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New York Campus Compact Weekly

June 8, 2012

In This Issue:
1- Gary Welborn, Buffalo State College Finalist for Ehrlich Award 2- Congratulations to NYS Newman Fellows 4- Why Students Matter 5- Campus Election Intern Needed 6- Frontiers of Democracy 6- Presidents Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge 6- IES Grant Opportunities 7- NYCC Seeking VISTA Leader 8- NYCC Faculty Institute

Buffalo State College Sociologist, Dr. Gary Welborn, Finalist for Prestigious National Award
Dr. Gary Welborn was named one of four national finalists for the prestigious Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award. Self-described as having one foot in the community and one foot on the campus, Welborn brings over 20 years as a community activist to his role as a faculty member at Buffalo State College. His record of accomplishments is impressive. His community organizing efforts in his neighborhood on the West Side of Buffalo during the early 1990s laid the foundation for a successful 1998 grant application for a Community Outreach Partnership Center grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The COPC grant supported faculty community-based research projects and student internships and served to increase the legitimacy of community engagement on campus. In 2003 Welborn received a Learn and Serve grant from the Corporation for National & Community Service to establish the Colleges Volunteer and Service Learning Center (VSLC). The grant supported faculty to convert existing courses to servicelearning and then implement those courses. Since 2003 Welborn has mentored over 80 faculty members as Community Service Faculty Fellows. Now every semester Buffalo State Colleges VSLC places 900 1000 students who are enrolled in over 30 courses. Dr. Dennis Ponton, Provost at Buffalo State College, says of Welborns work, The passion and commitment Dr. Welborn brings to campus-community interactions has, in the past fifteen years or so, changed the culture and nature of Buffalo StateDr. Welborns community work has been a consistent catalyst for other faculty research, scholarship, and service [and] a major reason that the College has also begun broader discussions on the concepts of community and civic engagement. Welborn simply describes his work to build a robust community-college relationship as a calling.

Upcoming Events:
June 14, 2012: 2012 New York Campus Compact and St. Johns University Faculty Institute October 11-12, 2012: The Second Annual Eastern Region Campus Compact Conference: Promoting Clear Pathways to Civic Engagement, hosted by Dartmouth College

Congratulations Dr. Welborn! New York Campus Compact is proud of your work!

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The Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award recognizes one senior faculty member (post-tenure or middleto-late career at institutions without tenure) each year. Honorees (who must be affiliated with a Campus Compact member institution) are recognized for exemplary engaged scholarship, including leadership in advancing students civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal community partnerships, building institutional commitments to service-learning and civic engagement, and other means of enhancing higher educations contributions to the public good. The award previously known as the Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for ServiceLearning is named in honor of Thomas Ehrlich, former chair of the Campus Compact board of directors and president emeritus of Indiana University. The 2012 Ehrlich Award recipient is Dr. Andrew Furco, University of Minnesota The other national finalists are: Peter Bortolotti, Johnson & Wales University (RI) Associate Professor of Marketing Gabriel Garcia, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine (CA) Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean for Medical School Admissions Stephen (Steve) Philion, St. Cloud State University (MN) Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Director of the Saint Cloud State University Faculty Research Group on Immigrant Workers in Minnesota

New York State Students Named 2012 Newman Civic Fellows!

The Newman Civic Fellows Award honors inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country. Through service, research, and advocacy, Newman Civic Fellows are making the most of their college experiences to better understand themselves, the root causes of social issues, and effective mechanisms for creating lasting change. These students represent the next generation of public problem solvers and civic leaders. They serve as national examples of the role that higher education canand doesplay in building a better world. Newman Civic Fellows are recommended by college and university presidents to acknowledge motivation and ability in public leadership. Newman Civic Fellows awards are made in memory of Frank Newman, who dedicated his life to creating systemic change through education reform. Frank Newmans leadership was selfless, optimistic, and determined, spanning an incredible career of more than five decades. At the core of Dr. Newmans leadership was a belief in the power of individuals to make a difference and in the power of connection with others. Newman Civic Fellows form a unique network of leaders who will inspire and keep hope alive for one another during college and afterward, as the network expands exponentially each year. Frank Newman had a tremendous impact on American education and its role in the development of citizens who want to make a difference. The Newman Civic Fellows are reflections and affirmations of his lifes work. New York Campus Compact is very proud of these students and their continued hard work. We will be highlighting each of the Fellows in our next few NYCC Weekly Newsletters but you can read more about their work here. Congratulations to:

Karim Abouelnaga, Cornell University Akosuah Agyei, The College of New Rochelle Raphael Durand, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Kevin Ferreira, Wagner College Anna Graves, Skidmore College Hallie Greenberg, Bard College Willa Skeehan, Dominican University Elizabeth Stoltz, Ithaca College

2012 Newman Fellow Karim Abouelnaga from Cornell University

Karim Abouelnaga, a junior at Cornell University, is an entrepreneurial student who founded the nonprofit organization Practice Makes Perfect (PMP) Inc. Aiming to narrow the achievement gap within inner-city communities, he launched a pilot program in Queens that paired 32 under-achieving 4th-graders with 16 high-achieving 9th-graders under the supervision of college interns. He raised over $13,000 to launch this pilot, and then increased reading and math scores on state exams by 4% and 6% respectively. Karim is co-chair of Ithakids and Black Students United, and is leading the resurrection of Students To Unite Cornell, which aims to unite students of all races. He mentors a firstgeneration college student through Scholars Working Ambitiously to Graduate. Karim even improved outreach at the LIFE Foundation, a nonprofit that educates people on the importance of life insurance. Abouelnaga has seen and experienced the effects of inequality, and as the first student from his family to graduate from high school and attend college, he is determined to narrow the achievement gap and increase opportunities for others.

Congratulations Karim!!

2012 Newman Fellow Akosuah Agyei from The College of New Rochelle
Akosuah Agyei embarked on a fundraising mission through Model United Nations to help Ghanaian women who cannot afford surgical costs. She volunteered at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, educating and preparing women with obstetric fistula for surgery. Last June, she established a summer camp for young girls in the West Virginia Appalachians. Akosuah offered an educational experience to the campers who sometimes didnt have enough food to eat on a given day. She plans to offer another camp experience this summer for these young girls living in abject poverty.

Congratulations Akosuah!!

Why College Students Matter

By: Rabbi Abraham Unger, Ph.D.,Co-Chair, Faith and Public Policy Roundtable http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-abraham-unger-phd/why-college-students-matter_b_1476565.html
Sometimes what falls under the radar is where the real change is happening. While America has expressed a clear yearning for social change since the recession began in 2008, the focus of that change has been both divisively partisan and elusive. Is it the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street, and what do each of these protest movements actually claim as a detailed policy platform? Is it a vague sense of moderately progressive legislation as in President Obama's healthcare plan, or an increasingly rigid rightism in the current Republican stance on just about anything, both of which result somehow, Democrat and Republican alike, in closed door negotiated deals, with lots of pork between the lines, foisted upon the American people. The bottom line is that change is not happening in Washington no matter the seeming urgency of our never-ending news cycle or a presidential campaign getting into full gear. Real change is happening on the ground in a place ironically considered by much of America to be a universe apart: college. In tangible ways, the American university is challenging the social selfishness that has come to dominate our civic life. While it is well documented that Americans have become increasingly apathetic toward community involvement, a quiet but steady national movement is underway to send armies of undergraduate students out into the fields of their colleges' neighborhoods to volunteer and create social change based on local needs. This is bipartisan, it is on the street, and it is happening in practical ways every single day. Almost 1,200 American colleges and universities are members of Campus Compact, a national organization driving our higher education institutions to organize student participation in local civic life. Students are strategically being placed in community organizations to fill traditional volunteer roles or collect data in behalf of local social service and economic development agencies. Why is this important? Just think about the implications. More than a thousand colleges across the country are sending their enthusiastic, energetic, committed young people into the field to staff our local civic institutions such as food pantries or youth organizations. Or maybe, these young people are conducting surveys of local business districts to measure their interest in going green or developing a public private partnership. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of our next generation of taxpayers are being trained in citizenship, the kind of active, experienced, participatory citizenship of which our Founding Fathers dreamt. These same young people are also staffing desperate non-profits seeking extra hands or providing data for strapped agencies. It's a win-win on the institutional level. But something deeper is going on too. A diverse array of neighborhood leaders, residents and students often arriving at college from someplace else are all working organically in teams to uncover and recover local assets in their universities' communal backyards. Executive Director Dr. Laurie Worrall of the New York branch of Campus Compact says, "Community involvement is not just transforming higher education; it's vital for the future of our democracy." Here's an example: At Wagner College in New York City where I teach, students are sent to a neighboring immigrant community called Port Richmond to volunteer and fulfill community service requirements embedded into their coursework over the four years of their college education. Port Richmond is a disadvantaged community redeveloping its commercial strip with Mom and Pop businesses while fighting historic inner city challenges in the arenas of education, crime and healthcare. Our students are making a genuine difference. They and the neighborhood together are becoming a seamless force for social change block by block, issue by issue. On top of this people-driven force area agencies are meeting regularly to think through Port Richmond's basic needs and develop synergistic agendas for implementation of their own programs. An emergent "Port Richmond Partnership" is now a coalition that can, in a strategically unified way, speak to local government and foundations.
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This is how smart, long term policy gets generated, and this kind of activity, under the radar of much of America, is getting noticed by Washington. Wagner College President Dr. Richard Guarasci recently talked about the Port Richmond Partnership at The White House. The idea that our youngest voters can make a change on the ground has caught the ear of our most influential political decision makers. The U.S. Department of Education even supported a major study on university student civic engagement that came out this year. This report, called "A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy's Future," encourages American institutions of higher education to keep on developing local community involvement by their students, not just because it's good for students, but because it's good for American democracy. Eboo Patel and Mary Gross of Interfaith Youth Core write that "Americans are living in a civic recession." We are a fragmented, uninvolved nation. What's the cure? Caring, involved citizens working on political, social and economic problems collaboratively. How do we do that? By immersing our young in the American tradition of an engaged civic life as they embark upon their own independent citizenship. And by having them help to realize the ambitions and needs of their communities' own neighborhood assets. This is not about ideology. It is about democracy being lived out on our sidewalks. It is about the great project of American citizenship that fundamentally speaks out against institutionalized influence and stands up for local empowerment. So change is underfoot but it is not happening far away in the halls of power. It is happening in our towns and cities, here and there, more and more. It is a constant and it is growing in volume and impact. This is a story of social change that deserves to be known, offering hope the American project can be constantly renewed and retooled for our children's present and future.

"Community involvement is not just transforming higher education; it's vital for the future of our democracy." - Dr. Laurie Worrall, Executive Director, New York Campus Compact

Campus Election Project Intern Needed

Do you know any organized and energetic students who could intern with our Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP)? As you may have heard, New York Campus Compact is participating in the Campus Election Engagement Project, the non-partisan project launched in 2008 to help college and university faculty, administrators, and staff get their students involved in the election, helping them register, volunteer, learn about the issues, and turn out at the polls. Due to recent remapping of state congressional districts, New York faces an interesting election season. Working with CEEP, NYCC campuses can mobilize our students to better understand our democratic election process and the important issues we face. CEEP Advisory Board member (and former National Communications Association associate director Sherry Morreale) just thought of another way you could help--by offering independent study credit for students who'd intern with the project and perhaps write a reflection paper. If you or any colleagues know any energetic, responsible and self-starting grad students (or really organized undergrads) who might want to work with NYCC in engaging schools this summer or fall, and if youre willing to give them academic credit in return, please get back to us. Contact us at nycc@cornell.edu or have the student get in touch directly with a resume or letter that will convey a sense of their relevant background and time-availability in summer and fall. Well then talk with potential candidates and do our best to plug them in. More information is available here

For more information, please visit: http://www.nycampuscompact.org/news.html

President's Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge

The White House has launched a second year of the Presidents Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge with a special invitation to a national convening for all higher education institutions committed to advancing interfaith cooperation on campus. Please save the date on July 9-10, 2012 when colleges and universities will come together to celebrate the successes of the inaugural year and to formally launch the second year of the Presidents Challenge. To indicate your campus interest in the second year of the Presidents Challenge and receive more information about the July 9-10 gathering, please fill out this form and submit it to edpartners@ed.gov.

Frontiers of Democracy
What: Pedagogies of the Street In the Classroom When: Thursday, July 19, 2012 from 8:30 am to 3 pm What: Frontiers of Democracy II: Innovations in Civic Practice, Theory, and Education When: July 19 at 5 pm to July 21, at 1 pm, 2012 Where: Tufts University downtown campus

Sponsors: the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, The Deliberative Democracy Consortium, and The Democracy Imperative
To read about last years Frontiers and to learn more about Frontiers II and Pedagogies, click here.

Available IES Grant Opportunities

The Institute of Education Sciences has announced the availablility of several grant opportunities focused on education research. Deadline: September 20, 2012. Among others, these include: Program Announcement: Postsecondary and Adult Education Research CFDA 84.305A The Postsecondary and Adult Education topic supports research to improve the reading, writing, and numeracy skills of learners in adult education programs; the enhancement of targeted learning outcomes of postsecondary students; and the increase in access to, persistence in, and completion of postsecondary education. The long-term outcome of this research will be an array of tools and strategies (e.g., practices, assessments, programs, policies) that have been documented to be effective for improving education outcomes of adult learners (i.e., students at least 16 years old and outside of the K12 system) and postsecondary students at the college level. Program Announcement: Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Education Research CFDA 84.305H The Institute has established the Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Education Research (Research Partnership) grant program (CFDA 84.305H) with the intention of funding partnerships composed of research institutions and State or local education agencies. These partnerships are to identify an education issue with important implications for improving student achievement that is of high priority for the education agency, carry out initial data analyses regarding the education issue, and develop a plan for further research on the issue culminating in an application to one of the Institute's research grant programs. The ultimate goal of the partnerships is to conduct research that that has direct implications for improving programs, processes, practices or policies that will result in improved student outcomes. To ensure a full partnership, each organization involved in the partnership will provide at least one Principal Investigator (or Co-Principal Investigator) to the partnership and the Principal or Co-Principal Investigator from the education agency is to have decision-making authority regarding the issue to be examined. The Institute expects the grantee to provide the following at the end of a Research Partnership project: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A description of the partnership as developed over the course of the grant. A description of the education issue addressed by the partnership. The results of the completed initial data analyses of administrative data. The results from any additional data collections and/or analyses. A fully developed application, ready for submission to one of the Institute's grant competitions, to support the partnership in carrying out further research on the issue. 6. Recommendations for how the partnership could be maintained over the longer term. 7. Lessons learned from developing the partnership that could be used by others in forming such partnerships.

NYCC is Seeking a VISTA Leader

New York Campus Compact is seeking a dynamic VISTA Leader to support and enhance current VISTA programming for our 14-member team. New York Campus Compact has been partnering with the AmeriCorps VISTA Program since 2003 in order to assist member campuses in developing deep, meaningful campus/community partnerships. VISTAs play pivotal roles in helping colleges and universities address community needs, develop leadership among their students, and improve collaborations between the institution and the community. The VISTA Leader's duties include: Providing ongoing support of current VISTA members Coordinating and implementing training opportunities for VISTA members (including 3 conferences and a webinar series) Supporting the development of a new community-based VISTA program by completing research and developing marketing materials Enhancing relationships with NYCC VISTA Alumni by coordinating alumni networking events Develop an alumni database Implement a new mentoring program whereby current VISTA members are matched with NYCC VISTA alumni Required Qualifications: 1 year of previous experience serving as an Americorps VISTA Bachelors degree Community service experience Strong oral and written communication skills Strong organizational and computer skills Motivated, independent worker Valid drivers license Desired functions and qualifications: Comfortable public speaking Event planning and program management Volunteer management experience Experience working with nonprofit organizations

Additional Benefits : NYCCs VISTA Leader will receive a bi-weekly living allowance totaling $13,524 over the course of the year. We are also pleased to offer a generous housing subsidy of $3,600! Upon successful completion, choose either an education award of $5,550 to use toward educational loans or future educational expenses or a cash stipend of $3,000. The VISTA Leader may put any qualifying loans in forbearance during the term of service; any accrued interest will be paid off by AmeriCorps at the end of the term. Health insurance and workers compensation are provided at no extra cost, and there are numerous professional development opportunities. Term of service for NYCCs VISTA Leader is June 2012 to June 2013.

2012 New York Campus Compact and St. Johns University Faculty Institute with Dr. Edward Zlotkowski
June 14, 2012 Bent Hall St. Johns University

OBJECTIVES:
To explore or deepen your understanding of the academic service-learning pedagogy To design or re-design your course outline to include an academic service-learning component To identify ways to build a community partnership

What participants said about the 2011 Faculty Institute:

"The poster activity was very, very helpful! Its always wonderful to get peer feedback" "Inspiring!" "It was wonderful to be mentored by such exceptional scholars!" "Kudos to Edward Zlotkowski. This has been a fantastic gathering of creative and caring minds and souls!"

FEES:
NYCC Members: $65 per person Non-members: $100 per person

Registration Ends On Tuesday, June 12th

Register Now

Educating Citizens, Building Communities

New York Campus Compact 95 Brown Road, Box 1006 Ithaca, NY 14850 607-255-2366 www.nycampuscompact.org