Higher Education Commons^™

Collaboration And Advocacy: A Community-University Partnership And The Well-Being Of Children, Alycia Elfreich, Robert Helfenbein

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper examines a case study of a community-university collaboration in a Midwestern suburban community. In an effort to promote the well-being of students, a collaborative youth initiative partnership was created alongside a local university, public schools, and other community organizations. We reflect upon this collaboration and the need for a holistic approach to child development through community partnerships. We also address embedded tensions that call for a more transparent approach to challenges of cross-cultural work.

Liberating Service Learning And The Rest Of Higher Education Community Engagement By Randy Stoecker (2016), Barbara Jacoby

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The title and purpose of this book, Liberating Service-Learning and the Rest of Higher Education Civic Engagement, is an intentional double entendre. On the one hand, Stoecker seeks a form of service learning that “liberates” all those who are involved in it, whether they are inside or outside of higher education. In the second sense, Stoecker aims to liberate institutionalized service learning’s lack of significant accomplishments both in educating students and in enhancing communities. Stoecker proposes liberating service learning by making its current theory explicit, deconstructing it, and then building a new theory that leads to a new practice that …

Interdisciplinary Service Learning Opportunity: A Nontraditional Approach To Migrant Farmworkers Rehabilitation, Jodan D. Garcia, Rachael A. Frank

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Interdisciplinary service learning opportunities are recognized as valuable educational tools for health care students. The Farm Worker Family Health Program, based on a community academic partnership model, enables health care students to treat migrant workers in rural Georgia during the annual farmworker migration. The present article describes how this opportunity has been incorporated into a graduate curriculum, including examining the challenges and successes associated with implementing this type of program. An additional aim is to explore the implications of merging interdisciplinary service learning and community partnerships with physical therapy education, specifically how student volunteers and migrant workers may be impacted …

Film As Engaged Learning: A Study On Teaching Civics Through Spanish Culture, Kajsa C. Larson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

University professors use film as a medium to examine social issues, although little is known about the tangible effects that socially minded films have on viewers. This study examined how combining film studies with a philanthropy project was beneficial to students’ understanding of global social concerns. Survey data showed that with this teaching approach, students increased their awareness of local social needs and nonprofits and had a greater personal interest in community involvement and helping others.

Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations: Applying Developmental Science To Understand Sport Participation And Positive Youth Development, Andrea Vest Ettekal, Lily S. Konowitz, Jennifer P. Agans, Richard M. Lerner

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

We report data from the first year of a three-year collaboration between a sport-based youth development program, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), and a university-based research institute. The theory of change of PCA was tested with youth athletes, representing multiple sport types (e.g., individual/team) and seasons (e.g., fall/winter), who completed self-report surveys indexing a key facet of positive youth development—character. Noting assets and challenges of such researcher-practitioner collaborations, we discuss the results of the first year of data derived from this collaboration and differences in their use to the researchers and practitioners. Using this collaboration as a sample case, we discuss …

Service-Learning & Early Childhood Teacher Education: A Qualitative Exploration Of Professional Preparation Standards, Tina M. Kruger, Mary Jane Eisenhauer, Laura Weaver

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Preparing teachers to work with children and families cultivates high-quality early learning. This study explored the impact of service-learning on early childhood pre-professional students (candidates) and community partners (CPs). Focus group transcripts illustrate connections between service and professional preparation standards. Service-learning and professional standards intersect through the experience of candidates and CPs. Findings support the use of Kolb’s model as a foundation for service-learning in early childhood teacher education and can inform service-learning in other disciplines.

A Needs Assessment And Program Evaluation Of A Physical Therapy Service-Learning Program In China, Kerstin M. Palombaro, Samuel R. Pierce, Robin L. Dole

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

International service-learning (ISL) programs in physical and occupational therapy programs are increasing in number. This paper describes a needs assessment and initial program evaluation conducted for a physical therapy ISL program at an orphanage in China. Chinese orphanage staff and Widener University physical therapy students were surveyed. Chinese staff expressed satisfaction with the training and provided suggestions for programming needs. Students identified areas for further education of orphanage staff and suggestions for future program design.

Community-Based Participatory Research, Catherine Stemmans Paterson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article investigates community-based participatory research (CBPR) within the framework of service learning and community engagement initiatives within contemporary higher education. It identifies the characteristics of high-quality CBPR, delves into two criticisms of these efforts, and provides ideas for addressing these criticisms.

Maintaining Engaged Scholarship In Challenging Times: Experiences Working With Veteran Medical Providers In Greater Los Angeles, Angela Chalé, Elizabeth Avila, Yvette Avila, Christina Chalé

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper describes the challenges experienced in a study premised on scholarly engagement that consisted of a partnership between the nutritional science program and medical providers at the Veterans Administration, Greater Los Angeles, following allegations of systemic misconduct in the delivery of health care by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Since the VHA is a primary provider of medical training in the United States, we were interested in obtaining their opinion about and knowledge of vitamin D nutriture in relation to cognitive and physical functioning. We were unable to overcome challenges that undermined collaboration and propose incentivization, partnering with grounded …

Working To Improve The Quality Of Care For Young Children In One Community Organization, Anna H. Hall, Amber Simpson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study examines a partnership effort between researchers and one community organization to improve childcare. The results of the study indicate that facility changes were made that improved the quality of the physical environment, but that little or no changes were observed in the areas of personal care, adult-child interactions, or peer interactions. Based on the results, the researchers and childcare director extended their partnership in order to continue working together toward making improvements.

Enhancing Service-Learning Experiences For International Students: An Auto-Ethnography And A Dialogue, Li Mao, Laura Servage, Donna Chovanec

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This auto-ethnographic study recounts the experiences of an international doctoral student in a service-learning (SL) placement. The narrative discusses the cultural and linguistic barriers that the student faced, both in the classroom and in her SL field placement. The authors use the student’s secondary sources as well as a series of reflective dialogues as data toward an analysis of the learning needs of linguistic and cultural minorities in service-learning—an as of yet underexplored area of research in service-learning pedagogy.

Community Engagement Initiative: Academia Partnering With The Health Department And Community Agencies For Change, Martha L. Coulter, Karen D. Liller, Chukwudi Ejiofor, Casey Mcbride, John Roth, Lilia Cruz

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The Community Engagement Initiative developed at the University of South Florida, College of Public Health illustrates the importance of developing partnerships between academia, health departments, and community agencies to build capacity and expand the cadre of researchers equipped with skills in community organization, community participation, constituency development, capacity building, community empowerment, and coalition building. A case study of Champions for Children is provided to demonstrate how the initiative functioned in a realworld environment.

Measuring College Students’ Community Service Attitudes Validly And Efficiently: Development Of A Short Version Of The Community Service Attitudes Scale, Jody S. Nicholson, Heather Barnes Truelove, Jennifer M. Barton, Robert G. Moulder

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The current study presents a brief-version of an existing Community-Service Attitudes Scale (CSAS; Shiarella, McCarthy, & Tucker, 2000) that is theoretically grounded, psychometrically sound, and empirically validated. Students (n = 544) participating in courses that required a service- learning component were administered the original CSAS and validation measures. An exploratory factor analysis suggested an eight-factor, 24-item solution with simple structure and good fit indices; a confirmatory factor analysis suggested good model fit, good internal consistency, and construct validity. The CSAS-Brief is an important tool that could help facilitate research studies and experiences related to community engagement in higher education.

Elementary School-University Partnership: The Elementary Parent Leadership Academy, M. Blake Berryhill, Madalyn Riggins, Rosiana Gray

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

School-family-community partnerships have been shown to increase student success and overall school climate. In order to support local schools and their students and families, The University of Alabama created the Elementary Parent Leadership Academy (EPLA), a training program that prepares elementary school parent leaders with the skills to strengthen school communities through supporting parent involvement. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the 2014-2015 EPLA graduates found that the program increased parent school leadership behaviors and attitudes.

Evaluating Beyond The Ivory Tower: Lessons Learned From The Scholars Program, Catherine M. Jordan, Scott Chazdon, Kristina Alviz

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The University of Minnesota Extension Scholars Program is a competency-based, multidisciplinary, cohort-based faculty development program offering a “Learning Circle” grounded in adult learning theory paired with funding for community-engaged research. It aims to build capacity for community-engaged scholarship, catalyze institutional support, and benefit community partners. This article reports on the program evaluation of the first Scholars Program cohort and offers recommendations for future programs, as well as insights regarding evaluation of higher education community engagement efforts.

Creating Culturally Relevant And Responsive Health Care Models, Naomi N. Duke

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Western-based health models situate formalized education as a distinct driver of outcomes, including health and well-being. This study, conducted as part of the Community-engaged Scholars Program, interviewed elders and practitioners in cultural communities about relationships between cultural ways of knowing and health to inform Western-based models of health service delivery. While years of schooling may translate into practical means for obtaining goods and services, cultural knowledge frames provide a foundation for addressing the complexities of health.

Addressing Health And Education Disparities In Low‐Income Families With Young Children: Lessons Learned As A Community Engaged Scholar, Mary O. Hearst

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Health and education disparities persist in low-income communities. This project, part of University of Minnesota Extension’s Community-engaged Scholars Program, aimed to identify common root causes of health and education disparities as part of a school readiness intervention for low-income, multiethnic children. In this paper I describe my growth as a communityengaged scholar attempting to understand the role of community voice in documenting the complex, interrelated nature of early childhood and lifelong well-being.

Community Context And Connections In The Development Of A Parenting Support Curriculum For Low‐Income African‐American Families, Lauren Martin

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Grounded in my participation in the University of Minnesota Community-engaged Scholars Program, this article presents a case study of community-based ethnographic and participantobservation methods used to embed local context into the foundation of a parent education and empowerment approach to address the achievement gap by race, poverty, and place in one neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The case study demonstrates how context-specific wisdom and expertise of parents and community members is a critical foundation for tailoring appropriate research-based curricular components.

Community‐Based Participatory Research On Urban Parks And Health Dispariɵes: Perspecɵves From An Urban Planning Researcher, Yingling Fan

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

As part of the University of Minnesota Community-engaged Scholars Program, I undertook a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project evaluating the potential of urban parks to improve health outcomes in disadvantaged communities. This paper describes my CBPR rookie experiences and discusses challenges in the CBPR process. By reflecting on my missteps, I offer critical insights and recommendations. Urban Planning researchers interested in applying the CBPR approach are recommended to commit to the “muddling through” process, seek institutional support, engage both government agencies and community advocates, and acquire long-range and flexible funding.

The Community‐Engaged Scholars Program: Designing A Professional Development Program To Enhance Individual Capacity, Community Benefit, And Institutional Support, Catherine M. Jordan

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The University of Minnesota Extension’s Community-engaged Scholars Program is a competency- based, multidisciplinary, cohort-based faculty development program offering a “Learning Circle” grounded in adult learning theory paired with funding for community-engaged research. It aims to build capacity for community-engaged scholarship, catalyze institutional support, and benefit community partners. This special issue introduction describes the theoretical underpinnings, development, and implementation of the program and provides context for papers that follow describing the Learning Circle, participating scholars’ insights, and evaluation results.

The Scholars Program Learning Circle: An Example Of Capacity Building In The Academy For Engaged Team Science, Lauren Martin, Yingling Fan, Naomi Duke, Mary O. Hearst, Cathy Jordan

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

We describe the professional development component, or Learning Circle, of the Communityengaged Scholars Program, a multidisciplinary, cohort-based program intended to build scholars’ capacity for community-engaged scholarship. We explore the Learning Circle in the context of “team science.” We argue that the Learning Circle pedagogy is a right fit for promoting, not just engaged research, but also engaged team science, within the academy.

Creating An Institutional Agenda For Community-Engaged Scholarship Faculty Development, Andrew Furco

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Building a comprehensive and robust faculty development agenda is key to securing an institution’s status as a fully engaged campus. This article provides an editorial on the articles presented in this volume, which highlight the experiences of a group of engaged scholars and their research partners who participated in a four-year faculty development initiative designed to enhance their capacities to produce high-quality, community-engaged scholarship.

Community‐Based Research And The Historian’S Craft, Zorian Maksymec, Christina Redmond, Nina Reid-Maroney

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper discusses a community-based research project that paired undergraduate history students with local community partners in an exploration of the antislavery movement in Canada and the problem of its erasure from local historical memory. The article outlines the project’s background and method, examines the wide-ranging importance of the community classroom it helped to create, and reflects on the importance of undergraduate research in the setting of a liberal arts university as a bridge between classroom and community.

Faculty Feel It Too: The Emotions Of Teaching Through Service‐Learning, Carrie W. Lecrom, Lynn Pelco, Jill W. Lassiter

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The authors used Coles’ (1993) framework of emotional satisfactions and hazards to examine the experiences of faculty members teaching service-learning classes for the first time. Seven faculty from two institutions completed monthly reflections and focus groups for one year. Qualitative analysis indicated that faculty experienced several of Coles’ emotional satisfactions and hazards, were prone to emotional contagion, and depended on colleague mentoring to navigate the experiences of using service-learning pedagogy for the first time.

A Qualitative Assessment Of The Impact Of A Service‐Learning Course On Students’ Discipline‐Specific Self‐Efficacy, L. Suzanne Goodell, Natalie K. Cooke, Sarah L. Ash

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Investigators employed a multi-method qualitative approach to determine the impact of a service- learning course on students’ discipline-specific self-efficacy. The majority of students reported an increase in discipline-specific self-efficacy after participating in this service-learning course. Analysis resulted in three major themes: (1) constructive criticism and self-reflection improve self-efficacy; (2) experience breeds confidence; and (3) service-learning encourages students to obtain more knowledge and experience in areas of deficiency after the servicelearning experience.

Assessing Global Citizenship After Participation In Service Learning In Physical Therapy Education, Mark Drnach, Craig Ruby, Kelley Kluender, Brian Palomba, Marissa Ursick

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Promoting a global perspective has become a recent topic in health care education (Frenk et al., 2010). The idea is to produce graduates who are capable of delivering culturally appropriate services to communities in need, both locally and globally. Various didactic components and pedagogies can be used but the outcome of producing a graduate who acts on that education is unclear. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of service learning on promoting identified behaviors reflective of a global citizen in graduates from Wheeling Jesuit University’s (WJU) Physical Therapy Program. This doctoral program includes service-learning courses that …

Development Of Community‐Based Workshops For Mexican‐Origin Rural, Low‐Income Study Participants, Rosa D. Manzo, Yvette G. Flores, Adela De La Torre

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper documents the process of developing community-based psychoeducational workshops to engage and retain study participants within a comparison research site. The development and adaptation of the workshops followed methods of cultural adaptation and ecological validity (Domenech-Rodriguez & Wieling, 2004; Bernal, Bonilla, & Bellido, 1995). Our work supports the idea that culturally responsive approaches can engage community members and increase the acceptability of researchers in low-income Mexican-origin communities.

Archetypal Energies And Global Mental Health, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

As a keynote speaker at the Global Mental Health Conference 2024, held at Sophia University, Costa Mesa, CA, in-person and virtually, August 16-18, 2024, my topic was "Archetypal Energies As A Framework for Self-Empowerment and Well Being". The theme of this 2024 global conference was: Enlightened Minds, Compassionate Hearts, and Embodied Wisdom. To supplement my keynote address, I wrote this blog article titled "Archetypal Energies and Global Mental Health".

Projected Job Growth By 2031 In The Mountain West, Madison Dwyer, Annie Vong, Kristian Thymianos, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines job growth projections from 2021 to 2031 for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet also presents projected job growth data by educational level, and across selected occupational sectors. Data are sourced from the report, “After Everything: Projections of Jobs, Education, and Training Requirements through 2031,” published by the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) at Georgetown University.

Community Engagement Newsletter, August 2024, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

In this issue:

--- Service-Learning Courses
--- Fall Volunteer Fair
--- Civic Action Academy
--- Seed Coalition (formerly Iowa Campus Compact)
--- Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley
--- Koob Fund for Student Community Engagement