Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

Serving The Voiceless: Analyzing Local Organizations For Immigrant Empowerment, Daniel Kabithe, Acia Diallo, Kiya Demps, Chance Brown, Aliyah Whitfield

Undergraduate Research Events

This research project delves into the landscape of community organizations that serve the immigrant population in Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on 6 key entities: La Casita Center, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Catholic Charities of Louisville, English Conversation Club, Backside Learning Center, and American Community Center. Through a combination of interviews, phone calls and research, we discovered the roles, missions, and offered services by each organization. Through these methods, we identified some of the critical needs within the immigrant community and examined how these organizations address them. Additionally, we discovered that not only did our research highlight the importance of the services provided, …

The Youth Closet: Connecting Those In Need To Those Who Care, Anastasia Webster

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

In order to ensure disadvantaged youth who come through the Juvenile Justice System have access to the common items needed by all individuals, a Youth Closet was created. This closet consists of donated items from staff and community members. Further, to effectively connect youth with these resources, I created a website that lists the available items. In addition, this website serves as a method to request specific items and find ways to contribute to the closet.

Support For Pets Searching For Their Forever Home, Karin S. Shriver

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

For my capstone, I chose to align with the Idaho Humane Society. I wanted to select a community service project so that years from now, I could look back on this capstone and be proud of the difference I could make. The goal was to bring awareness to our communities’ needs for pets that are still looking for a forever home and assist with some of their immediate needs such as food, toys, and blankets.

I networked in my personal, professional, and social groups to collect donations in the form of cash, pet food, pet treats, pet toys, blankets, and …

Service-Learning: A Homeless Outreach Initiative, Eduardo A. De La Torre

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

A capstone project focused at providing resources and assistance to a growing homeless community living at Sunset Park and surrounding areas. Our mission was aimed at providing the homeless immediate access to a pop-up event that hosts numerous onsite resources from a wide range of services. Which included, but not limited to physical and mental health services, information on how to enter substance abuse rehabilitation programs, assistance with both temporary and permanent housing options. Created by joint partnerships between the Nevada Homeless Alliance, affiliated organizations and volunteers who are all committed and dedicated to advocating for the elimination of homelessness …

Volunteer Programs & Service Learning Annual Report 2021-2022, Office Of Volunteer Programs & Service Learning

News, Magazines and Reports

Early in the fall semester, we welcomed Colin Petramale to the VP&SL team as the new Coordinator for Community Partnerships, Faith and Justice! Colin manages the frst year Pioneer Service Grant program, in addition to building and maintaining the relationships with our of-campus community partners.

We strengthened the commitment to our partners by on boarding with GivePulse, our community engagement tracking sofware. Nonproft organizations receive free access through their afliation with SHU, allowing them to publicize partnership opportunities; SHU students, staff and faculty can connect with these partners by searching and signing up for upcoming activities. It’s a win-win situation! …

Serving Synergy: A Service-Learning Capstone, Rochelle A. Wright

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

For my capstone project I chose to work with the non-profit organization Women’s and Children's Alliance in Boise, Idaho. I worked with the community to provide much needed items. In order to collect donations I reached out to the community and received so much support that we were able to provide help to two other non-profit organizations the City of Lights, and Dress for Success. I was able to help organize my community to come together and provide a service to the more vulnerable in our community.

Weed Infestation: A Service Learning Capstone Project, Catherine T. Clemens

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Infestation of weeds can be most upsetting to anyone who finds themselves dealing with them. Whether they are in your garden, lawn, or you pass by them thinking they are a pretty flower, weeds definitely make their appearance in most places. For ranchers, weeds can take a huge toll on them and their operation. Since I live on a ranch it was only fit for me to create a project that would not only benefit myself and other ranchers in the Harney County community. My project was about the importance of weed control. It is a huge part of ranching …

Idaho’S Food & Beverage Service: Creating Meaning In An Unstable Industry Following The Covid-19 Pandemic, Leah J. True

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The contents of this cumulative educational project will highlight some of the major ongoing systemic problems within the service industry in right-to-work states like Idaho using my own company (a locally owned small business) as a case study. It will also highlight some major concerns of workers within my company specifically regarding employee benefits, compensation, health risks, and wellbeing of workers, and some of the steps my company is currently taking or has taken recently to address those concerns. Additionally, it will explain the methodology, process, and results of an event that I organized in partnership with my company’s management …

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2020-2021, Katie Elliott, Jackie Stephens

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners. This report covers the 2020-2021 academic years and highlights assessment focus areas including: career readiness, academic learning, civic learning identity development, diversity and inclusion, and the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Service-Learning Community Partner Impact Assessment Report, 2021, Rebecca Hoppe, Katie Elliott, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

In 2021, the Service-Learning Office at VCU conducted an assessment of the impact of service-learning on community partner organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment aimed to collect actionable feedback to inform and improve upon current service-learning course practices. Partners (N = 18) were prompted with questions to assess the following topics: operational capacity, economic functioning, social environment, and partnership quality, both prior to and in concurrent with the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative findings suggested an overall improvement in scores from the 2017 assessment. Qualitative findings indicated the importance of relationships, concluding that adaptation, communication, and involvement were key factors …

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2020-2021, Katie Elliott, Jackie Stephens

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners.

Transformative Service-Learning Experience Through Participatory Project Management, Mark Anthony Dayot Abenir

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Studies have shown that for Service-Learning (SL) to be truly valuable and transformative, it must employ participatory project management practices and is ideally conducted in a face-to-face setting. This case study aims to highlight the strategies used to make SL projects long-term and participatory. It also measures the effectiveness of such approach in achieving a valuable and transformative SL experience for students and partner communities. Qualitative results show that students were able to develop desired personal, professional, and civic competencies. On the part of the partner communities, qualitative results reveal that they appreciate the year-long participatory SL engagement with the …

Envisioning Critical Social Entrepreneurship Education: Possibilities, Questions, And Guiding Commitments, Mark Congdon Jr., Liliana Herakova

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions continue to be increasingly interested in examining how social entrepreneurship and community engaged approaches to education can work together. In light of the recent growth and interest in such programs, scholars and educators have called for attention to specific considerations when developing SE and community-based education, which can be summed up in three areas - pedagogy, relationships, and impact. The present essay builds on such propositions, and calls for a critically-orientated approach to SE, grounded in community engagement, collaborative dialogue among diverse voices, and a commitment to transforming oppressive structures

Impact Or Impasse: How To Measure University Student Effect On Community Organizations, Joel Mcreynolds

University Research Symposium

This applied research project examines the impact that student engagement has on the goals of a university’s community partners. A pilot study conducted in 2019 draws upon questionnaire and interview data gathered from administrators of seven community organizations that are longtime partners with Illinois State University. Key findings that emerge from descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of the data suggest that the positive impact students have on community organizations far outweighs any challenges the organizations may experience. The project concludes with recommendations on how to enhance the research tool for future evaluations and how to further improve the beneficial impacts …

Navigating Cultures And Development: An Account Of A Female Peace Corps Volunteer In Morocco, Renee Palecek

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

Little is known of how the “doers” of development may navigate regarding her community’s culture and her job in international development. This lack of knowledge leads to the erasure of experiences, felt both by the volunteer herself, as well as the community members she works with. Through autoethnographic methodology, and analysis, I retell my experiences and entanglements as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco with Moroccan institutions and culture, with my own identities and prior American socialization. I examine three questions: (1) How does the female PCV in Morocco make sense out of and create value from life events, relationships, …

The Pursuit Of Salvation, Krystal Joy Ragasa

Service-Learning | Student Scholarship

“Never waste your food,” my parents recited again at the dinner table. They continued, “If we had this much food growing up in the Philippines, we’d be so blessed. Please don’t take it for granted.” Throughout my childhood, nearly every family meal consisted of this conversation. My parents seized every opportunity to remind me of their early impoverished life in the Philippines. Their stories increasingly strengthened my gratitude for the life my brother and I were born into. Having back aches from stiff bamboo beds, depending on conveniently-priced junk food as nutrition, and rationing small portions among large families—these circumstances …

Addressing Homelessness Through Religion, Brian Nguyen

Service-Learning | Student Scholarship

Every time I pass by a man in the street holding up a piece of cardboard saying “Homeless, Will Work for Food”, a little girl standing next to her mother by the side of the road begging for money, or families sleeping in tents underneath bridges on vacant industrial property or by shopping malls, it makes me question why the US is able to spend billions to help poor countries in the world but hasn't solved its own problems. Reading Forbes magazine that ranked the 100 largest US charities in 2018, I am surprised to see many US charities such …

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2018-2019, Tamanna Sohal, Katie Elliott

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners.

Bonner Scholars Sophomore Exchange And Senior Capstone Exhibit 2018, Bonner Scholars Program

Wofford Bonner Scholar Senior Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Adult Health Literacy, Kathleen Elliott, Moriah Gendelman, Qundeel Khattak, Nisha Quasba, Victoria Trapani, Gaby Witte

ISCOPES Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Senior Wellness: Gracefully Aging Across Generations, Sarah Abuali, Angela Bourassa, Patricia Erickson, Nikki Kupferman, Jay Lloyd-Montgomery, Srividya Murthy, Aditi Reddy, Samira Tella, Kevin Trac, Taylor Walter

ISCOPES Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Deborah Olsen Public Service Scholarship Essay, Maura Hand

Examples of Student Work

In this essay, Maura Hand reflects on the ten weeks she spent interning with the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) in San Francisco, California.

Community Development, Elizabeth Strom

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Fearless Friday: Jeffrey White, Jeffrey M. White

SURGE

In today’s edition of Fearless Friday, Surge is thrilled to honor the work of the incomparable Jeffrey White ’17. Jeffrey is a junior from Baltimore, Maryland, who is majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in Music. As an incredibly active member of the campus community, he is involved in leadership roles in many facets of campus life. He works as a Resident Assistant (RA), serves as the Program Organizer for the Office of Intercultural Advancement, the Live Music Chair of the Campus Activities Board (CAB), and devotes time to being a Peer Learning Assistant for Anthropology 103 as well. [ …

University College Connection Spring 2016, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

En Toma. Desesperanza Aprendida: El Rol De La Memoria Colectiva En Los Movimientos Estudiantiles. / Occupation. Learned Despair: The Role Of Collective Memory In The Students’ Movements., Abigail Rothstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

¿Cuál es el rol de la memoria colectiva en la lucha para un sistema educativo de igualdad hoy en día? Este estudio investiga el Liceo de la Aplicación, una escuela en toma que podría servir como un microcosmo para los movimientos estudiantiles más grandes en el año 2016. La investigación trata conectar las razones para la toma a la historia de Chile, que tiene una historia profunda que incluye la dictadura y varios movimientos estudiantiles del 2006 y 2011. Al fin, esta investigación, junto con un video, demuestra el poder de la memoria colectiva no sólo en los movimientos estudiantiles …

Fearless Friday: Sherfy Battlefield Garden, Emma E. Korowotny

SURGE

In this edition of Fearless Friday, we’re highlighting one of the newer service projects that Gettysburg College is involved with: Sherfy Battlefield Garden. This summer will mark the fourth planting season at Sherfy, which was developed in 2013 by Hannah Grose ’13. The garden is located just off of Emmitsburg Road by the house that, in 1860, belonged to Joseph Sherfy and his family. Bullet holes mar the brick walls of the farmhouse, testifying to the fighting that occurred all over the fifty acres of Joseph Sherfy’s farmland on the last two days of the Battle of Gettysburg. Sites of …

Teaching Domestic Violence In The New Millennium: Intersectionality As A Framework For Social Change, Krista Mcqueeney

Criminology Faculty Publications

This article describes an intersectional approach to teaching about domestic violence (DV), which aims to empower students as critical thinkers and agents of change by merging theory, service learning, self-reflection, and activism. Three intersectional strategies and techniques for teaching about DV are discussed: promoting difference-consciousness, complicating gender-only power frameworks, and organizing for change. The author argues that to empower future generations to end violence, educators should put intersectionality into action through their use of scholarship, teaching methods, and pedagogical authority. Finally, the benefits and challenges of intersectional pedagogy for social justice education are considered.

Moving Beyond The Emphasis On Bullying: A Generalized Approach To Peer Aggression In High School, Christopher Donoghue, Alicia Raia-Hawrylak

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Heightened attention to bullying in research and in the media has led to a proliferation of school climate surveys that ask students to report their level of involvement in bullying. In this study, the authors reviewed the challenges associated with measuring bullying and the implications they have on the reliability of school climate surveys. Then they used data from a sample of 810 students in a large public high school in New Jersey to evaluate the merits of using a more generalized definition of aggression in school climate research. Similar to national surveys of bullying, the authors found that boys …

Guardian Engagement Learning Community, Kanika Amin, Erica Fraser, Nikki Kanthety, Mishal Karim, Jessica Kaufman, Sara King, Nisha Radhakrishnan, Jenny Reiner, Sara Saghir, Misha Siddiqui

ISCOPES Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.