Social Policy Commons^™

Community-Based Learning And Social Capital: Exploring Student Attitudes And Perceptions Of Connectedness To Campus And Diverse Communities, August John Hoffman

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Community service activities, civic engagement, and volunteer services have been identified as key elements in improving how individuals relate and communicate with each other in society. Social capital also has been described as a highly useful form of social networking that empowers community members to collectively use each other as potential resources. The current study explored how participants from non-traditional backgrounds (i.e., ethnicity, culture, and age) completed a variety of interethnic community service activities. We hypothesized that increased exposure with members of diverse ethnic groups through community service activities would show reductions in ethnocentric attitudes and also show increases in …

Issues With Implementing Service Learning Into An Agricultural Sciences Equine Program, Aleta C. Overby, Erin Tucker, Aaron Lusby

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In the spring of 2007 service learning classes were implemented in an equine science program after being funded for animal evacuation and recovery grants. This program was met with great student enthusiasm and participation; however, the authors raise questions about some of the obstacles they have found while implementing this program. The three major areas of concern include the optimum class size for service learning, transportation, and the depth of responses to student reflective pieces.

How Students Learn In A Service-Learning Course: A Quasi-Experimental Field Study Of Generative Learning, Valerie I. Sessa, Dana K. Natale, Manuel London, Courtney A. Hopkins

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Sessa and London’s (2005, 2006) continuous learning model was used to generate hypotheses suggesting that service-learning courses trigger student engagement in generative learning processes moderated by the students’ prior experience and that engagement in generative learning behaviors impact learning outcomes. 127 students in eight courses participated in a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design with a pre-test and two post-tests. Results partially support hypotheses. Implications for theory development, future research, and service learning pedagogy are discussed.

Consortium, University, And Program Impact On Regional Economy And Community, Sean Creighton, Robert J. Sweeney, Katherine Cauley

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Community engagement in higher education has become increasingly widespread. As a consequence, universities find themselves learning how to integrate community engagement on their own, from each other, and, hopefully, from their community partners. This article discusses three distinct cases–a consortium, university, and program–and their impacts on a regional economy and community. In addition to illustrating intentional macro to micro community engagement practices, the article notes key findings from regional institutional collaborations. Further, the article recommends benchmarks for evaluating the quality and effective practice of community engagement.

Service-Learning Pathologies And Prognoses, Roy Schwartzman

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This essay diagnoses and suggests treatments for several pathologies that afflict service-learning. Structural challenges include geographic isolation and optimization of institutional administration. Student challenges include reinforcing stereotypes, deficiencies in practical skills, elitism regarding suitable service, underdeveloped empathy, and excessive focus on time spent in service. Community partner challenges include appropriately defining student labor and systematically under-reporting negative experiences. The prognosis explores how service-learning projects could instigate student engagement with the systemic nature of social injustice.

Working Outside The Box: Advertising Campaigns, Downtown Revitalization, And Community Engagement, Laura Lindenfeld

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This descriptive analysis of an Advertising Campaigns course demonstrates how measured risk-taking can help establish a “virtuous cycle of improvement” between universities and communities. Student engagement in downtown revitalization efforts was supported by a flexible syllabus, strategic classroom management, and strong partnerships. The essay emphasizes the process of making curricular decisions that align with instructors’ experience, talent, and goals. When teaching outside of the box instructors should choose models that complement their own expertise and talents.

The Day One Leadership Program: Engaging Campus In Community Hunger Issues Through Service-Learning, April K. Heiselt, Chiquita A. Briley

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Hunger issues continue to be a major part of both the United States’ and the global health agenda. The “War on Hunger” is an initiative that engages college students in the solution to fight hunger. Using Mississippi State University’s Day One Leadership Community as a case study, this article details how freshmen students in a first-year, living-learning community participated in a service-learning project with their local food pantries in order to better understand the issues of food insecurity and domestic hunger. Elements of the program as well as challenges and benefits for the students and food pantry community partners are …

Serve At Your Own Risk?: Service-Learning In The Promotion And Tenure Process, Jacquelyn B. Frank, Mark Malaby, Laura Raidonis Bates, Marcie Coulter-Kern, Sheron Fraser-Burgess, J. R. Jamison, Linda Stalker Prokopy, Nathan A. Schaumleffel

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Pre-tenure faculty integrating service-learning into their professional roles are often uncertain about its position in the faculty reward system. This study gathered data from administrators at five institutions of higher education in Indiana to learn if and how service-learning is credited toward tenure and promotion at their institutions. The results point to the need for junior faculty members and administrators to be cautious when implementing and evaluating service-learning initiatives.

Supporting Community Safety Through University-Community Partnerships: Exploring Models Of Engagement, James M. Frabutt

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper explores various models of university-community engagement to support youth violence prevention and community safety. A series of case examples from the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro are highlighted. The case examples-four projects spanning a six-year time period-are the springboard for exploring issues of funding, community collaboration, sustainability, leadership, evaluation, and communication.

Working Across Cultures: Outcomes Of An Initiative To Improve Student Capacity And Institutional Coordination Related To Global Engagement, Karen E. Kun, Suzanne Mason, Jennifer Foster, John E. Mcgowan, Courtney N. Coleman, Cornelia Lindenau, Edward L. Queen Ii

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The Working Across Cultures Initiative was developed at Emory University to improve undergraduate and graduate student capacity and institution-wide coordination related to global engagement. The Initiative contributed to enhanced student knowledge and skills as well as changes in institutional policies and procedures. It may thus have implications for other institutions of higher education grappling with how best to prepare students for global engagement and how to bring about the changes in the institutional policies and procedures that would best support, enable, and engage students in these activities.

Transformative Opportunities For Community Engagement Within Teacher Education: Creating Opportunities To Prepare Preservice Teachers For Urban Environments In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Preservice teachers need meaningful opportunities to engage in authentic community activities that expand their cultural horizons and frames of reference, strengthening their preparation for urban teaching. Abramson Science and Technology Magnet in New Orleans East opened the 2007-08 school year without a library or functioning classroom libraries. Providing access to books is a cornerstone of reading development; thus, Louisiana State University education candidates engaged in a project that established classroom libraries in every K-8 classroom.

Welcome From The Editor, Nancy Brattain Rogers

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Project As Community-Engaged Scholarship, Young-Me Lee, Susan Poslusny, Sara Anderson, Howard Rosing

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article describes the results of a 6 month integrated community service and service learning project aimed at the high prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) in a largely immigrant Latino and African-American community area. A total of 64 participants were screened and six positive cases were identified. Results indicated that the adolescents studied lacked proper knowledge regarding safe sex and healthy behaviors, and most refused treatment despite providing anonymous education, screening and treatment services.

Engaged Citizenship: Public Discourse As A Foundational Communication Course, Leila Brammer, Sarah Wolter

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Public speaking is historically situated at the intersection of public discourse and community engagement, although meeting both tenets can be a challenge. In response, the Communication Studies department at a liberal arts college replaced its traditional Public Speaking course with Public Discourse, a course shaped by an extensive civic engagement project. Analysis of student, project, community, and departmental outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness of this new course in preparing students for lives as engaged citizens.

Design And Implementation Of A Service Learning Course And Project: The File Of Life, Theresa Mccullough

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article details a service learning course within a pharmacy curriculum. For the service learning project, pharmacy students in their first professional year assisted community members with completion of File of Life medical information cards at various locations in Southern Illinois. Students reached over 750 community members. This project increased students’ level of confidence in delivering health-related programs and also encouraged them to participate in community service in the future. Based on feedback, the experience was beneficial.

Community Partner Perceptions About Community Engagement Experiences For Nursing Students, Judith E. Wattman, Marjorie A. Schaffer, Maureen J. Juarez, Leanne L. Rogstad, Timothy Bredow, Sara E. Traylor

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explored community agency staff perceptions about community engagement learning experiences for nursing students. Focus groups with staff from eleven health-related community organizations revealed seven themes that will contribute to effective curriculum development and implementation for community engagement: (a) agency expectations for students, (b) orientation, (c) schedule of student experiences, (d) invested student participation, (e) student match with agencies, (f) projects envisioned, and (g) effective interactions with the population. Practice implications for developing community engagement learning experiences are suggested.

Evaluating The Impact Of Seed Money Grants In Stimulating Growth Of Community-Based Research And Service-Learning At A Major Public Research University, Judith A. Jetson, Mary E. Evans, Wendy Hathaway

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

At a major research university, community engagement must intersect with research productivity and attract external funding to be well-regarded. At USF, community engagement increased its value to the institution by using seed grants for community-based research and service-learning projects. Between 1998 and 2006, 132 projects received $1.65 million in seed money from general revenue and local government funds, bringing over $9 million in grants to USF, a return on investment of approximately 6-to-1.

Providing Counseling Services In An Off-Campus Clinic: A Blueprint For Creating A Successful Partnership, Judith A. Nelson, Mary Nichter

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

We offer a blueprint for creating an off-campus clinic through a university, school district, and community partnership. The facility which is housed in the school district provides university students with direct counseling experiences with clients who have genuine needs, allows the university to expand its goal of providing for the public good, and benefits the school district by enabling it to grow its own school counselors who currently teach in the district.

Policy Recommendations To Reduce Old Age Food Insecurity In The United States, Colleen M. Heflin, Madonna Harrington Meyer

Center for Policy Research

In 2023, 7.4 million adults ages 60 and over in the United States were food insecure. As the number of older people at risk of food insecurity in the U.S. continues to rise, effective policy responses are critical. The current policy responses to old age food insecurity are complex, costly, and not nearly effective enough.

Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes five policy recommendations to improve food insecurity among U.S. older adults. The authors recommend measuring food security in multidimensional ways, treating food insecurity as a health issue, adopting SNAP …

The Normalization Of Sexual Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Black Faculty On First-Year Black Student Retention, Sense Of Belonging, And Racial Identity At Historically And Predominantly White Institutions, D'Andrea L. Williams

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The presence and engagement of Black faculty members in higher education can significantly impact Black students' college experience in their first year, especially at historically and predominantly White institutions. Emphasizing the importance of representation mentorship and relationship building, this study stresses the importance of Black faculty in fostering a sense of belonging, strengthening racial identity development, and contributing to the retention rates of Black college students during their freshmen year. On campus, Black students face the challenges of a campus climate plagued by racism, unfair expectations, mistreatment, microaggressions, and discrimination. Representation matters, and the sharing and affirming of those experiences …

Co-Design Of A Program For Medical Students’ Experiential Learning In Community-Engaged Research, Daenique H. A. Jengelley, Tess D. Weathers, Dustin O. Lynch, Morgan E. Ness, Luis Garcia, Gina E. Claxton, J. Dennis Fortenberry, Tamara S. Hannon

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Medical education may lack experiential training on authentic community engagement (CE). Employing a human-centered design approach with medical faculty and students to identify goals, opportunities, needs, and barriers to implementing CE research, we developed an Experiential Community Engagement Learning Series (EXCELS) pilot program. EXCELS supported both our community partners and medical students as a platform from which to learn from each other. EXCELS can be accomplished virtually, incorporated in medical training, and disseminated broadly.

Enhancing Undergraduate Education Through Social Innovation Projects: The Experience Of A Young University In Singapore, Intan Azura Mokhtar, Yong Lim Foo

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this paper, social innovation is used as a catch-all phrase for projects and initiatives by higher education institutions (HEIs) related to community engagement, community-based learning, and service-learning. This paper explores the concept and application of social innovation in higher education, followed by a case study of implementing social innovation projects in a young, applied learning university in Singapore, a discussion of lessons learned, and plans for the near future in enhancing and strengthening its implementation.

The Civic Minded (Post) Graduate: Examining The Long-Range Benefits Of Community-Engaged Service Learning, Catherine Wilkins

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This project seeks to fill gaps in the knowledge about the long-term benefits of undergraduate participation in community-engaged service learning (CESL). A mixed-methods research protocol delivered to graduates of an R1 public university three years after the completion of a CESL senior capstone course observed significant divergences in knowledge and behavioral attributes of civic mindedness. This research methodology could be employed by other scholars to determine if these findings are reproducible.

Intergenerational Design Challenges: Participants’ Perspectives On Moving From Ideas To Implementation, Tina M. K. Newsham, Matthew J. Peterson, Alicia M. Sellon, Logan Elkins, Abrielle Leblanc, Tess Ryan, Andrew Zeldin

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Many social innovation efforts are aimed at meeting social challenges presented by the aging of the population, yet older adults are often excluded from such efforts. The purpose of this case study was to examine an approach used in a midsized university in southeast North Carolina to create intergenerational opportunities for students, local community organizations, and older adult residents of the surrounding area to collaboratively develop suggestions for addressing challenges facing the older adult population.

First-Year Intersections: Professional Preparation And Civic Engagement Across Four New American Colleges And Universities (Nacu) Campuses, Shereen Ilahi, Chastity Blankenship, Andy Morris, Jeffrey Thomas

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Four institutions hypothesized that civic engagement in first-year courses reinforces career readiness by helping students think critically, communicate effectively, and work well with diversity. We measured teamwork skills, the ability to synthesize and apply different perspectives, and the ability to express, listen to, and adapt ideas based on the perspective of others. We compared self-assessments to direct assessment of student-created artifacts and found a positive correlation that encourages further enquiry.

Feasibility Of A Peer-Facilitated Video-Based Mental Health And Substance Use Service-Learning Program, Mara Carmina A. Tamayo, King Filart, Maria Regina Hechanova

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study examined the feasibility of implementing a peer-facilitated mental health and substance use video-based program delivered by psychology students as part of service learning. The program was delivered on-site and online. Findings reveal improvements in knowledge, attitudes, refusal self-efficacy, and adaptive coping among on-site participants. However, there was no effect on online participants given many implementation challenges. Recommendations include delivering the program on-site, strengthening training for facilitators, increasing program duration, and shortening the videos.

Community-Based Art Education In Early Field Experiences: Facilitating Opportunities For Preservice Art Education Students To Support Students With Disabilities, Kristin Vanderlip Taylor

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Preservice art education students are often required to engage in Early Field Experience (EFE) observation hours before entering a credential program. Community-based art education (CBAE) projects may provide them with EFE opportunities to apply what they are learning in art education environments beyond the traditional classroom. This article describes one such CBAE project with a nonprofit organization providing arts instruction to students with different abilities and needs, primarily those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Teaching About Substance Use Recovery: The Pedagogical Power Of Community-Based Learning, Jumi Hayaki, Isabelle Jenkins

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Community-based learning (CBL) is a form of experiential learning that integrates academic theory and content with active service in an applied setting. CBL is especially well suited for teaching about complex social issues. We present the case study of a psychology course on substance use recovery that leverages CBL to dismantle stereotypes, humanize a highly stigmatized mental health problem facing society, and afford students the opportunity to consider their own privilege and positionality.

Gaining Insights Into Community Engagement Efforts: Learning From Preservice Stem Educators, Amy G. Maples, Lynn L. Hodge, Nick Kim

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study seeks to extend research in the field by exploring literature examining preservice teachers’ perceptions of community engagement efforts. We then report findings from a thematic analysis of a survey conducted with teacher candidates at a university in the southeastern U.S. who took part in school- and community-based STEM events, and provide implications and suggestions for utilizing community engagement opportunities as a means of enriching preservice teachers’ understandings of local school and community contexts.