to build communities...the 2007 howard r. swearer stu-dent humanitarian award in recognition of...

4
INSIDE Campus Compact honors 3 top students, faculty for innovative initiatives Campus Compact 3 policy update5 Good reads from 4 Campus Compact Current They can also lead to new collaborations with experienced service-learning partners. A group of faculty members from Metro- politan State University found that out when they attended a Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Department Institute in St. Paul in 2005. John Duffy, professor of engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), was a featured presenter at the conference. Since 1997, UML has sent students and fac- ulty to 34 rural mountain communities in Peru to design and install solar systems to power key equipment such as water supply and purification sys- tems, vaccine refrigerators, lights, and emer- gency radios. (Visit UML’s Vil- lage Empower- ment website at http://energy. caeds.eng.uml. edu/peru-07/ index.shtm for more informa- tion.) Connecting Campuses After listening to Duffy’s inspirational presentation, Metro State faculty were eager to find out what they could do to help. On learning that radio systems often went down between UML visits because villagers had difficulty understanding the user manuals, I decided to join the project. My course in international technical com- munication, which prepares students to develop usable, culturally specific docu- mentation, was an ideal mechanism for creating user-friendly radio manuals. With support from Minnesota Campus Com- pact, Metro State professor Maythee Kantar got funding for the project from 3M under an Engaged Department grant. In the fall of 2005, Metro State students began developing new documentation for the radios that kept the remote Andean vil- lages in touch with the nearest hospital. They also created a web forum to foster communication with UML students about the radios, the solar systems that powered them, and the villagers who would be using them. Although the web forum was useful, stu- dents decided they needed to see the radios to get a better idea of how they worked. Two Metro State students, Kristin Johnson and Peggy Maher, traveled to UML and Compact Current is the news- letter of Campus Compact, which provides leadership, resources, and advocacy to support civic education,com- munity building, and campus engagement for more than 1,000 member campuses. FALL 2007 Global Citizenship Collaboration Crosses Borders to Build Communities By Helen Correll CAMPUS COMPACT Educating Citizens Building Communities Compact I t started with a service-learning conference. More than just a way to gain academic knowledge, these conferences can be uplifting, exciting, and thought-provoking. BELOW: Students and faculty from Metropolitan State and UML join forces with local villagers in Peru to keep key equipment in operation. continued on page 2

Upload: others

Post on 09-Aug-2020

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: to Build Communities...the 2007 Howard R. Swearer Stu-dent Humanitarian Award in recognition of their work in the community: Jessica Allen of Maui Community College (HI), Holly Anderson

I N S I D E

Campus Compact honors 3top students, faculty forinnovative initiatives

Campus Compact 3policy update5

Good reads from 4Campus CompactCurrent

They can also lead to new collaborationswith experienced service-learning partners.A group of faculty members from Metro-politan State University found that out whenthey attended a Minnesota Campus CompactEngaged Department Institute in St. Paulin 2005.

John Duffy, professor of engineering at theUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell (UML),was a featured presenter at the conference.Since 1997, UML has sent students and fac-ulty to 34 rural mountain communities in

Peru to designand install solarsystems to powerkey equipmentsuch as watersupply andpurification sys-tems, vaccinerefrigerators,lights, and emer-gency radios.(Visit UML’s Vil-lage Empower-ment website athttp://energy.caeds.eng.uml.edu/peru-07/index.shtm formore informa-tion.)

Connecting CampusesAfter listening to Duffy’s inspirationalpresentation, Metro State faculty wereeager to find out what they could do tohelp. On learning that radio systems oftenwent down between UML visits becausevillagers had difficulty understanding theuser manuals, I decided to join the project.My course in international technical com-munication, which prepares students todevelop usable, culturally specific docu-mentation, was an ideal mechanism forcreating user-friendly radio manuals. Withsupport from Minnesota Campus Com-pact, Metro State professor Maythee Kantargot funding for the project from 3M underan Engaged Department grant.

In the fall of 2005, Metro State studentsbegan developing new documentation forthe radios that kept the remote Andean vil-lages in touch with the nearest hospital.They also created a web forum to fostercommunication with UML students aboutthe radios, the solar systems that poweredthem, and the villagers who would be usingthem.

Although the web forum was useful, stu-dents decided they needed to see the radiosto get a better idea of how they worked.Two Metro State students, Kristin Johnsonand Peggy Maher, traveled to UML and

Compact Current is the news-letter of Campus Compact,which provides leadership,resources, and advocacy tosupport civic education,com-munity building, and campusengagement for more than 1,000 member campuses.

FA L L 2 0 0 7

Global Citizenship

Collaboration Crosses Borders to Build Communities By Helen Correll

CAMPUS COMPACT

Educating CitizensBuilding Communities

Compact

It started with a service-learning conference. More than just a way

to gain academic knowledge, these conferences can be uplifting,

exciting, and thought-provoking.

BELOW: Students and faculty from MetropolitanState and UML join forceswith local villagers in Peruto keep key equipment inoperation.

continued on page 2

Page 2: to Build Communities...the 2007 Howard R. Swearer Stu-dent Humanitarian Award in recognition of their work in the community: Jessica Allen of Maui Community College (HI), Holly Anderson

2

Compact Current is the newsletter of Campus Compact, anational nonprofit organization based at Brown University.Compact Current is distributed three times a year to allCampus Compact member institutions.

Editorial Correspondence: Address all correspondence to Karen Partridge, Editor, Compact Current, Campus Compact, Box 1975, Providence, RI 02912, email [email protected].

Campus Compact receives financial support from Ariel Capi-tal Management, LLC, Carnegie Corporation of New York,The Corporation for National and Community Service, TheFidelity Charitable Gift Fund, The Ford Foundation, TheJoyce Foundation, The Kettering Foundation, KPMG Foun-dation, Learn and Serve America, The Andrew W. MellonFoundation, TIAA-CREF, and TOSA Foundation, amongothers.

returned with many ideas for making thedocumentation more usable. The classdeveloped three prototypes for radioinstruction manuals, condensing the 100-page manufacturer’s manual into 4 easilyunderstandable pages.

Changing LivesTo test whether this new documentationwould work, Maher and fellow studentSolveig Corbin volunteered to travel to Peruin January 2006 with Duffy’s crew. Theyworked alongside the engineers installingsolar voltaic panels and testing local watersupplies, as well as doing usability testingfor the manuals. During the next sixmonths, deaths from childbirth went from12 to 0, primarily because villagers wereable to radio the hospital for advice andtransportation.

When they returned, inspired, the MetroState students wanted to continue to help.Maher developed a website for the Peruproject in her web design course andCorbin wrote her master’s thesis on inter-cultural communication. She also traveledto Peru again that June.

The following fall found Metro State com-munication students working on fourprojects for Peru: instructions for solar-

voltaic battery maintenance, health educa-tion information for children, biodigestersafety instructions, and documentation fora water filtration system. Once again, stu-dents at the two universities collaboratedclosely. Corbin and Maher remained avail-able to answer questions and offer sugges-tions to two new students, Juin Charnelland Justin Rivet, who traveled to Peru withDuffy’s crew in January 2006. Like the for-mer pair, these students found the workexhausting but life-changing.

Charnell and Rivet returned from Peruwith the recommendation that we concen-trate this year on health education. We arenow developing health education docu-mentation with the help of the medicalassistant for the Ancash region of Peru aswell as support from Metro State’s publichealth specialist. We find that this projectkeeps growing, providing more and moreopportunities to connect various disci-plines to this worthwhile service-learningproject. We hope to continue this closeassociation with Dr. Duffy and his UMLstudents and colleagues for many years tocome. CC

Helen Correll is associate professor of technicalcommunication at Metropolitan State Univer-sity in St. Paul, MN.

RIGHT: Solar-powered radio

systems and user-friendly

documentation have kept

remote villages in touch

with hospital staff, leading

to a dramatic reduction in

deaths from childbirth. Campus Compact is a national coalition of morethan 1,000 college and university presidents—representing some 6 million students—who arecommitted to fulfilling the civic purposes of highereducation. As the only national association dedi-cated solely to this mission, Campus Compact is aleader in building civic engagement into campusand academic life. Through our national office andnetwork of 32 state offices, members receive thetraining, resources, and advocacy they need tobuild strong surrounding communities and teachstudents the skills and values of democracy.

Campus Compact comprises a national officebased in Providence, RI, and 32 state offices in CA,CO, CT, FL, HI, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME,MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA,RI, SC, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WV. For contactand other information, see www.compact.org.

Board of Directors

C H A I R

John J. DeGioia Georgetown University

V I C E - C H A I R S

Jane A. Karas Flathead Valley CommunityCollege

Toni Murdock Antioch University

M E M B E R S

Louis Albert Pima Community College

Lawrence S. Tufts UniversityBacow

Warrick L. Carter Columbia College, Chicago

Judith Hansen Southwestern Oregon Community College

JoAnn Haysbert Langston University

Teresa Iannaconi KPMG LLP

Shirley Ann Rensselaer Polytechnic Jackson Institute

Alex Johnson Delgado Community College

John Keating University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Leo Lambert Elon University

Tashia Morgridge TOSA Foundation

John Rogers Ariel Capital Management, Inc.

Richard R. Rush California State University Channel Islands

Michael J. Regis UniversitySheeran, S.J.

John Sirek McKormick Tribune Foundation

James Votruba Northern Kentucky University

E X E C U T I V E S TA F F

Maureen F. Curley President

Page 3: to Build Communities...the 2007 Howard R. Swearer Stu-dent Humanitarian Award in recognition of their work in the community: Jessica Allen of Maui Community College (HI), Holly Anderson

Seven Students ShineThis summer, Campus Compactselected seven students at mem-ber campuses for outstanding cit-izenship. Roslynn Almas ofBrookhaven College (TX) and Dou-glas Finley of Georgetown Univer-sity (DC) received the 2007 FrankNewman Leadership Award,which honors exceptional civicleadership among students withhigh academic achievement anddemonstrated financial need.

Five students were honored withthe 2007 Howard R. Swearer Stu-dent Humanitarian Award inrecognition of their work in thecommunity: Jessica Allen of MauiCommunity College (HI), HollyAnderson of Kalamazoo College(MI), Andrea Laidman of the Uni-versity of Notre Dame (IN), Ste-fanie Lynch of Emerson College(MA), and Bryan Mauk of JohnCarroll University (OH).

These students have tackled awide range of issues, includingincreasing college access, promot-ing sustainable agricultural prac-tices, advocating for social justiceand human rights, providingsocial programming for at-riskyouth, serving the homeless, andempowering others through lead-ership, diversity, and conflict reso-lution. Each of these students hasdemonstrated initiative and inno-vation in addressing these issues.

The Newman award winnersreceived $5,000 from CampusCompact and matching fundsfrom their institution to supporttheir educational and civic goals.Swearer recipients each received

$1,250 for leadership develop-ment and a $250 honorarium forthe community organization oftheir choice.

Engineering Success atLouisiana StateFor her effective use and promo-tion of service-learning, Mary-beth Lima, Professor of Biological& Agricultural Engineering atLouisiana State University (LSU)has been named the recipient ofCampus Compact’s 2007 ThomasEhrlich Faculty Award for Ser-vice-Learning.

At LSU, Lima designed a programin which engineering studentswork with children, parents,teachers, and community mem-bers to design and build safe, funplaygrounds for elementaryschools in underfunded BatonRouge neighborhoods. Lima andher students have created morethan a dozen “dream play-grounds,” including three built incollaboration with young Hurri-cane Katrina evacuees.

According to Lima, “Service-

learning improves the discipline

of engineering by making explicit

the connection between people,

culture, service, and technology.”

Her work focuses on addressing

public education and community

needs through service-learning

activities that “equally empower

the community and the students.”

CC

Funding for the 2007 SwearerAward was provided by Ariel Capital Management, LLC.

3

Policy Update

Op Ed ChallengeIn September Campus Compactcoordinated an op ed campaign formember presidents in conjunctionwith the National Learn & ServeChallenge, a week-long series ofevents to raise awareness and sup-port for service-learning. CampusCompact’s op ed template offeredinformation on the communityimpact of campus engagement andan opportunity for members to pro-mote their own service-learning ini-tiatives. Examples of published arti-cles can be found at www.compact.org/news/list/media_coverage/.

National Service Hill DayAs in past years, directors from Cam-pus Compact’s national and stateoffices participated in the Voices forNational Service Hill Day on Septem-ber 18–19, meeting with Congres-sional leaders to discuss the impor-tance of campus service andservice-learning efforts. Coincidingwith the National Learn & ServeChallenge, this year’s Hill Day pro-vided an opportunity to highlight thefour-to-one return on investment ofLearn and Serve America programs,which fund K-16 service-learningefforts.

Legislative ActionOn September 27, President Bushsigned the College Cost Reductionand Access Act, touted as the largestinvestment in higher education sincethe GI Bill. The act proposes loanforgiveness for graduates who stayin public service jobs for 10 years,Pell Grant increases, and $66 millionin state grants to support collegeaccess programs, among other provi-sions. Campus Compact will informmembers about the implementationof this act once regulations havebeen promulgated.

Students, Faculty Honoredfor Innovative Initiatives

JES

SIC

A A

LL

EN

D

OU

GL

AS

FIN

LE

YR

OS

LYN

N A

LM

AS

H

OL

LY A

ND

ER

SO

N

AN

DR

EA

LA

IDM

AN

ST

EFA

NIE

LY

NC

HB

RY

AN

MA

UK

MA

RY

BE

TH

LIM

A

Page 4: to Build Communities...the 2007 Howard R. Swearer Stu-dent Humanitarian Award in recognition of their work in the community: Jessica Allen of Maui Community College (HI), Holly Anderson

Non-Profit Org.U.S.Postagepaid

Permit No.202

Providence,RI

Brown University/Box 1975

Providence,RI 02912-1975

401 867-3950

401 867-3925fax

[email protected]

www.compact.org

This practical guide offers insight, models, and step-by-step instruction for incorporating community work intothe curriculum in any discipline. Designed specifically forcommunity college faculty, this book offers a range ofoptions, from introducing an optional course componentto creating a stand-alone service-learning course. In eachcase, sample course descriptions, syllabi, forms, and toolsguide faculty through the process.

Accompanying discussions on assessing outcomes, build-ing attainment pathways, and using service-learning tocontribute to the scholarship of teaching and learningmake this book an essential addition to any communitycollege faculty library.

By Marina Baratian, Donna Duffy, Robert Franco, AmyHendricks, and Tanya Renner, with a foreword by KayMcClenney. 109 pages

Through November 9, enjoy special pre-publica-tion savings: $19 members, $27 nonmembers!After November 9, prices will be $24 members, $32nonmembers. See www.compact.org/publicationsfor details.

GoodReads Service-Learning Course Design for Community Colleges

Business Administration

Psychology

Elementary Education

Biology

Nursing

Education

English

Communication

Computer Science

Political Science

Service-Learning

Course Design for

Community Colleges

By Marina Baratian

Donna Killian Duffy

Robert Franco

Amy Hendricks

and Tanya Renner

with a foreword by

Kay McClenney

Earn, Learn, and Serve:Getting the Most from CommunityService Federal Work-Study

This new online guide assemblesvaluable resources, articles, and casestudies to help campuses make thebest possible use of Federal Work-Study funds to develop student lead-ers, advance civic engagementefforts, and strengthen communities.Contents include models from 40campuses across the country as wellas articles by experts and tools suchas principles of best practice and sample program planning documents.See www.compact.org/fws.

Coming soon

These publications were made possible withgenerous support from the Corporation forNational and Community Service under a grant from Learn and Serve America.

Sale through Nov. 9: $19 members; $27 nonmembers