Transcript University of Central Arkansas CSPA Team Leader: Joshua Brown Team members: Danielle Badgett, Joshua Brown, Kabongwe Gwebu, Julia Novotny.

University of Central Arkansas CSPA
Team Leader: Joshua Brown
Team members: Danielle Badgett, Joshua Brown,
Kabongwe Gwebu, Julia Novotny
History
In the United States, hostility towards universities was initially born out of
geographical isolation. Universities were often located in rural (frequently
remote) areas far removed from the economic and social problems of the broader
society. Universities promoted themselves as elite bastions of information and
knowledge. (Smith, Hayden, Phillips, 2011)
The Sunnyvale University and the Town of Quaint New England share mutual
values and standards. Each is devoted to developing a strong positive social
environment for its constituents and to augment the welfare of all. The
university's location within the Town of Quaint New England creates a unique
relationship that mandates bilateral respect, open and regular communication, and
the attainment of civic responsibilities by community members.
Sunnyvale University’s Community Engagement Committee is striving to improve the
University’s relationship with a co-existing community, that students will become
invested in, by utilizing students’ skills already attained at our institution of higher
learning, in order to cooperate with the community’s overall mission to provide a safe,
sustainable, and engaged living environment.
-To promote social justice (Strier, 2011)
-To subdue the feeling in many communities that colleges "exploit the community as a
source of research but fail to compensate" (Ostrander &Chapin-Hogue, 2011)
-To improve organizational reputations (Ostrander &Chapin-Hogue, 2011)
-To increase funding opportunities (Ostrander &Chapin-Hogue, 2011)
-To bring alienated, and even hostile social groups together
-To provide a platform for social learning (Strier, 2011)
-To promote mutual cooperation (Strier, 2011)
-Create a project that is meaningful to all parties involved (Shannon &Wang, 2010)
-Have clear communication throughout the project
-Work together to set goals and expectations
-Conduct an orientation session about the project (Strier, 2011)
-Do not offer to many projects at one time (Strier, 2011)
-Base partnerships on "mutuality, reciprocity, and respect" (Strier, 2011)
Level 1: Preconventional
-Stage 1: Heteronomous Moralilty - Obeying rules to not be punished
-Stage 2: Individualistic, Instrumental Morality - Follow rules if it is in their interest
Level 2: Conventional
-Stage 3: Interpersonally Normative Morality - Living up to expectations of those to
whom one is close
-Stage 4: Social System Morality - Social system is made of a consistent set of rules
and procedures equally
Level 3: Postconventional or Principled
-Stage 5: Human Rights and Social Welfare Morality - Rightness of laws are
evaluated to promote fundamental human rights and values
-Stage 6: Morality of Universalizable, Reversible, and Prescriptive General Ethical
(Evans, 2010)
Student affairs professionals' role is to help students understand their experiences and
to facilitate their learning so that they become effective contributors to their
communities
Student Leadership Programs (SLP) mission:
Program must:
-Provide students with opportunities to develop to enhance a personal philosophy of
leadership that includes understanding of self, others, and acceptance of
responsibilities inherent in community membership
Personal development should include:
-Connection of leadership to social identities and other dimensions of human
development,such as psychosocial cognitive moral and spiritual development
-SLPs must involve a diverse range of partners in the planning, delivering, and
assessment of programs and services
Institutional and External Relations
Student leadership programs must reach out to relevant individuals, groups, communities,
and organizations internal and external to the institution to:
-establish, maintain, and promote understanding and effective relations with those that have
a significant interest in or potential effect on the student or other constituents served by the
programs and services.
-Garner support and resources for programs and services defined by the mission statement
-Disseminate information about the programs and services
-collaborate, where appropriate, to assist an offering or improving programs and services to
meet the needs of students and other constituents and to achieve program and student
outcomes
-engage diverse individuals, groups, communities, and organizations to enrich the education
and expenses of students and other constituents
-evaluation, calibration, and recalibration should be done frequently
-SLP must have adequate fiscal human, professional development and technical resources to
develop and implement assessment plans.
"Service learning when embedded in curricular activities enables students to participate
in an organized activity that meets identified community needs and also advances their
educational experience by gaining a further understanding of course content, a broader
appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. As such,
service learning provides additional means for the instructors to help students reach the
course and academic program’s goals. Four elemental constituencies of service learning
programs have been identified: institution, faculty, students, and community. To create
an effective experience, these groups need to work together through a sequence of
activities, including planning and development, resource allocation, faculty and student
engagement, implementation, and evaluation."(Molnar, Ritz, Heller, Solecki 2011)
-Develop a committee with students, faculty and staff, and community members to
plan programs and service projects throughout the year
-Our program will consist of the following components:
-Social
-Community Service
-Educational
-Civic Engagement
-Partnering with local businesses
-Sustainability
-Marketing and Communications
-Carnival for the children of the community
-Book clubs for both students and community members to be active in
-College students plan after school activities at local schools
-live music nights
-holiday caroling around the community
-Cultural themed pot luck dinners
-Athletic events
-Trips to local attractions
-Adopt a block, community clean up
-Volunteering a certain day of the week at the local food pantry with both students and
community members
-Visiting and volunteering at the local nursing home
-Organized run/walk to raise money for a cause
-Habitat for Humanity Chapter
-Offer after school childcare and tutoring
Community Education is "..a process designed to enrich the lives of individuals and groups
by engaging with people living within a geographical area, or sharing a common interest, to
develop voluntarily a range of learning, action and reflection opportunities, determined by
their personal, social, economic and political needs." (CeVe 1990: 2)
While this definition of community education is written by Community Education Validation
and Endorsement (CeVe) based in Scotland, much of New England's history in higher
education is thanks to the traditions started first in Britain.
The list below is by no means comprehensive, but it does provide particular examples that
can be implemented by Sunnyvale University departments with help from the community
based on mutual needs for growth and understanding.
-After school development programs for kids still in school
-Adult Education classes
-Art and music education classes
-Partnering with the community or town's history group and Sunnyvale's liberal arts students
to have educational programs teaching about the community's history to Quaint New
England's Citizens
-College student mentorship programs for high school students considering college.
The importance of keeping all community members engaged cannot be stressed enough
if one is truly concerned about the community and its citizens. Therefore, keeping even
the temporary citizens of Quaint New England engaged is important as well, especially
if the community feels that these college students are causing problems in their
community. In this particular category of projects involving both the community and
Sunnyvale University, specific problems within the community will need to be
addressed, assessed and eventually solved.
One way to help address the specific issues that Quaint New England has, is to tap into
the Leadership department and the student leaders on campus. Sunnyvale and Quaint
New England can utilize the student leaders is to set up meetings with community
leaders and the local government representatives. In this way the students can actively
cooperate in the building of better relationships between the two groups and build a
better community.
Business mentoring — Giving students the opportunity to get involved in being in the
world of work and seeing how to be positive contributors to their communities and
economy
Internships & Projects — This gives students a hands-on learning opportunity and the
local businesses a source of cheap labor
Corporate Faculty — Using faculty knowledge to solve societal and economic
challenges can be beneficial as faculty typically leverage a higher level of knowledge,
being Subject Matter Experts.
Sustainability of the program will rely heavily on garnering the support of alumni, staff,
students and the community as well.
Exploring funding options such as grants and endowments would be highly beneficial.
When writing the request for proposal (RFP) it will be important for the grant writers to
demonstrate in laymans' terms the problem, why it matters, and describe the innovative
approach to handling the problem, namely; the Quaint Sunnyvale Collaboration
initiative.
To ensure continuity, buy in from all the stakeholders mentioned above must exist.
Ideally, even once the funding from the initial grant ends, the revenue generated from
gifts/donations, endowments and business partnerships in the community , should help
to keep the project alive and well.
Unfortunately, social media does not cure all woes with a one size fits all approach.
That being said, it is important to target a specific audience when using social media.
Marketing efforts should adapt to the principle:
Attract the consumer, create Interest in the consumer, develop that into desire within
the consumer, therefore hopefully ending with Action, (student following social media).
Communication efforts should be tailored to the various student and staff population
groups that exist. Making sure to include both tech savvy and more traditional
communication methods should be the priority. Communication efforts must not stop at
the boundaries of the institution. Rather, the community and alumni should be
contacted to play an integral function in participating in the Quaint Sunnyvale
Collaboration initiative.
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Molnar, C., Ritz, T., Heller, B., & Solecki, W. (2011). Using Higher Education-Community
Partnerships to Promote Urban Sustainability. Environment, 53(1), 18-28.
doi:10.1080/00139157.2011.539944
Ostrander, N., & Chapin-Hogue, S. (2011). Learning from Our Mistakes: An Autopsy of an
Unsuccessful University-Community Collaboration. Social Work Education, 30(4),
454-464. doi:10.1080/02615479.2010.504768
Smith, M. K. (1996). Scottish community education. Informal Education. Retrieved February 20,
2013, from http://www.infed.org/community/b-scotce.htm
Strier, R. (2011). The construction of university-community partnerships: entangled perspectives.
Higher Education, 62(1), 81-97. doi:10.1007/s10734-010-9367-x