July 26, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

• Reorganization of University’s Community Advisory Committee is Underway
• Alternative Breaks Provide Students With Civic Engagement Immersion Experiences
• Community Engagement Fair Drew Community Partners to Campus Over the Years
• Department of Public Safety Contributes to Surfside First Responders Relief Drive

Reorganization Of University’s Community Advisory Committee Is Underway

Mechanism For Shaping Institutional Involvement With The Community

Barry’s Community Advisory Committee is being reorganized, and the provost is expected to appoint new members by the start of the 2021–2022 academic year.

The reorganized committee will function as an institutional mechanism for systematizing the partnership process between the university and community entities while shaping institutional involvement with the wider community. Much of the committee’s focus is placed on supporting service-learning and co-curricular civic engagement projects.

Among community partners tapped to serve on the committee are Barry alumna Ines Diaz, assistant principal at Hubert O. Sibley K–8 Academy; T. Nikki Watkins, J.D., associate executive director of MCCJ, Inc.; and Rob Collins, Esq., education and outreach coordinator – Miami-Dade at HOPE, Inc. 

Mr. Andrew Hoo, executive director of A New Start: Financial & Social Services, and Nadie Mondestin, executive director of the Haitian Youth and Community Center of Florida, are also on the list. 

Saliha Nelson, now president of URGENT, Inc., served a chair of the Community Advisory Committee. Ms. Nelson is now president of the nonprofit organization.

When the committee was conceived in early 2017, its primary purpose was to support the implementation of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) by providing feedback and recommendations. A QEP is a requirement for the reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). 

Given the focus of Barry’s QEP on personal and social responsibility through experiential learning, the Community Advisory Committee played a role in the development, maintenance, and evaluation of experiential learning programs and community-based work. 

SACSCOC accepted Barry’s QEP Impact Report last year.

In addition to Ms. Nelson, the current members of the committee are Juan J. Calvo, International Partner, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors, LLC; Ezra Dieuveille, CEO, Baton Youth Services; Guy Forchion, Executive Director, Virginia Key Beach Park Trust; Anthony Grisby, Community Development Program Administrator, City of Hollywood; Linsey Harris Smith, Area & Foundations Relations Director, Special Olympics Florida; Roger Horne, Executive Director, Urban GreenWorks; Andrea Ivory, Founder & Executive Director, The Women’s Breast and Heart Initiative; and Lynne Kunins, President/CEO, FLIPANY.

Back to top

Alternative Breaks Provide Students With Civic Engagement Immersion Experiences

During the first 10 years of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), students, together with faculty and staff members, took service immersion trips to several communities, at home and abroad. 

Most trips took place during spring break, with a few occurring in the fall.

Trip destinations included the U.S.–Mexico border town of McAllen, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Haiti’s Northwest.

Next week we’ll provide some details of some of the Alternative Break service projects and share some photos from the northwestern region of Haiti.

Back to top

Community Engagement Fair Drew Community Partners To Campus

Over the years, community partners came to campus for the Community Engagement Fair. In recent years, the event included a workshop.

Community partners shared information on the programs and services they offered, and they sought support from students as well as staff and faculty members.

Back to top

Department Of Public Safety Contributes To Surfside First Responders Relief Drive

Barry’s Department of Public Safety teamed up with Footprints Across Haiti Corporation last week to deliver nonperishable items collected as part of a relief drive for first responders at Surfside.

Public Safety transported the items to the police station at Surfside, the Miami-Dade town where an oceanside condominium building collapsed on June 24, killing nearly 100 people.

Footprints Across Haiti is a nonprofit organization launched in 2011 to provide “compassionate care” to people in need.

Back to top