October 8, 2018 | |
‘Bringing Learning to Life’ is the Theme of Community Engagement Symposium 2019 Community Engagement Administrator to Receive Recognition for Research Barry Community Partners Come to Campus for Annual Engagement Fair Student Leaders Participate in Strategy-Building Event Supporting Fair Food Campaign Students Share Ways to Combat Violence in Neighborhoods near Campus Publication Highlights Barry’s Approach to Motivating Students to Serve During Storms Next Deliberative Dialogue Forum Will Draw Attention to U.S. Hunger Policy Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship Meets October 29 Tuesday, October 9, is Last Day to Register in Florida to Vote in General Election Miami-Dade Special Olympics Seeking Volunteers for Events on October 30
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‘Bringing Learning to Life’ is the Theme of Community Engagement Symposium 2019
“Bringing Learning to Life Through Community Engagement.” That’s the theme of the Sixth Annual Community Engagement Symposium scheduled for March 27.
The symposium is expected to showcase the community-focused experiential learning activities of Barry’s undergraduates as the implementation of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan continues. Both oral and poster presentations by students will be highlighted as part of the symposium program.
The university developed a Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, as an initiative to improve student learning. An acceptable QEP was one of the core requirements of the reaffirmation of accreditation process administered by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The SACS Commission on Colleges is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states.
Barry’s Quality Enhancement Plan is titled “Fostering Personal and Social Responsibility Through Experiential Learning.” Community engagement includes experiential learning.
Faculty, staff, and community partners are expected to join students during concurrent sessions of the symposium. As in previous years, the program will feature a seminar and a workshop by a nationally recognized community engagement scholar-practitioner.
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Community Engagement Administrator to Receive Recognition for Resea
Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives, is this year’s winner of Florida Campus Compact’s Engaged Scholarship Research Award. He will be honored at the organization’s Annual Awards Gala on October 25 in Coral Gables.
Bowen has published more than 30 journal articles and book chapters on service-learning and community engagement. He has also made nearly 40 scholarly presentations at conferences in state-level, regional, national, and international settings.
Bowen is a coeditor of the International Service-Learning and Community Engagement Research section of the International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement and a member of the review board of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. In addition, he is a manuscript reviewer for nearly a dozen other journals, most of which publish articles derived from research in the community engagement field.
The state affiliate of a national organization, Florida Campus Compact galvanizes the intellectual resources of more than 50 institutions of higher education by advancing high-impact practices that enhance student learning and benefit local communities throughout the state. Florida Campus Compact works with presidents and their institutions to integrate service with academic study and to provide a collegial experience for intercampus and community collaborations.
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Barry Community Partners Come to Campus for Annual Engagement Fair
A workshop on “Community Engagement Assessment and Evaluation” and a showcase of programs, services, and opportunities were the main features of Barry’s Community Engagement Fair on September 26.
A total of 27 representatives of 15 community partner organizations attended the 75-minute workshop.
Community partners showcased the programs and services offered by the organizations they represented at the fair. The community partners also provided information on opportunities for students to assist with implementing projects that meet community needs.
Courtney Berrien, associate director of the CCSI, thanked community partners for their support.
The Community Engagement Fair supports the implementation of Barry’s Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP.
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Student Leaders Participate in Strategy-Building Event Supporting Fair Food Campaign
Two Barry student leaders participated last month in a national strategy-building event in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food.
Paris Razor and Samantha Ternelus were among more than 80 students and young people who gathered in Immokalee, Fla., for Encuentro, an annual event organized by the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA).
Immokalee, the southwestern Florida farming community, is the birthplace of the CIW’s battle against poverty wages and systemic violence in the fields.
Razor and Ternelus are fellows in the Barry Service Corps, and Razor is a member of the SFA Steering Committee.
Organized around the theme “Hasta la Raíz” (Down to the Root), Encuentro included presentations on the inner workings of the CIW’s Fair Food Program and the Worker-driven Social Responsibility Network, and workshops on building community organizing skills. The participants also finalized plans for a National Week of Action called “Pulling Back the Curtain on Wendy’s,” scheduled for October 22 to 28.
On the Saturday, participants took a deep dive into campaign strategy planning as they committed to ramping up efforts to “Boot the Braids” – that is, to force Wendy’s Company restaurants off eight college campuses, including two in Florida.
They took part in a protest outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant off U.S. 41 in Estero, Fla. The protest action attracted passersby, and it grew in size and volume. The crowd swelled to over 150 people, including more than a dozen women leaders from various countries participating as Vital Voices/Global Freedom Exchange fellows working to end sex and labor trafficking.
Back in Immokalee, the Encuentro participants attended Café Cultura, which included poetry, skits, music, and folkloric dance.
After three eventful days, the participants expressed their commitment to the Campaign for Fair Food by constructing a larger-than-life “tomato timevine.”
In a post-Encuentro statement, the SFA said, “While gathered in Immokalee, we reflected on the tremendous power and responsibility we as students and young consumers have in holding corporations and our institutions to account for shameful business practices.”
“I feel very privileged to have participated in Encuentro this year,” Razor told Community Engagement News last Tuesday. “Every time I attend I become a part of a community that is focused on dignity and respect for all individuals, regardless of their job or where they come from.”
Referring to the continued protest action again Wendy’s, Razor expressed optimism: “Even though the Wendy's campaign is reaching its fifth year, the fire of the movement remains stronger than ever. I know Wendy's will come to the table and join the Fair Food Program.”
Over the past two years, Razor has helped to lead the charge against Wendy’s because of the company’s refusal to support the Fair Food Program.
The SFA is “a national network of students and young people organizing with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to uproot exploitation in the fields and build a food system based on justice, respect and dignity for farmworkers.” The Steering Committee is SFA’s main organizing body composed of “a dynamic group of about fifteen youth leaders from around the country,” according to the organization’s website.
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Students Share Ways to Combat Violence in Neighborhoods near Campus
Promoting civic health and creating equitable communities can help to combat institutional violence affecting neighborhoods near Barry’s main campus, student leaders in the Barry Service Corps have suggested.
They have also called for support of efforts to address food insecurity and other social issues in Miami neighborhoods.
Barry Service Corps Fellows Paola Lopez-Hernandez, Stephanie Nguyen, and Gabriel Bouani made the suggestions during a session of Peace-In, a Barry Peace Week event last month.
They defined institutional violence as “a form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.”
Lopez-Hernandez referred to the problem of gentrification in Little Haiti, which, she said, “erases cultural and historical identity.”
Nguyen shared information on education inequality. She said it was an effect of redlining and gerrymandering.
Bouani spoke about the “attack on basic needs” in low-income communities where residents experience food insecurity. He identified Urban GreenWorks’ Cerasee Farm as an initiative to provide healthy, affordable produce for Liberty City.
Participating alongside the students was Asha Starks, an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) member serving in the Center for Community Service Initiatives.
The Peace-In session presenters suggested that students get involved in tackling social issues by working with Barry’s community partners already addressing those issues.
Organized by Dr. Laura Finley, associate professor of sociology and criminology, Peace-In took place on campus on September 21, the International Day of Peace. September 17–22 was Peace Week at Barry University.
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Publication Highlights Barry’s Approach to Motivating Students to Serve During Storms
Barry University’s approach to engaging students in service in the wake of super storms is being held up as an example to other institutions.
The publication University Business notes that Barry organizes opportunities to engage the entire campus in service work.
In an article published on September 27, University Business writer Stefanie Botelho identifies “organizing opportunities” as one of three ways colleges can motivate students to serve. Botelho noted that the Center for Community Service Initiatives, or CCSI, is Barry’s clearinghouse for community engagement.
“When disasters occur, the CCSI monitors the needs of affected communities and coordinates relief efforts with support from campus ministry, the athletics department and other university units,” she quoted CCSI Executive Director Glenn Bowen as saying.
In addition to “organizing opportunities,” thearticle mentions “Connecting career development to service” and “taking student demographics into account” as ways colleges can motivate students to serve.
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Next Deliberative Dialogue Forum Will Draw Attention to U.S. Hunger Policy
The next forum in this academic year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series will draw attention to U.S. hunger policy.
Scheduled for October 30, the forum is titled “Hunger Policy in America and the Politics of Nutrition Assistance.” The 90-minute forum will be held in the Andreas 112 conference room, beginning at 4 p.m.
The CCSI organizes the Deliberative Dialogue Series as an approach to civic learning and engagement. The series brings together campus and community stakeholders to weigh perspectives on current social issues of shared concern and to work toward practical solutions.
For further information on the Deliberative Dialogue Series, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.
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Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship Meets October 29
The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship will have its second meeting for the academic year on October 29, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. The CCSI will host the meeting in Adrian Hall, Room 208.
All FLC members and prospective members are urged to attend.
The FLC is a cross-disciplinary group of faculty members who participate in a collaborative program focused on the scholarship of engagement, or community-engaged scholarship. The FLC provides an intellectual venue in which faculty members exchange ideas with an academically diverse group and learn from one another’s experiences.
FLC members attend engaged scholarship seminars and other professional development activities, and they become familiar with the tools and resources needed for engaged scholarship.
For further information, contact any of the FLC facilitators, Dr. Laura Finley (lfinley@barry.edu), Dr. Pamela Hall (phall@barry.edu), or Dr. Celeste Landeros (clanderos@barry.edu).
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Tuesday, October 9, is Last Day to Register in Florida to Vote in General Election
Tuesday, October 9, is the final day to register to vote in Florida for the November 6 general election.
The Supervisor of Elections in the county where you reside and plan to vote must receive your registration form by this Tuesday. Hand-delivery is now the best option.
“You may register to vote online, or change your address or other information,” Dr. Sean Foreman, Barry’s Campus Election Engagement Project liaison, is reminding students, faculty, and staff.
You can check your current registration status, and/or register to vote at this website: https://registertovoteflorida.gov/en/Registration/Index.
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Miami-Dade Special Olympics Seeking Volunteers for Events on October 30
Special Olympics Florida – Miami-Dade County is looking for volunteers for two events scheduled for October 30.
For its Area Bowling Games, the organization needs volunteers to assist with set-up, registration, score-keeping, awards presentation, cheerleading, and other activities. The event will take place at SpareZ Bowling from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For its South FL Flag Football Invitational, Special Olympics Florida – Miami-Dade needs volunteers to help with registration, escorting of athletes, scorekeeping, awards presentation, and other activities. The event is scheduled for 3–7 p.m. at Moore Park.
To volunteer, visit the Special Olympics Florida – Miami-Dade volunteer calendar page <https://specialolympicsflorida.org/miami-dade/volunteer/volunteer-calendar/>.
For further information, contact Nicole Koretsky at nicolekoretsky@sofl.org.
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Community Engagement News
Posted On : October 08, 2018
