CCSI Newsletter

October 2, 2017

In This Issue:

Barry University Selected as Finalist for Engagement Campus Award

CCSI Offering Incentive for Community-Based Research Projects

Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship to Meet October 18

Organizers Finalizing Plans for Major Day of Service This Month

Forum on Prevention of Homelessness Scheduled for November 9

Administrator Collects Cutting-Edge Information on Interprofessional Education

Student Leader to Attend Newman Civic Fellows Conference

Annual Report Available in Community Engagement Management System

Barry University Selected as Finalist for Engagement Campus Award

Barry University has been selected as a finalist for Florida Campus Compact’s 2017 Engagement Campus of the Year Award.

The annual award recognizes Florida colleges and universities for exemplary commitment to advancing the civic purposes of higher education. Recipients have demonstrated their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility.

At Barry University, community engagement is an institutional priority and social justice a core commitment. Holding the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, Barry is named each year to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll – most recently with Distinction for “demonstrating strong levels of institutional commitment and providing a compelling case for partnerships that produce measurable impact on the community.”

Barry is also recognized annually as a “College of Distinction” for providing a higher education experience that inspires and prepares the next generation of change agents and leaders. Experiential learning, including service-learning, is a hallmark of that experience.

The Center for Community Service Initiatives is the institutional clearinghouse for community engagement information, resources, and opportunities. Since 2011, the CCSI has supported community-engaged teaching and learning, research, and service while functioning as both a catalyst and the coordinating unit for reciprocal partnerships between the university and the wider community.

Florida Campus Compact is a network of more than 50 college and university presidents and their institutions, who affirm the value of local partnerships and engagement pedagogies as contributors to a quality education that yields civic-minded, career-ready graduates.

The Awards Gala will be held on November 16 in the Grand Ballroom of the Alfond Inn at Rollins College in Winter Park.

The other finalists for the Engagement Campus of the Year Award are Eastern Florida State College, Florida International University, and the University of Central Florida.

Awards will be presented also in eight other categories, including Student Excellence in Service, Engaged Scholarship Faculty, Community Engagement Educator, and Campus–Community Partnerships.

CCSI Offering Incentives for Community-Based Research Projects

The Center for Community Service Initiatives has issued a call for proposals for its Community-Based Research Incentive Program. The program supports the development and implementation of CBR projects through small-scale funding as well as other forms of support.

CBR incentives are awarded through a competitive process to full-time faculty members who teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses. Up to three CBR awards are available each year. Applicants may request $500–$1,000.

Community-based research is a collaborative process of critical inquiry into problems or issues faced by a community. Faculty (and sometimes staff) members and students collaborate with community partners on applied research projects that address specific problems or issues and simultaneously promote social change. Research questions emerge from the needs of the community. The goal of the research is to produce and disseminate information that will benefit community members or agencies serving the community.

Through CBR, students learn research design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting.

A CBR project may be conducted by an entire class, or by a group or team. Each team must include at least one student, a faculty member (as co-investigator and/or mentor), and a community partner. Staff members may be included on the research team.

The assessment of proposals is based on six criteria, with categories including Community Rationale, Community Partnerships, Student Participation, and Budget. A document with a detailed description of the program, the application form, and the rubric used by the Review Committee for assessing applications are available in CEMS – the Community Engagement Management System.

CBR proposals may be submitted at any time this semester. For further information, contact CCSI Executive Director Dr. Glenn Bowen at gbowen@barry.edu.

Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship to Meet October 18

The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship will meet on Wednesday, October 18, from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. The CCSI will host the meeting in Room 208, Adrian Hall

All members and prospective members are urged to attend.

The FLC 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 take part in Engaged Scholarship Seminars and other professional development activities, and they become familiar with the tools and resources needed for engaged scholarship.

For further information, contact FLC Facilitator Dr. Laura Finley at lfinley@barry.edu.

Organizers Finalizing Plans for Major Day of Service This Month

Plans are being finalized for community service projects on the Make a Difference Day schedule.

Make a Difference Day is observed on the fourth Saturday of October – the 28th this year. USA Weekend magazine created the event in 1992 as “a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors.”

According to Points of Light, a sponsor, “Make A Difference Day is a day to celebrate the power of people to make a difference.”

Barry volunteers will participate in several service projects in local neighborhoods. For further information, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.

Forum on Prevention of Homelessness Scheduled for November 9

The first forum in this year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series will focus on the issue of homelessness in the community. Titled “Preventing Homelessness: Responding to the Challenge,” the 90-minute forum will be held on November 9, in Andreas 112, beginning at 4 p.m.

The forum on the opioid epidemic, scheduled for September 26, was cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

TheCenter for Community Service Initiatives organizes the Deliberative Dialogue Series as a method of civic learning and engagement in addressing social issues of current concern. The series brings together campus and community stakeholders to weigh perspectives about the issues and to work towards practical solutions.

Several community engagement events coordinated by the CCSI were cancelled or postponed as a result of the hurricane. The events include the Community Engagement Fair, two days of service, and this academic year’s first meeting of the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship.

AdministratorCollects Cutting-Edge Information on Interprofessional Education

Dr. Carl Cramer, an associate dean and professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, attended the 2017 NEXUS Summit in Minneapolis, Minn., recently.

This was the second annual meeting of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, which was hosted by the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative and the University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing.

Cramer, who coordinates interprofessional education in CNHS, collected valuable, cutting-edge information on interprofessional education and practice to apply to Project ADVICE (Advancement of Interprofessional Collaboration and Education), a CNHS activity funded by a grant from the Hugoton Foundation.

Project ADVICE hosted its first event last April and will host a series of other events and activities aimed at developing and enhancing skills in interprofessional collaboration and communication for current and future generations of all healthcare professionals. 

Cramer, who also serves as the CNCS Community Engagement Liaison, noted that community engagement and experiential learning are integral elements of the framework for interprofessional education at Barry.

Student Leader to Attend Newman Civic Fellows Conference

Barry student leader Paola Montenegro will attend the Newman Civic Fellows National Conference on November 17 and 18 in Boston, Mass.

A senior majoring in political science, Montenegro is one of 273 “community-committed” college students participating in the Newman Civic Fellows Program for 2017–2018.

Campus Compact – a national coalition of approximately 1,000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education – has organized the conference in association with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The purpose of the conference is to “advance shared goals of supporting civic learning through skill development in policy making, dialogue and debate, and collaboration across lines of difference,” Campus Compact has announced.

“The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports community-committed students who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country,” Campus Compact said in a statement. “The fellowship, named for Campus Compact founder Frank Newman, provides training and resources that nurture students’ assets and passions to help them develop strategies to achieve social change.”

In her nomination of the student leader for the fellowship, Barry President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD, said Montenegro’s leadership of human rights campaigns “invigorated social justice-focused engagement among Barry students.”

Annual Report Available in Community Engagement Management System

The 2017 Annual Report of the Center for Community Service Initiatives is available in the Community Engagement Management System, or CEMS.

Highlights include the finalizing of the CCSI’s Strategic Plan, the recognition of community-engaged scholarship in the Faculty Rank and Promotion Guidelines, and the provost’s appointment of a Community Advisory Committee to support the implementation of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan.

CEMS may be accessed from the CCSI homepage.