Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

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 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.

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.

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.

Principal Agency 50 Years After The Lau Decision: Building And Sustaining Bilingual Education Programs For Asian Languages, Kevin M. Wong, Zhongfeng Tian

Education Division Scholarship

This study examined how three champion principals of Asian language dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs—Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin—in California have navigated the oscillating language-in-education policies after the Lau decision. We explored principals' various roles through a lens of agency in a social justice leadership framework, specifically considering the opportunities and challenges for agentive leadership from three different phases: foregrounding and engaging, planning and implementing, and evaluating and sustaining. Findings demonstrate that the success of DLBE programs goes beyond the overarching language policies that supposedly enable bilingual education; rather it hinges on the bottom-up commitment, collaboration and resilience of principals, …

Gps Accuracy Of Smartphones For Crowdsourcing Research, Derron L. Dike

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

ABSTRACT GPS Accuracy of Smartphones for Crowdsourcing Research Derron Dike Utilizing crowdsourcing with smartphones as a method for field data collection can contribute an array of data for scientific studies and land management applications. This study used crowdsourcing to examine smartphone built-in GPS performance for providing location-specific information with potential forestry applications. The usability of smartphones for GPS data collection in forestry studies or other practical applications is dependent on the level of accuracy required for those applications. A Smartphone Accuracy Trial was designed to test the GPS accuracy performance of current smartphones. Participants used the ArcGIS Field Maps application …

Research Report: Well-Being, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Mary Emery, Katelyn Larson, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

This year, rural Nebraskans are more pessimistic about their current situation than they’ve been since this study began. The proportion believing they are worse off than they were five years ago was 33 percent, up from 27 percent last year and 21 percent in 2022. This is the highest level across all years of the study. This increase in pessimism was matched with a sharp decrease in optimism. This year, just over one-third (36%) of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off compared to five years ago, down from 45 percent last year.

This trend continued when looking to the …

Aging In Hopkinton: A Community Needs Assessment, Sue Berger, Caitlin E. Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Town of Hopkinton. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Hopkinton residents age 55 or older by engaging the community regarding their experiences and needs relevant to Senior Services objective to identify and serve the needs of Hopkinton’s older residents. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Hopkinton, Hopkinton Senior Services, and organizations that work with and …