Sustaining Successful Civic Engagement- Campus and Community Initiatives

Learn and Serve America’sNational Service-Learning [email protected]

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Sustaining Successful Civic Engagement-Campus and Community Initiatives

Devorah Lieberman, Ph.D.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Wagner College

[email protected]

Cass Freedland, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Leadership and Service

Wagner College

[email protected]

Pat Tooker

Acting Chair, Nursing Department

Wagner College

[email protected]


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Overview of this Webinar:

I. Difficulties in Sustaining Civic Engagement Broadly and Deeply

II. Wagner College- Civic Innovations

III. Next Steps- Civic Innovations: Port Richmond Partnership

IV. Securing campus commitment- Upper Administration, faculty, staff, student


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Difficulties in Sustaining Civic Engagement Broadly and Deeply

• Campus– Faculty do not always teach

same courses– Student participation

episodic– Individual faculty

commitment/not departmental

– Do not have on-going connection with agency

• Community– Agencies do not know

developmental/academic level of students

– Agencies do not know if/when/how long/which students are coming

– Agencies do not know expectations of institution


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Common Pitfalls for Both Institution and Agency:

• Lack of communication prior to the term beginning

• Lack of communication during the term

• Lack of communication after the term ends

• Lack of ongoing communication between terms


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Students Most Common Frustrations:

• Do not know how the civic engagement activity connects to the course content

• Do not know what is expected from the professor or the agency

• There is not enough follow up or reflection in the agency or in the class

• There is not understanding of purpose


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Institutional Pitfalls:

• The institutional administration says that civic engagement is important but does not support the process

• The faculty participate but do not have the financial or the developmental support

• The promotion and tenure process does not recognize this work


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How Wagner College Addressed these Issues, Frustrations and Pitfalls:

• Upper Administration with two academic departments (Nursing and Political Science) designed a model that:

– Created “Community Connected Departments”

– Created “Department Connected Agencies”

– Created on going and consistent student placement with agencies

– Created deeper student commitment to civic engagement and civic leadership


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How Wagner College Addressed these Issues, Frustrations and Pitfalls:

– Increased trust and respect between Community Connected Departments and Department Connected Agencies

– Embedded these activities into the promotion and tenure process

– Received funding from Learn & Serve added legitimacy

(Continued)


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T H E W A G N E R P L A N

WAGNER'S MISSION:

Wagner College prepares students for life, as well as for careers, by emphasizing scholarship, achievement, leadership, and citizenship.

Wagner offers a comprehensive educational program that is anchored in the liberal arts, experiential and co-curricular learning, interculturalism, interdisciplinary studies, and service to society, and that is cultivated by a faculty dedicated to promoting individual expression, reflective practice, and integrative learning.

- Approved by the Trustees and the Faculty, May 2003

10Learn and Serve America’sNational Service-Learning Clearinghouse


• Throughout the undergraduate Wagner Plan the emphasis is on interdisciplinarity- reflection- experiential learning/civic engagement

T H E W A G N E R P L A N



The overriding question became:

“How can Wagner College, through the Wagner Plan, serve

the Staten Island community more effectively?”

T H E W A G N E R P L A N and Civic Engagement


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Existing Community Need- At-Risk Youth

Staten Island youth are in crisis:

– 16% drop-out rate

– One-fourth of all city youth (16-24 years old) remain unemployed

– Over 200,000 youth (16-24 years old) do not attend any educational institution

– Youth from low-income families most at-risk for non-completion


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The adolescents that are documented and considered “at-risk”.

Staten Island is the only borough in NYC where juvenile crime rates

are escalating:

– Substance abuse

– Gambling

– Graffiti

– Gang involvement

At-Risk Youth:



This population is also vulnerable to poor health outcomes:

– Teen pregnancy

– STD’s

– Smoking/Alcohol Use

– Obesity/Eating Disorders

– Trauma/Unintentional injuries

At-Risk Youth:



At-Risk Youth:

Many more undocumented youth have a cultural divide

preventing full access to community resources



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Civic Innovations was created to:

• More effectively address the needs of Staten Island youth• Create ongoing opportunities for students• Meet the needs of the agencies• Engage the campus more broadly and more deeply• Increase the students’ commitment to civic engagement• Engage students from freshman through senior years• Create continuity and consistency in agencies from semester to

semester• Provide greater opportunities for faculty scholarship, service to the

institution, and embedding civic engagement into pedagogy and student learning



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Two Components:

– Curricular

– Community Connection

Civic Innovations- the Building Blocks:



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Curricular

Add 2 additional departments each year

(6 academic departments over 3 years)

One “Community Connected Department”One “Community Connected Department”

+ + One “Department Connected Agency”One “Department Connected Agency”

= = Three-Year PartnershipThree-Year Partnership



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Faculty in one department + Department Connected Agency

Courses with learning outcomes in the discipline and connected to youth

and community needs.

Four courses spanning the frosh through senior year levels (within a

major).

Curricular



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Department-Community

• Community Connected Departments• Nursing

• Business

• Political Science

• Education

• History

• Sociology/Anthropology

• Department Connected Agencies• United Activities Unlimited

• YMCA

• Project Hospitality

• New York City Public Schools (on Staten Island)

• African Refuge Center/ PS 57

• Community Health Action



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Example: Nursing Department- United Activities Unlimited

• Freshmen- Tutoring after school at PS 18 (UAU school)

• Sophomores- Community Health assessment with nurses in UAU associated schools

• Juniors- Health programs in schools associated with UAU

• Seniors- Health clinics in UAU related schools (underserved areas)



Curricular – Year 1

Example: Nursing – United Activities Unlimited (UAU)

Tutoring in an After School Program-Student Reflection:

“Before I went to PS 18, I thought experiential learning was just going to be a job where I went, basically, because I had to. I just wanted to clock-in and clock-out as

fast as possible. However, when I went to PS 18 my thoughts about the experience were COMPLETELY altered. I had such a great time and really connected with the

kids. Now I realize that experiential learning is…for me to impact the lives of these

kids…and is also for them to, in turn, impact me.”



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Wagner Center for Leadership and Service

• Seminars

• Summer Symposia

• Publications

• Community-based research

• Links College and community

• Faculty Development

Civic Innovations Support


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Civic Innovations Assessment• Faculty Interviews

• Community partner interviews

• Student interviews

• Student focus groups

• Observations of students in community settings

• Review of student work samples

• Interviews with Wagner College administrative staff

• Student surveys



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Results To Date

A majority of students reported:

* More comfortable in diverse communities.

* A stronger sense of personal responsibility.

* Their community-based experiences should be a standard part of college course work.

* 62% of students report their CI experience helped them understand course content and apply knowledge to address community issues.

* 78% of students report they believe community based experiences should be a standard part of college course work.



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* 70% of CI students report that community experience helped them learn effective communication strategies in community settings.

* 58% of CI students reported that the community experience helped them become more comfortable with diverse communities.

* 58% of CI students report that they are more able to engage in community problem solving as a result of their community experience.

* 64% of CI students report having a stronger sense of personal responsibility for the health of youth on SI.

* 46% of CI students reported volunteering prior to the community based course experience.

* 55% of CI students report that they will continue to work in the community after this community connected course experience.

Results To Date(Continued)



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Next Phase-Civic Innovations: Port Richmond Partnership

• Community Connected Departments

• Department Connected Agencies

• One geographic region in need

• Topical neighborhood needs

• Assessment

• Sustainability



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Securing Campus Commitment- Upper Administration, Faculty, Staff, Student

• Upper Administration- Help design, support financially, support in promotion and tenure

• Faculty- Connect to discipline, help design, include in promotion and tenure

• Staff- Help design, connect to professional portfolio

• Student- Help design, connect to academics, provide purpose



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Sustaining Civic Engagement Community University Partnerships

• Critical Elements:• Administrative-Faculty-Community Partner collaboration• Engage Community Connected Departments• Engage Department Connected Agencies• Linking Community Outcomes (identified by community

members) with Student Learning Outcomes (identified by course faculty)

• Faculty Development• Consistent ongoing communication between departments-

agencies-administration• Expect the unexpected, have humor, have patience, be well

intentioned



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NSLC Resources

Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning in Higher Education (Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse)http://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=7120 Hot Topic: Sustainability / Institutionalization (Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse) http://www.servicelearning.org/page/index.php?detailed=326 Institutional Structures for Service-Learning In Higher Education (Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse)http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/he_facts/inst_structure/

Look for the link to the recording of this webinar as well as future podcasts on the Higher Education Sector Page:http://www.servicelearning.org/hehome/index.php



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Other Resources

Lasting Engagement: Building and Sustaining a Commitment to Community Outreach, Development, and Collaboration -- Springfield Collegehttp://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/?library_id=5120 SAFE Models of Civic Engagement: Sustaining Service Learninghttp://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/?library_id=7444 Scholarship for Sustaining Service-Learning and Civic Engagementhttp://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/?library_id=8244 Strategies for Creating an Engaged Campus: An Advanced Service-Learning Toolkit for Academic Leadershttp://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=8525 Sustaining Civic Engagement: Faculty Development, Roles, and Rewardshttp://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=7799

Documents

Sustaining Successful Civic Engagement- Campus and Community Initiatives