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January 16, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nominations for Community Engagement Awards Close January 26 Deadline for Symposium Presentation Proposals Fast Approaching Theology and Sociology Students Complete Service-Learning Projects Class Contributes Promotional Photographs to Community Partners Students Provide Homework Support to Neighborhood Youth Basketball Teams Participate in Community Service Projects Community Engagement Fair Set for Next Tuesday, January 23 Faculty Invited to Apply for Service-Learning Fellowships Faculty Learning Community Schedules Semester Sessions
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Nominations for Community Engagement Awards Close January 26
Nominations for the 2018 Community Engagement Awards will close on Friday, January 26.
The categories of awards are the same as in previous years: Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.
The primary purpose of the awards is to publicly recognize students, faculty and staff members, departments, and community partners for their community engagement participation, contributions, and achievements. The awards are also designed to encourage excellence and to inspire similar achievements by others.
The nomination forms are available in CEMS – the Community Engagement Management System.
The CCSI will host the fifth annual Community Engagement Awards on March 28, beginning at 5 p.m.
For more information on this event, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.
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Deadline for Symposium Presentation Proposals Fast Approaching
Barry University’s fifth annual Community Engagement Symposium will be held on March 28, and the deadline for the submission of proposalsfor concurrent-session presentations is fast approaching.
Proposals should address the symposium’s theme, “Demonstrating Social Responsibility through Experiential Learning.” The deadline for the submission of proposals is Friday, January 26.
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Implementation Committee will host the event. For further information, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or QEP staff at qep@barry.edu.
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Theology and Sociology Students Complete Service-Learning Projects
Students taking theology and sociology courses last semester completed service-learning projects with over 80 community partners and programs.
Theology students provided 1,890 hours of service as part of three theology courses, reported Experiential Learning Coordinator Liz James. Sociology students logged approximately 400 hours of service.
Service sites included natural habitats, churches, schools, and community centers. Among the community partners and programs were A Child is Missing, Church World Service, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Cross Catholic Outreach, His House Children’s Home,
In an end-of-semester report, James noted that 297 students were enrolled in THE 201: Theology, Faiths, Beliefs, and Traditions (10 sections); THE 306: Dynamics of Faith, Beliefs, and Theology; and THE 311: Sexuality, Sex, and Morality.
The instructors for THE 201 were Dr. George Boudreau, the Rev. Richard Clements, Luis De Prada, Sister Mary
James reported that 155 students were enrolled in SOC 200: Perspective Consciousness (4 sections) and SOC 426: Sociology of Violence.
The instructors for SOC 200 were Drs. Laura Finley and Lisa Konczal. Finley was also the instructor for SOC 426.
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Class Contributes Promotional Photographs to Community Partners
A documentary photography class contributed promotional photographs to six of Barry’s community partners recently.
The students produced the photos as part of a designated service-learning course taught by Scott Weber, professor of photography in the Department of Fine Arts.
Working mostly in pairs, the 11 students took photos that captured aspects of the community partners’ mission and work. Saeed Alktebi, Rashed Alyammahi, Remijin Camping, Kassandra Cruz, Brian Delgado, Anna Eizman,
The community partners were Everglades Wildlife Alliance; Mount Tabor Baptist Church; North Miami Foundation for Senior Citizens’ Services, Inc.; Pass It On Ministries of South Florida; Urban GreenWorks, and URGENT, Inc. They will use the photos primarily for promotional purposes, especially on websites and in brochures.
In Photography 426, the class explores the use of the camera as a tool for documentation with emphasis placed on the development of individual and group projects dealing with topics that arise from cultural, political, and social issues. Students exhibit their work at the end of the course.
The Documentary Photography Exhibition in the Andy Gato Student Gallery opened on December 8 and will close on February 11.
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Students Provide Homework Support to Neighborhood Youth
Barry students have been providing homework support and serving as mentors to middle- and high-school youth in Little Haiti.
This is part of an initiative coordinated by the CCSI in partnership with Gang Alternative since the fall of 2015.
Located in that
Students have been providing service as part of service-learning courses as well as the Barry Service Corps (BSC) program.
Last semester, BSC members Wills Compere, a senior, and Shan-Ja Brown, a freshman, each served about 10 hours a week at Gang Alternative. They helped with math, English, social studies, and science homework.
In addition, a group of student leaders in the Barry Service Corps served as mentors. These BSC fellows planned and facilitated financial literacy and related activities with support from students completing the service-learning requirements of theology and sociology courses.
“I’ve had a really unexpected experience with the youth,” said Pa Sheikh Ngom, one of the student leaders. “At first, it was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. I went in thinking things would go one way, but they didn’t go as expected. When we started listening to what the kids wanted, and adjusted our lesson plans accordingly, we started to establish a connection with the kids.”
Sheikh Ngom said he hoped to work on strengthening the connection this semester.
Jenifer Acosta also facilitated activities with the Gang Alternative youth through her role as a BSC fellow.
“The high schoolers are funny and charismatic. I really enjoy working with them,” Acosta noted. “They have a lot to say and just want to be heard. I hope that being a part of Gang Alternative can help them make wise decisions, choose the right path, and develop into the leaders of tomorrow that they are.”
Gabriel Bouani, Paola Lopez-Hernandez, and Dominique McMillan were the other BSC fellows who served as mentors last semester. CCSI Program Coordinator Asha Starks supervised the Barry student leaders.
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Basketball Teams Participate in Community Service Projects
Barry University’s basketball teams were active in community service projects during the fall semester and holiday break.
The women’s basketball team serves at the Rescue Mission every year.
The team also served at a childhood obesity project in
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Community Engagement Fair Set for Next Tuesday, January 23
The annual Community Engagement Fair will be held next Tuesday, January 23, in the Landon Student Union. A workshop for community partners will precede the showcase segment of the fair.
Scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., the showcase will be an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to meet some of Barry’s community partners and to learn about their work. The community partners will provide information on their programs, the issues they address, and the roles played by volunteers and students taking service-learning courses.
“Creating, Sustaining, and Assessing Community Impact” is the topic of the workshop, which will get underway after brief opening session at 9 o’clock. Dr. Victor Romano, associate vice provost for student success and undergraduate studies, will deliver opening remarks.
CCSI staff will facilitate segments of the workshop, capped by a segment on “Assessing Community Impact” presented by Dr. Tisa McGhee, an associate professor of social work.
This academic year’s Community Engagement Fair, originally scheduled for September, was moved to January because of Hurricane Irma. For more information on this event, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.
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Faculty Invited to Apply for Service-Learning Fellowships
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) invites faculty members to apply for service-learning fellowships for the 2018–2019 academic year. Two fellowships will be available.
Through the fellowships, successful applicants participate in a yearlong faculty development program focused on service-learning pedagogy, practice, and associated scholarship. Each service-learning fellow gets a course release to complete a special project and eventually to serve as a faculty mentor and engaged scholar.
Fellowship details and the application form are available in the Community Engagement Management System (CEMS), which may be accessed from the CCSI homepage. The extended application deadline is February 5.
For further information, contact Dr. Glenn Bowen in the CCSI at gbowen@barry.edu or 305-899-4711.
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Faculty Learning Community Schedules Semester Sessions
The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) has scheduled three sessions for the spring semester. Engaged scholarship seminars are set for January 23 and February 20, and a regular meeting is scheduled for April 17, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., in the CCSI, Adrian 208.
Engaged scholarship is shorthand for the scholarship of engagement, the term used in 1995 by Ernest Boyer, then president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This kind of scholarship integrates faculty work in the areas of teaching, research, and service that addresses community needs, issues, and priorities.
Any faculty member may join the FLC. For further information, contact Dr. Laura Finley, the FLC facilitator, at lfinley@barry.edu. |
Community Engagement News
Posted On : January 16, 2018