CCSI Newsletter

In This Issue:

Three Community Partners to be Honored on Thursday

Registration Remains Open for Thursday’s Symposium

Barry Group to Present at National Meeting on Civic Learning

African American History Workshops Continue in Hollywood

Chemistry Students Host Home Scientist Workshop

Engaged Scholarship Seminar Set for April 13

Three Community Partners to be Honored on Thursday

Three of Barry University’s community partners have been selected for this year’s Community Partnership Award. The League of Women Voters of Florida, Miami Children’s Initiative, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Partnership will be honored at the second annual Community Engagement Awards this Thursday, March 26.

The Community Partnership Award recognizes exemplary partnerships between university and community constituencies that produce measurable improvements in people’s lives while enhancing higher education.

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The Environmental and Earth Law Clinic at Barry’s School of Law in Orlando has established a partnership with LWV of Florida. Law students have garnered experience working with a client, making presentations, developing position statements and legislation, and giving legal advice.

Miami Children’s Initiative (MCI) is a nonprofit organization focused on transforming LibertyCity into a prosperous community primarily by investing in its children. MCI has participated with Barry’s School of Social Work in the Neighborhood Technical Assistance program, has received capacity-building support from the school, and has served as a provider of internship opportunities for social work students.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is a program that offers free tax help to people who generally make $53,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and limited English-speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. Barry’s School of Law maintains a nationally recognized partnership with VITA that produced more than 550 tax returns last year.

Awards will be presented in seven categories of community engagement at Thursday’s event. The Community Engagement Awards will coincide with the Community Engagement Symposium.

Registration Remains Open for Thursday’s Symposium

Registration remains open for this Thursday’s second annual Community Engagement Symposium.

The one-day conference consists of a short opening session set for 9 a.m.; two hour-long seminar/workshops by the lead presenter; two 50-minute concurrent sessions, each featuring six peer-reviewed presentations; and a poster session during lunch. A short closing session is scheduled for 3:25.

Dr. Barbara Jacoby, faculty associate for leadership and community service-learning at the University of Maryland, College Park, will be the lead presenter at the symposium. A former engaged scholar with Campus Compact, Jacoby is author of seven books and more than 50 book chapters and articles.

Barry Group to Present at National Meeting on Civic Learning

A six-member group from Barry University will make a presentation at a national meeting focused on the civic mission of higher education this June in New Orleans, La.

Courtney Berrien (Center for Community Service Initiatives), Brett Klein and Derek Bley (Center for Student Involvement), Dr. Sean Foreman (Department of History and Political Science), and students Lavelle Dunn and Donté Roberts will make a presentation titled “Bridging the Gap: A Collaborative Approach to Service in a Diverse, Urban Community.” This “showcase” presentation is scheduled for the afternoon of June 5.

The Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Meeting is organized jointly by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ American Democracy Project (ADP), The Democracy Commitment (TDC), and NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. “Stewardship of Place: A Civic Mission of Higher Education” is the theme of the three-day meeting.

African American History Workshops Continue in Hollywood

The series of workshops on African American History and Culture continues in Hollywood this Tuesday, March 24. Dr. Evelyn Cartright, assistant professor of English and director of Africana studies, will be the presenter at the workshop on “African American Literature.”

The City of Hollywood and Barry University launched the workshop series on Feb. 10. Scheduled for the second and fourth Tuesdays of February, March, and April, the workshops are held at the Hollywood City Hall, beginning at 6 p.m. The workshops are free and open to the public.

Cartright and Dr. Terrell Brown, assistant professor of social work, were the presenters at the workshop on “African American Educators and Social Reform” on March 10. Dr. John McFadden, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, attended the workshop.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

April 14: “African Americans in the Workplace”

April 28: “African American Music and Dance: Sacred and Secular Traditions”

For further information, contact Dr. Glenn Bowen, coordinator of the workshop series, at gbowen@barry.edu.

Chemistry Students Host Home Scientist Workshop

Chemistry students taking CHE 490: Senior Seminar recently hosted a Home Scientist Workshop for local Girl Scout leaders. Zulema Rodriguez, Patricia Krenek, and Miriam Basden prepared and presented the workshop as their service-learning project. Student volunteers Qiwen Su and Kevin McCarty provided assistance.

The workshop was designed as training for Girl Scout leaders who do not have a background in science so they would be able to explain science concepts and perform experiments with girls in their troop. This first-time workshop in Barry’s Department of Physical Sciences equipped the Girl Scout leaders to help troop members earn their “home scientist” badge, said Dr. Tamara Hamilton, associate professor of chemistry.

The seven Girl Scout leaders who participated in the workshop were from Troop 10694 in Fort Lauderdale, Troop 1038 in Miami, Troop 1040 in North Miami, and Troop 206 from South Miami.

Since 2013, when Hamilton’s CHE 135: Consumer Chemistry became the first course at Barry to be designated as service-learning, the Department of Physical Sciences has been partnering with the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida. The department previously organized “Ms. Wizard Days” involving hands-on experiments in the chemistry labs, Hamilton said.

Engaged Scholarship Seminar Set for April 13

The next Engaged Scholarship Seminar is scheduled for April 13, from noon to 1:15, in Adrian 208. Any faculty member may attend, and all members of the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) are urged to be there.

FLC members who attended the Engaged Scholarship Seminar on Feb. 16 heard Dr. Carter Winkle and Dr. Jill Farrell emphasize the importance of reflective practice. Winkle, an assistant professor, and Farrell, an associate dean in the Adrian Dominican School of Education (ADSOE), made a presentation on their longitudinal self-study of a collaborative arts-based project—from methodology to pedagogy.