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Service-Learning Course Syllabi Reviewed, Designation Renewed Various Community Engagement Events Cancelled in Wake of Hurricane Barry Faculty Members Author Lead Article for Community Engagement Journal Faculty and Staff Members Make Presentations at Conferences This Month Ten New Students Selected for Civic Learning and Leadership Program Service-Learning Monographs Available in Community Engagement Library | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Service-Learning Course Syllabi Reviewed, Designation Renewed Following a comprehensive review of service-learning course syllabi and survey responses from faculty, the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) has finalized the list of courses that will retain the service-learning designation. Sections of 23 undergraduate courses are on the list. The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) recently conducted a comprehensive review of both undergraduate and graduate course sections that have received the service-learning designation. With guidance from the CCSI, the Service-Learning Course Review Committee reviewed survey responses and syllabi submitted by faculty members who teach and/or coordinate the courses. “The primary purpose of the review was to determine the extent to which each course continued to meet the criteria for the service-learning designation and to demonstrate the deep integration of thoughtfully organized community service into the curriculum,” the CCSI said in a statement. The designation has been renewed for 32 of the 40 undergraduate course sections and one of the two graduate-level sections that were reviewed. On the undergraduate list are 32 sections of courses in the The graduate-level course that retains the service-learning designation is a counseling course in the
Prior to the review, 58 course sections carried the service-learning designation. “The much-shorter list indicates that the university takes the service-learning designation seriously and is committed to promoting the highest standard of service-learning practice,” explains CCSI Executive Director Dr. Glenn Bowen. “The list has fewer courses also because several faculty members who taught service-learning courses have left the university.” Service-learning is defined as “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.” A course is designated as service-learning if it meets specific criteria. For example, the syllabus must show direct and deliberate connections between the community service or community-focused assignment and the course content, and must indicate how these connections will support or enhance student learning. Faculty members who apply successfully for the service-learning designation have the SL notation added to their course sections in the schedule (WebAdvisor) and to their students’ official transcripts. The notation indicates that the course requires “applied learning, student engagement with the community, and critical reflection.” The members of the Service-Learning Course Review Committee were Dr. Carmen McCrink (chair), Dr. Tamara Hamilton, Dr. Kevin Kemerer, Dr. Mitchell Rosenwald, and Dr. Glenn Bowen (ex officio). They reviewed course syllabi as well as responses to a survey regarding the experiences of faculty members as service-learning course instructors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Various Community Engagement Events Cancelled in Wake of Hurricane Several community engagement events coordinated by the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) have been cancelled or postponed as a result of Hurricane Irma. The events include the Community Engagement Fair, two days of service, and the first forum in this academic year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series. The Community Engagement Fair has been postponed and will be rescheduled for January. At this annual event, community partners provide information on their programs and services and offer community-based experiential learning opportunities to students. They also offer volunteer and research opportunities for staff and faculty members. The September 11th National Day of Service and the International Coastal Cleanup Project are the two service events that were cancelled. The first forum in this year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series would have been focused on the opioid epidemic. A forum on the issue of homelessness is scheduled for November. 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 CCSI 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. Meanwhile, the September meeting of the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship was cancelled as well. The date and time of the October meeting will be announced next week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Barry Faculty Members Author Lead Article for Community Engagement Journal “Advocacy Through Social Media: Exploring Student Engagement in Addressing Social issues.” That’s the title of the lead article in the current issue of the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. The authors are Glenn A. Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), and Nickesia S. Gordon and Margaret K. Chojnacki, associate professors of communication. Here’s the abstract of article: “Social media have become ubiquitous and are seen as beneficial to society. Although the use of social media for educational purposes has been the subject of recent research, not much is known about their role in higher education civic engagement. Employing critical discourse analysis, this study explored the function of social media as a tool to promote the civic engagement of students through advocacy focused on identified social issues. Findings of this qualitative research are discussed as themes pertaining to the challenges of advocacy, the relative importance of advocacy processes, and the function of social media infrastructure. The authors also discuss the implications for pedagogy and for research in the area of technology-mediated, issue-focused advocacy by university students.” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Faculty and Staff Members Make Presentations at Conferences This Month Several faculty and staff members have been slated as presenters at major conferences this month. Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), was a presenter at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) in The conference was held at NUI (National University of Ireland) CCSI-based Experiential Learning Coordinator Lizbeth James will be a presenter at the 46th Annual Conference of the National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) on September 26. James will facilitate a 60-minute session titled “Safe Space Theater: An Experiential Approach to Orientation and Training.” The three-day conference – with the theme, “From Principles to Practice: Experiential Education Innovation in a Changing World” – will be held at Loews Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach, Florida, beginning on September 25. At the same time, four members of Barry’s Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) will be among the presenters at the 18th Annual Conference of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC). Drs. Glenn A. Bowen, Laura Finley, Pamela Hall, and Celeste Landeros (formerly Fraser Delgado) will lead a roundtable session titled “Perspectives on Community-Engaged Scholarship Generated by a Faculty Learning Community.” Bowen created the FLC in 2014 as a faculty development program in the CCSI. Finley, an associate professor of sociology and criminology, is the current facilitator of the FLC. Hall, an associate professor of psychology, and Landeros, professor of English and humanities in the Finley will make a separate presentation at the same conference. That presentation is titled “Engagement in Domestic and Dating Violence Awareness: Assessment of Student Perceptions of Service-Learning Activities.” Hosted by Auburn University in association with the ESC Southern Region, the ESC Conference will be held on September 26 and 27 in Birmingham, Alabama. “This is Engagement: Best Practices in Community-Engaged Scholarship” is the theme of the two-day national conference. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ten New Students Selected for Civic Learning and Leadership Program Just before the start of the new academic year, 10 students were selected as newcomers for the Barry Service Corps Fellows Program. They have joined nine students who were already enrolled in the civic learning and leadership development program. The new BSC Fellows are Jenifer Acosta, a junior majoring in social work; Alexis Alexander – sophomore, pre-nursing; Gabriel Bouani – junior, business management; Taila Garrett – junior, biology (pre-professional); Paola Lopez-Hernandez – sophomore, international studies; Jasmine McKee – junior, history; Dominique McMillan – senior, history; Dellayah Pleasure – sophomore, pre-nursing; Anel Ramirez – junior, nursing; and Junior Shayna Ramirez – sophomore, criminology. The other program participants are Althea Hylton, a senior majoring in accounting; Alberto Liriano – senior, chemistry; Presler Maxius – senior, philosophy; Paola Montenegro – senior, political science; Pa Sheikh Ngom – senior, business management; Paris Razor – junior, English; Antonio Rodriguez – sophomore, political science; Felix Vega-Pagan – junior, criminology; and Rajon Wright – senior, computer information science. Barry Service Corps Fellows participate in a yearlong program designed to cultivate civic-mindedness, including civic leadership development. CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien manages the program with assistance from Program Coordinators Donté Roberts and Ashton Spangler. Roberts, a Barry alumnus, is a former BSC Fellow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Service-Learning Monographs Available in Community Engagement Library A series of monographs on Service-Learning in the Disciplines is available in the Community Engagement Library managed by the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI). The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) published, in the 1990s, a 21-monograph series, which is still relevant and useful. AAHE is a national membership organization dedicated to improving the quality of higher education in Each monograph is focused on why and how service-learning can be implemented within a particular discipline. The discussions presented in the series are written by scholars in the discipline and are supported by research, course models, annotated bibliographies, and program descriptions. Each volume includes both theoretical and pedagogical essays and covers a wide range of interests and approaches.
Fifteen of the monographs are available from the Community Engagement Library. They may be checked out for brief periods. For further information, contact CCSI Administrative Assistant Marie Colom at mcolom@barry.edu or at extension 3696.
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CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : September 25, 2017
