Grand Valley: Service Learning Network Spotlights GVSU Service Learning Network Spotlights http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/ Tue, 21 May 2013 06:53:34 EST Grand Valley: Service Learning Network Spotlights http://www.gvsu.edu/images/rsslogo.gif http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/ 112 33 Mason earns MCC award (2012)


Original Source: GVNow



The Michigan Campus Compact named Dr. Julia Mason, assistant professor of women and gender studies, the Grand Valley recipient of its Community Service Learning Award.



Mason received the award at MCC’s 2012 Institute, held in late January in East Lansing. Presidents from each MCC member institution nominate a faculty member for the award that recognizes outstanding service learning and community engagement.



Mason has been instrumental in developing and helping lead the Women’s Community Collaborative, a unique course that combines classroom theory with service-learning opportunities for students. The course, sponsored by WGS and the Women’s Center, is offered each winter semester.



“Our WCC students have served more than 6,000 hours of service,” Mason said.



She is also a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Executive Planning Committee and co-chaired the Day of Service; this year, participants volunteered in honor of King and civil rights leader Gloria Richardson.



Mason said she was exposed to service learning as an undergraduate student, when she spent a semester helping in a school for Lakota children. “I learned so much from that experience,” she said.



“As a faculty member, I’m always looking at course content and trying to offer opportunities for students to be engaged in their communities in new ways that are sustainable and mutually beneficial.”



Grand Valley’s Community Service Learning Center helped nominate Mason for the MCC award.


]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=53C40C33-B1C9-C40F-6646C6E8FA61A225 Presidential Community Service Honor Roll 2009-2010


Grand Valley receives Presidential recognition for community service




Students participate in Alternative Spring Break

Students participate in Alternative Spring Break



February 26, 2010



 



Grand Valley State University has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll With Distinction. The selection to the Honor Roll is recognition from the highest levels of the federal government for commitment to service and civic engagement.



More than 700 colleges and universities were named to the Honor Roll, with 115 receiving “distinction.” Institutions were picked for their scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.



Grand Valley joins four other state institutions in this recognition: Delta College, Kalamazoo College, Michigan State University and University of Michigan.



The Corporation for National and Community Service oversees the Honor Roll award along with the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.



For more information contact GVSU News and Information Services at (616) 331-2221.



ShareThis



For More Information Contact: Dottie Barnes

616-331-2221


Courtesy of GVNow

]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=578573CB-E558-6C6E-378366C9E8CB58B1 Civic Studio Featured







 

 
 
 



































In 2008, Grand Valley State University was named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.



Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.



The Honor Roll recognizes colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The awards were announced February 9, at the 91st annual meeting of the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C.



"At Grand Valley State University, faculty and students understand that service learning forms an important bridge between theory and practice, and that building strong communities is a shared responsibility. I'm proud that Grand Valley's commitment to sharing our collective time and talents with the community has been recognized nationally with our inclusion on the Community Service Honor Roll," said Grand Valley President Thomas J. Haas.



The Honor Roll is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.



“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute Grand Valley State University for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”



Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members.  In total, 635 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.



The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.

]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=575A3F34-B0A8-C82D-0AA7DC1D21422ECE Presidential Service Learning Scholars 2009-2010


Presidential Service Learning Scholars announced



Faculty members who were named Presidential Service Learning Scholars are pictured with Provost Gayle R. Davis and President Thomas J. Haas following a reception in the Kirkhof Center.


Faculty members who were named Presidential Service Learning Scholars are pictured with Provost Gayle R. Davis and President Thomas J. Haas following a reception in the Kirkhof Center.




November 16, 2009



 



Faculty members were honored as Presidential Service Learning Scholars during a reception on November 11 in the Kirkhof Center.





They are Melissa Baker-Boosamra, libreral studies; Charlene Beckmann, mathematics; Kevin den Dulk, political science; Julia Mason, women and gender studies; Diane Rayor, Classics; Marilyn Vander Werf, nursing; Katalin Zasalavik, art and design; Ryan Wyble, therapeutic recreation; and Danielle Wiese Leek, communications.





Faculty members are nominated by their department chairs and chosed for incorporating service learning into their current curriculum. This program is sponsored by the Community Service Learning Center, Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership.

 



For More Information Contact: Michele Coffill

616-331-2221



Courtesy of GVNow


]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=577B7F03-C5A7-632C-C0C3FBA6C55A52DD GVSU Women's Community Collaborative 2011-08-06 13:46:02.0


The Women's Community Collaborative (WCC) is a comprehensive service learning partnership between the Women and Gender Studies Program, the GVSU Women's Center, and a number of community non-profit organizations which provide services to women and/or children.  The program is in its sixth year, and recently received the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) silver medal award for its achievement in creating high-impact learning experiences for students.



WCC students enroll in a 3-credit class (WGS 492), taught by Women and Gender Studies faculty member Dr. Julia Mason, in which they learn about nonprofit management and feminist leadership theory.  Internship coordinator and Associate Director of the GVSU Women's Center Jo Ann Wassenaar conducts interest interviews with each WCC student, and places students at internship sites that best match their interests and working styles.  Reflection-based discussions in class sessions encourage students to engage with each other to identify areas of similarity and difference between their respective internship sites and to recognize how concepts from class readings and discussions apply to practice in the field.



Each WCC student works with her or his organization supervisor to develop learning goals and outcomes, as well as job expectations and responsibilities.  The collaborative nature of the this process helps to ensure that the over-arching learning outcomes of the course are personalized to meet the needs and interests of the student and community organization.  Many WCC partner agencies have been involved with the program for several years, and as such have a shared understanding of the goals and intentions of the program.  This continuity of intern involvement is also beneficial to partner organizations, as they know they can depend upon a quality internship student each year.  Jo Ann Wassenaar continues to provide training and orientation for intern supervisors, and maintains contact with these individuals throughout the course of the internship program to monitor the progress of WCC interns.



The WCC program has benefitted students and community partner organizations alike.  Since the program began in 2005, WCC students have contributed over 6,000 hours of service to community organizations.  The internship experience has yielded tangible benefits for students, as many have gone on to contined employment with their internship sites, and others have translated their internship experiences to AmeriCorps national service terms or graduate study in related fields.  For many students, the WCC program has represented a "transformational experience" which has given them direction and motivation which has shaped the remainder of their undergraduate studies, as well as their future endeavors.


]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=41D6863F-A399-DE7D-CF43E20860091D67 Baker-Boosamra receives MCC Award (2010) 2010-02-16 21:26:52.0


Melissa Baker-Boosamra received a service-learning award from the Michigan Campus Compact. February 10, 2010 Melissa Baker-Boosamra, Grand Valley affiliate professor of liberal studies, received a community service-learning award from the Michigan Campus Compact during a ceremony in Traverse City on February 9. Baker-Boosamra, who also serves as faculty internship/practicum supervisor, was nominated as the person on Grand Valley's campus who has made the most outstanding contributions in service-learning and community service. MCC presents Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Awards to individuals in higher education roles across the state who have made the most outstanding contributions at their campuses. Baker-Boosamra¿s course, "Sustainability in Practice," allows a group of students to deeply explore the idea of sustainability through readings and dialogue, while engaging in 120 hours of community service projects that support that investigation, over the course of the semester. Students have worked with Blandford Nature Center's Mixed Greens Program, Grand Rapids Public School's C.A. Frost Environmental Science Academy, the local economic development organization Local First!, and the F.A.I.R. fair trade coalition. Steve Glass, associate dean of the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, said Baker-Boosamra's courses "represent high impact learning and engagement that is the hallmark of service learning." She has written a chapter in a book, "Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Through Service Learning," that details her interdisciplinary approach to service learning. "Students really shine when they are given the opportunity to dig deeply into an issue, understand their relationship to it, and respond through thoughtful action in the community," Baker-Boosamra said. "They are empowered as students and as citizens. It's beautiful." MCC has 42 member campuses. The coalition is comprised of college and university presidents who are committed to fulfilling the public purposes of higher education. ShareThis For More Information Contact: Michele Coffill 616-331-2221 Courtesy of GVNow


]]> http://www.gvsu.edu/servicelearning/module-spotlight-view.htm?entryId=81625AAE-D3E0-AD6D-8A3EE411C85533F5