|
Florida Campus Compact Honors Barry Student for Excellence in Service
Florida Campus Compact recently presented its Student Excellence in Service Award to Quayneshia Smith, a Barry student leader.
Smith was recognized primarily for service provided through the Barry Service Corps Fellows Program, a civic learning and leadership initiative connected to Federal Work-Study Community Service. She received the award from Dr. Edwin R. Massey, president of Indian River State College, on November 17 at the Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, where Florida Campus Compact held its 25th anniversary celebration.
The Student Excellence in Service Award annually honors a student in each of the three higher education sectors – the state university system, Florida college system, and independent colleges/universities – for outstanding service to Florida’s communities. Smith was recognized as a student at an independent college/university.
In her role as a BSC fellow, “Quayneshia has changed the landscape of service opportunities provided to Barry students by increasing opportunities to engage in advocacy campaigns for social justice,” Florida Campus Compact noted in the program for its 25th anniversary gala.
Smith serves on the Student/Farmworker Alliance National Steering Committee, working with other student leaders and members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to set strategic goals for the Campaign for Fair Food. The group also plans public actions against corporations that refuse to support the Fair Food Program, which provides safe working conditions for farmworkers, an end to modern-day slavery and sexual harassment in the fields, and fair payment methods.
Since the fall of 2013, Smith has been an active member of Barry’s Alternative Breaks organization and currently serves on the executive board. She has contributed to the restructuring of the Alternative Breaks program to focus on long-term relationships and community impact.
A senior majoring in social work, Smith was a recipient of Barry’s Community Impact Award in 2015.
As part of a service-learning course in the School of
Florida Campus Compact is the state affiliate of Campus Compact, a national organization that advances the public purpose of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility.
On hand to congratulate her were Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) administrators, Dr. Glenn Bowen and Courtney Berrien, as well as BSC Fellows Seretse Davis, Sydney Ingram, Asha Starks, and Rajon Wright.
|
Community Engagement Award Categories Include Engaged Scholarship
Engaged Scholarship is one of the seven categories of community engagement awards for which nominations are being accepted.
The 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.
In addition to Engaged Scholarship, the categories of awards are Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.
The fourth annual Community Engagement Awards will be held on March 29, 2017. The nomination deadline is January 27.
|
Administrators and Students Present at State-Level Conference
Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) administrators Dr. Glenn Bowen and Courtney Berrien, with five Barry students, led workshops at Florida Campus Compact’s Annual Conference on November 17 and 18 at the Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa.
For the first workshop, titled “Organizing and Implementing Public Action in Support of Social Justice,” the presenters were Asha Starks, Bowen, Quayneshia Smith, and Berrien.
For the second, “Diversity Training for Community Engagement,” the presenters were Berrien, Bowen, Seretse Davis, Rajon Wright, and Sydney Ingram.
Florida Campus Compact (FL|CC) is a network of more than 50 college and university presidents and their institutions, who affirm the value of reciprocal campus-community partnerships and engagement pedagogies as contributors to a quality education that yields civic-minded, career-ready graduates. FL|CC members are committed to helping students develop the values and skills of active citizenship through participation in public and community service.
The theme of the conference was “Celebrating Twenty-Five Years: Engaging Communities, Educating Citizens, Building Economies.”
|
CCSI Accepting Concurrent-Session Proposals for March 29 Symposium
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) is accepting proposals for concurrent-session presentations at Barry’s fourth annual Community Engagement Symposium.
Scheduled for March 29, the 2017 symposium will highlight community-focused dimensions of experiential learning.
Successful proposals will highlight aspects or features of experiential learning activities that engage faculty, staff, and/or students with community partners at the local, regional, state, national, and/or global levels.
Proposals for presentations should be submitted by January 20.
|
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 2017–2018 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 application deadline is January 30.
|
Haiti Hurricane Relief Support Efforts Winding Down at Barry
Barry University Athletics and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee have been collecting donations as part of the university’s Haitian hurricane relief support efforts.
Items requested as donations include batteries, canned food, toiletry and basic first aid items, and money (minimum $5). For every item donated, Buc patrons will receive one raffle ticket for a chance to win a prize pack from the BarryU Athletics.
The final collection will be made at the basketball match against Nova Southeastern this Wednesday (Nov. 30). The raffle winner will be announced at halftime.
Meanwhile, a social work student at Barry’s Palm Beach site, has chipped in. Magalie Williams, who plans to pursue a career in international social work, volunteered in support of Color for Hope’s I Stand with Haiti, an initiative to restore and sustain the lives of those affected by Hurricane Matthew.
Color of Hope is aimed at raising awareness and funds to support its ongoing economic development efforts in Haiti. According to the organization’s website, “any funds donated to Hurricane Matthew relief will be used to purchase necessities directly from Haitians, to support business in
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), with the support of Campus Ministry and BarryU Athletics, has been coordinating the university’s support of relief efforts in Haiti. All donations from the main campus are delivered to Amor en Acción and the Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti, Miami.
|
Xenophobia, National Security, and Moral Responsibility Discussed at Forum on Refugees
Students, faculty, staff, and alumni grappled with matters of displaced peoples, asylum seekers, refugee resettlement, and anti-immigration sentiment during the semester’s second Deliberative Dialogue recently.
Titled “Welcoming Refugees or Closing Our Borders,” the 90-minute forum focused largely on the complex social, political, and economic issues that influence policy decisions and levels of humanitarian support given to refugee families.
The forum featured four panelists:
- Alaa Basatneh, editorial contributor for the Fusion media network and social media activist; recognized by Amnesty International as a Human Rights Hero of 2014; featured in “Chicago Girl: The Social Network Takes on a Dictator” (documentary), with articles published by The New York Times and Huffington Post.
- Heidi Heft LaPorte, DSW, associate professor of social work; researched the Cuban Jewish community, both inside and outside Cuba, and children who came to the United States as unaccompanied minors as part of the Pedro Pan operation; published articles on social work practice and catastrophic events.
- Presler Maxius, a Barry student studying psychology; presented research on mental health services available to refugee families at the 2016 North Regional Honors Conference; Barry Service Corps Fellow working closely with Church World Service to support refugee families resettled near Barry’s Miami Shores campus.
- Phillip Rincon, a Barry alumnus, refugee resettlement specialist, and resource developer for Church World Service.
Father Cristóbal Torres, university chaplain, facilitated the forum and provided perspectives on Catholic social thought regarding refugee issues.
The panelists shared information about the international criteria for refugee selection, events that have led to a growing global refugee population, refugee groups who reside in the United States, and the limited government support available to refugee families.
Panelists and other participants highlighted a perceived misunderstanding of refugee identity and refugee issues by the American public.
Suggestions for confronting untruths and misleading information about refugees included holding the media accountable for perpetuating stereotypes, offering additional opportunities for community dialogue about refugee policy, and promoting refugee awareness and factual information through social media activism.
Participants were also encouraged to vote; consider their own values, as well as genuine American values; speak with local elected officials about reforming refugee policy; and to be mindful of the information one consumes.
Barry University has adapted deliberative dialogue as a method of civic learning and engagement. The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) organizes a Deliberative Dialogue Series to bring together campus and community stakeholders to exchange ideas and weigh perspectives about social issues of current concern.
|
Students Contribute to Thanksgiving Celebration with Refugee Families
Dozens of resettled refugees got an early taste of an American tradition, thanks to Church World Service (CWS) and local supporters including Barry
It was the CWS-sponsored 9th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration on Nov. 12. Miami Lakes Congregational Church hosted the event and 10 Barry students were there to lend a hand.
All but one of the students attended as part of a service-learning course – either THE 201: Faith, Beliefs and Traditions or SOC 426: Sociology of Violence.
Jhaland Francois, Gabriella Galguera, Dina Odeh, Obafemi Olokodana, Ruth Panzo, Anel Ramirez, Kristian Rodriguez, Yobany Segovia, Felix Vega Pagan, and Shatavia Whitehorn facilitated games and craft activities. Earlier, they delivered packaged food items for distribution to the refugee families.
Together with students from Florida
Fifty-one resettled refugees from Afghanistan,
Francois, one of the Barry students, said the event was connected strongly to the sociology course he was taking. He noted that many families had fled their homelands because of violence and persecution.
Some of the students made arrangements with families to provide tutoring, assistance with learning bus routes, and other services that will help with the resettling process in the United States.
Church World Service – a global humanitarian nonprofit organization and one of nine U.S. resettlement agencies – works with its partners around the world to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice. Operating in more than 30 countries, CWS offers refugee and immigrant assistance, disaster relief, and sustainable self-help.
|
Blog Highlights Event to Create Awareness of Realities of Poverty
Florida Campus Compact highlighted Barry’s Poverty Simulation in a recent blog.
According to the blog, “Barry
Florida Campus Compact noted that Barry’s outreach to local middle school, high school, and college students, as well as to community members, resulted in more than 148 participants joining the experience. Upon arriving, each person was asked to role play a typical scenario as a parent or child in “families”’ of poverty and navigate through four weeks of “logistics” related to food stamps, transportation, employment, health care, and housing.
Barry’s Office of Mission Engagement had reported that the Poverty Simulation supported its efforts to create awareness about the university’s social justice commitment and the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ mission to “Walk in solidarity with people who are poor and challenge structures that impoverish them.”
|
CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : November 28, 2016
