of Partnerships: Tapping into the College as a Community Asset. A monograph titled At a Glance: What We Know about the Effects of Service-Learning on College Students, Faculty, Institutions, and Communities is available as well.

Articles in CEMS include “Assessment of Service Learning: An Often Overlooked Vital Link”; “Canton Connections: A University-Community Partnership for Post-Disaster Revitalization”; “Civic Engagement in the Field of Psychology”; “Community Partner Perceptions about Community Engagement Experiences for Nursing Students”; “Designing Effective Reflection: What Matters to Service-Learning?”; “Peace in Every Relationship: Building an Interdisciplinary, Holistic Domestic Violence Program on College Campuses”; “Service Learning in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Effective Practices”; and “Situating Civic Engagement in a Global Context: A Review of Higher Education and Civic Engagement.”

Available journals include the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Special Issue – Service Learning); International Undergraduate Journal for Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change; Journal for Civic Commitment; Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education; Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship; Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement; Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning; PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagement; and the Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning and Community-Based Research.

“Engagement and Related Concepts in Higher Education” and “Indicators of Engagement” are among the fact sheets in CEMS. A Corporation for National & Community Service issue brief, “The Impact of Service-Learning: A Review of Current Research,” also may be accessed in CEMS.

Barry Volunteers Support Hurricane Clean-up Efforts

Dozens of volunteers from Barry and St. Thomas universities assisted with clean-up efforts in the Florida Keys recently. They lent a hand at San Pedro Catholic Church in Tavernier, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, and CranePoint HammockMuseum and Nature Trail in Marathon.

The Saturday of Service was a collaborative project of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) and the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at St. Thomas.

In the wake of the hurricane, CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien and CCE Coordinator Anthony Vinciguerra urged interested people to donate to Catholic Charities, the archdiocesan agency supporting long-term recovery for people most affected.

Volunteers Needed for Thanksgiving Event in Hollywood

Community Enhancement Collaboration, Inc. is organizing a “Holiday Thanksgiving Distribution” event in Hollywood and is in need of volunteers.

The event will take place on November 18, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Washington Park Community Center, located at 5199 Pembroke Road, Hollywood.

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences is helping to promote this volunteer opportunity. According to Dr. Carl Cramer, an associate dean and a CCSI community engagement liaison, volunteers will assist in distributing turkeys and trimmings to community residents. There will be health screenings, vending, entertainment, and other activities.

Here is a link to the site to register as a volunteer: <www.SignUpGenius.com/go/60B0D49A4AF2CAAFE3-cecholiday>

Organization Offers Opportunity for Grads to Make “Real impact”

A nonprofit organization has announced that full-time community-focused positions for recent college graduates will become available in four states in July 2018.

Current seniors and recent graduates are encouraged to apply for positions with Impact America in Alabama,Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.

“Impact America provides an opportunity for recent graduates to engage with communities of need in a meaningful way, broadening their perspectives and making a real impact in their communities,” the organization said in a statement.

A nationally recognized, award-winning nonprofit, Impact America announced that applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and that the priority deadline to apply is December 4.

A small number of AmeriCorps member positions are also available. Successful applicants will start in December 2017 in several cities across Alabama (Birmingham, Tuscaloosa,Huntsville, and Montgomery);Tennessee (Memphis,Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga); and South Carolina (Greenville and Spartanburg). The priority deadline for applications is November 16.

Impact America has provided online information on the available jobs.