President’s Blog
Community and Communication
July 30, 2007
I want to thank again the faculty, staff, and students who participated in the President’s Breakfast, hosted in association with our Advisory Board on May 8. Focused on civic engagement and community–based learning, the breakfast discussion explored how we can partner more effectively with the community and tie our commitment to civic engagement even more successfully to our academic mission.
One of the key issues we discussed that day was communication: how can we best inform and involve community members? How can we connect faculty and students with appropriate community organizations?
Since our breakfast, Dee Perez, SOU’s Director of Community–Based Learning (CBL) has been busy. She has met with about forty organizations in the past few months and continues making those personal connections.
She has also developed a handbook to help folks understand CBL and to facilitate productive partnership between faculty and community partners. The handbook includes forms and checklists for designing student orientations and for evaluating students’ experiences. This information can also be found on the new CBL website: http://www.sou.edu/cbl/
To increase understanding and communication, Dee is putting together a packet for community partners that outlines opportunities for engaging with SOU and our students. The packet will include information about CBL, career development, internships, and contact numbers/addresses for folks on campus as well as a database of more than 240 community organizations. Dee will send the packets out in a few weeks. I know they’ll be helpful for faculty and students and for community organizations. (If you have ideas for items to include in these materials, please let Dee know your suggestions.)
At breakfast, we also discussed some challenges we face as we develop community–university partnerships. The new handbook, the website, and the informational packet Dee is developing are key to overcoming some of those challenges.
Once again, if you have ideas for participation, contact our Involvement Center: Dee Perez for Community–Based Learning (perezd@sou.edu); Peter Weston for Internships and Employment Opportunities (careerservices@sou.edu); and Renee Fisk for Volunteer Opportunities (vista@sou.edu).
Thank you for collaborating with our community partners to help our students attain the skills, the ability, and the inclination to serve our community.
And thanks, also, to Dee and to Valerie Dean. Their efforts have led to our being awarded over $140,000 for the second year of the Learn and Serve America Higher Education grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Congratulations, Dee and Valerie!
Mary Cullinan
