2015 intro for advisory board

INTRODUCTION TOCIVIC ENGAGEMENTAT THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

GALE ADVISORY BOARDSEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Serving the university’s MISSION

Curricular engagement is one key way in which undergraduate and graduate coursework can serve the University’s mission:

Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St. Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.

History

Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St. Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders

who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.

Service-learningCOLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

In 1995, the faculty senate approved staffing for service learning at UST in the College of Arts and Sciences.

• Dr. Bernie Brady (moral theology) was the first faculty director of the program. He served for two years.

• Dr. Ellen Kennedy (marketing and sociology) was a champion who worked tirelessly for its place in the structure of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1998-2006.

Service-learningACADEMIC AFFAIRS

In 2006, the Office of Service Learning was moved from the College of Arts and Sciences to Academic Affairs in order to serve all units across the University.

Angela Barretta-Herman was appointed as the AVP to oversee the unit.

Jessica Cook was hired as a full-time interim director (2006-2007).

Kim Vrudny served as an interim faculty coordinator that year.


During academic year 2006-2007, Dr. Rochon asked for a year-long study of comparison schools and for a proposal of models. At the end of the year, he announced the creation of CILCE: Center for Intercultural Learning and Community Engagement. This was a Center for co-curricular engagement. Where service-learning fit into the structure was not clarified. Separate from CILCE, Barb Baker was hired as program manager for service-learning, and a part-time faculty director position was created to oversee service-learning (compensated by two course releases annually):

• 2007-2009: Amy Muse• 2009-2011: Kevin Sauter


In January of 2011, Eleni Roulis was appointed AVP upon Angela Barretta-Herman’s retirement. Before the end of the year, she had eliminated the part-time faculty director position, and Meghan Allen-Eliason and Barb Baker resigned. Kim Vrudny stepped in to help navigate relations, and served as interim director on a full-time basis beginning in January 2012.

The Office of Service-Learning conducted a search for a director of service-learning but the search failed and Kim Vrudny continued as interim director through the summer and into the fall.


The failed search prompted consideration again of structure.

In September of 2012, Dr. Sue Huber announced the creation of the Center for Service-Learning and Community Engagement. This was going to merge co-curricular with curricular-based service-learning. Kim Vrudny resigned as interim director in October.

Dr. Huber closed the Center in January of 2013. Subsequently, two graduate students were hired on a contract basis to manage the service-learning program. No faculty director was appointed. In July of 2014, Dr. Eleni Roulis returned to the CELC.

engagement



What is ENGAGEMENT?

Last year, three “Engaged Scholars” worked with Camille George to draft a vision statement for Civic Engagement:

Inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, the Office of Civic Engagement at the University of St. Thomas accompanies global and local partner organizations by supporting the design, implementation, and evaluation of curricular components and courses that use collaborative strategies of engagement to advance the common good.

—Vision Proposal, 2015

What is CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING?

The “why” of what we are doing is guided by our Catholic mission, and in particular by principles of Catholic Social Teaching:

• Dignity of the human person.

• Concern for the common good.

• Preferential option for the poor.

• Rights of workers.• Stewardship of creation.• Subsidiarity.

What is ACCOMPANIMENT?

The philosophy of accompaniment is a theoretical model practiced by many humanitarian organizations. It emphasizes the relationship that is developed when people walk together. Accompaniment does not necessarily begin with the assumption that the situations we encounter can be fixed or changed, but encourages the development of relationships in which any lasting change will be grounded. The University and the global or local community partner enter into a mutually beneficial, reciprocal relationship in order for students to contribute to something meaningful for the partnering organization even as the partnering organization agrees to assist the University and its professors in the task of education.

The Office supports course design by offering:

• Introductory Workshops, to train faculty in best practices and ethical standards.

• Placement assistance. The CEN Network and office staff help to match faculty with opportunities.

• Continuing education opportunities, to ignite imagination and secure best practices in engaged pedagogy.

• Companionship, to all stakeholders. We publish the Civic Engagement COMPANION newsletter to communicate the office’s activities.

How DOES THE OFFICE SUPPORTCOURSE Design?

The Office supports implementation of service-learning components by offering:

• Program Management, such as course designation and budgetary assistance, along with course development. For larger initiatives, the office coordinates orientation sessions and closing ceremonies.

• Mentorships, to assist faculty in finding reciprocal relationships in the community.

• Faculty Dinners, to provide open spaces for faculty to share experiences, insights, and challenges that they’re facing in the process of teaching service-learning courses.

How DOES THE OFFICE SUPPORTimplementation?

The Office supports evaluation of service-learning by offering:

• Assessment Tools, such as pre- and post-survey instruments.

• Reporting Data, on the basis of the assessment instruments.

How DOES THE OFFICE SUPPORTevaluation?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BYCOLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES?

Engagement strategies extend beyond traditional categories like direct service to include: capacity building, economic development, public policy advocacy, participatory action research, grassroots organizing, confrontational strategies, and education. GALE will provide a broad engagement framework to address social needs without undermining critical analyses of power and injustice. In this context, meeting direct needs to sustain social goods, and changing or challenging systems in pursuit of social justice, are complementary strategies. GALE works to promote ethical, effective, and collaborative strategies of engagement to advance the common good.

OVER THE SUMMER…



WHAT is the office’s 2015programming?

WHAT is the pROCESS FORDESIGNATION?

WHAT is YOURNEWSLETTER?

“clusters”



What are our initiatives?

Going forward, we are wanting to organize “clusters” of courses to promote the UN Millenium Development Goals:

• Eradicating Poverty and Hunger

• Closing the Achievement Gap

• Improving Public Health*• Promoting Human Rights• Promoting Racial Equality• Promoting Gender Equality• Caring for Elders• Ensuring Environmental

Sustainability• Partnering for Global

Development

What are our initiatives inPUBLIC HEALTH?

Some of our community partners include:

• Open Arms of Minnesota• Clare Housing• Minnesota AIDS Project

What are someexamples?

Students in Paola Ehrmantraut's Spanish English Translation (SPAN 490, section 01) class translated documents from English to Spanish pro bono for Open Arms of Minnesota. This organization delivers meals to people who are living with HIV/AIDS and other life limiting illnesses.

Do we have overseas or international partners?

St. Thomas students have traveled to South Africa with Kimberly Vrudny (theology) in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2015, to study the effects of apartheid on public health. They have partnered with a community center in Guguletu, a township outside of Cape Town. The Center provides a range of services to its community experiencing high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. Students in in Barbara Gorski’s Business 200 courses raised a total of $24,000 to distribute parcels of food to families affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa; last year, we raised $10,000 for scholarships.

WHAT WAS THE SCOPE OF OURENGAGEMENT?

Since we began the course designation process in 2008, 1,462 students have enrolled in courses with a designated service-learning component through our HIV/AIDS Initiatives.

The Initiatives have to date involved:

• 21 different faculty members

• teaching 73 sections of classes

• in 14 disciplines.

1,462

WHAT WAS THE SCOPE OF OURENGAGEMENT?

What ARE OUR initiatives ineducation?


• Cristo Rey Jesuit High School• College Prep Elementary School• Wellstone International High School


Students in Kevin Sauter and Wendy Wyatt’s Communication and Citizenship (COJO 111) focused on theories and principles of communication. The course researched how culture and power emerge in communication. UST students engaged with Christo Rey students eight times throughout the semester. The Christo Rey students gained friendships, mentors, role models, and the confidence to go onto college. The UST students became more confident about their communication skills, began to understand how to communicate with diverse populations, and learned how to interact effectively with others.

Do we have overseas national partners?

Kevin Sauter, Debra Peterson, and Carol Bruess (COJO) have an ongoing relationship with Ke Kola Ni’lhau O Kekaha School which serves underprivileged students in Hawaii.

Do we have GRANT FUNDING?

Carol Bruess is the lead investigator for a Participatory Action Research Grant funded for 2015-2016 by Minnesota Campus Compact and YouthPrise. The grant will enable Carol to be embedded at Cristo Rey High School to determine ways our faculty can collaborate with Cristo Rey, even as UST students and Cristo Rey students together develop research questions and conduct research into challenges graduates of Cristo Rey face when they matriculate at colleges and Universities like the University of St. Thomas.


• The Jeremiah Program• Women’s Advocates• Women Venture

What ARE OUR initiatives ingender equality?


Students in Susan Myers’ Women in the Early Church (THEO 431-01) work with a local women’s organization (the Jeremiah Program) to compare the situations of modern women with those of ancient women about whom they read. Students also reflect on the ways in which women—both ancient and modern—are empowered and silenced.

Do we have overseas or international partners?

Dr. Len Jennings, in professional psychology, has students participating in professional practice in Singapore. The course consisted of joint experiential learning exercises with Singaporean counseling students as well as site visits illuminating the various ways mental health needs are addressed in Singapore. In addition, the course had a service-learning component in which UST students conducted psycho-educational presentations and group work with abused teen girls living in a residential treatment center.

Do we have GRANT FUNDING?

There is a November deadline for grants to the C. Charles Jackson Foundation to support development in student leadership.

What are our initiatives?

impact



How many students haveparticipated?

Since we began the course designation process in 2008, 7,356 students have enrolled in courses with a designated service-learning component.

2,500 additional students participated through Business 200 which was designated as a service-learning course beginning in 2012.

7,356

How many faculty haveparticipated?

88

88 faculty have participated since we started designating classes in 2008, teaching 345 sections of classes representing 32 disciplines:

• accounting• art history• biology• business • business law • communication• computer science• education• engineering• English• environmental

science• French• geography• health • history• interdisciplinary

studies• journalism• justice and peace

studies• law• marketing• management• mathematics• music• operations

management• philosophy• political science• psychology• social work• sociology• Spanish• statistics• theology

Our task.



The City of St. Paul has partnered with professors at the University of St. Thomas to collaborate on projects related to minimizing damage from the Emerald Ash Borer, transitioning the city to more energy-efficient LED lighting, reclaiming rainwater, assessing pedestrian transit systems, and collecting oral histories about Minnesota’s elm trees.

What ARE OUR initiatives insustainability?

2015 intro for advisory board

Education