13 minute read
First Beacom Research Fellows Reflect on Learning Opportunities
First BEACOM RESEARCH FELLOWS
Reflect On Learning Opportunities
| BY KEELEY MEIER ‘20
Poppinga with Active Generations President & CEO Gerald Beninga and Director of Programming Nancy Wehrkamp
Agenerous donation from Lisa and Miles Beacom in February allowed Augustana students the chance to conduct impactful, hands-on research while better serving the Sioux Falls community.
Charlotte (Berg) Poppinga ‘21, Annie Olson ‘22, Grace Bucklin ‘22 and Gedion Alemayehu ‘23 had the opportunity to be the first Beacom Research Fellows. The 2-year pilot program, which is part of the Augustana Research Institute, made it possible for organizations with limited resources to access research, analytics and field-specific expertise in operations and data management.
Poppinga is a sociology major with an emphasis in family & community services and minoring in psychology and children & youth. The Rock Rapids, Iowa, native worked with Active Generations, researching aging trends as the non-profit organization prepares for the next generation of older adults. With a new location planned for the east side of Sioux Falls, the organization sought to understand the challenges they face and how the population is changing.
Poppinga, along with the other fellows, first went through the process of obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and then began her project in March. After interviewing Active Generations staff members, she drafted a “scope of work” document, performed a literature review, contacted neighboring senior centers and began her rough draft. After the draft was finalized, Poppinga presented her findings to the organization’s Board of Trustees.
“Honestly, I am so glad that I got to experience this because undergraduates in social science fields don’t have many opportunities to actually do research,” Poppinga said.
Gerald Beninga, president & CEO of Active Generations, said that Poppinga’s research was not only helpful for their organization, but requested by similar organizations throughout the country.
“Charlotte’s research of our current programming and services, her contact with similar organizations in the United States and the analysis of the research was outstanding,” Beninga said. “Her detailed report helped support the design of our architectural process in evaluating a second location.”
Before becoming a Beacom Fellow, Poppinga had planned to pursue a career in social work for child protective services. Working with Active Generations, however, led her in a new direction.
“I definitely didn’t think that I wanted to go down a research path,” Poppinga said. “I really enjoyed putting all this work together and presenting it. And, now, I’m thinking of getting my master’s degree in gerontology. This may have totally changed my career path.”
Olson had a similar career-altering experience with her research. The psychology major, who is minoring in biology and business administration, worked with the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative, a group formed to address funding and workforce issues for child care providers.
“Being a part of this made me realize I really like research, but I also really like working in the community,” Olson said. “In the future, I’m excited to work with different people and help solve issues. Being a fellow made me sure that I want to pursue maternal and child health tracks in a public health program.”
Olson, who worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire, Sioux Empire United Way and Sioux Falls Thrive, looked at what issues exist with the child care system locally, how those issues could be solved and how to garner support from local philanthropic and business sectors in the community.
“The cost of child care for any kid — birth to age five — is close to $10,000 a year,” Olson said. “The median wage for an average Sioux Falls resident is around $39,000 a year. So, if one parent is paying for that, that would be close to a fourth of their income. And, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, child care is supposed to cost no more than 7% of a person’s income.”
Christina Riss, Sioux Empire United Way’s community impact director, said that the pandemic further highlighted the challenges that exist within the child care industry. Riss worked closely with Olson to provide insight into Sioux Falls’ challenges.
“With a greater understanding of this local data, United Way is hopeful that additional opportunities will be identified to ensure quality child care remains accessible for all families in need of such services,” Riss said of Olson’s research.
Olson echoed Poppinga’s thoughts that undergraduate social science fields, such as psychology, don’t garner the same number of research opportunities as other fields. She said she is grateful for the Beacoms’ donation and hopes it will inspire others to invest.
“It’s definitely worth applying,” Olson said. “It’s a really good experience, and it was eye-opening to see that there are these real people who funded and created my experience. And, it’s right here at Augie.”
Lisa Beacom, who serves on the Sioux Falls Thrive Board of Directors, has seen firsthand the struggle that nonprofit organizations face and how programs like these can benefit both parties.
“This is a great opportunity for students to get some real-life experience while they’re in college,” Lisa said. “And, I like to hear about and follow all of the analysis.”
Alemayehu’s project, which transitioned into a group project, focused on EmBe, an organization dedicated to empowering women and families. Bucklin, who worked with Volunteers of America, extended their project into the school year. The second group of Beacom Research Fellows began their research in September.
Miles Beacom, CEO of PREMIER Bankcard in Sioux Falls, said this partnership with Augustana and its students is critical to the continued success of Sioux Falls.
“This project is a great one that really works with businesses, both in the nonprofit and profit sectors, that can’t afford to have another set of eyes look at their business and say, ‘How do we improve as an organization?’” Miles said. n
For more information on the Beacom Research Fellows Program, visit augie.edu/BeacomFellows.
Olson with Candy Hanson, Sioux Falls Thrive director of community collaboration The Beacom family (left to right): Back: Iman, Lisa, Miles, Ashlee, Front: Erin, Ally
CHARTING a new COURSE
Augustana to Drop Anchor in Costa Rica
| BY JILL WILSON
Augustana University has a long and rich history of study abroad. Before COVID-19 impacted the globe, 53% of AU’s 2019 graduates studied away — nearly five times the national average. And, as the world reopens, Augustana is positioning itself to come out stronger, with even more opportunities for students to study away. If all goes as planned in Academic Year 2021-22, Augustana will have up to 16 courses taught by approximately 30 faculty members with more than 225 students participating across the globe.
“It’s a part of our core identity in a lot of ways,” said Ben Iverson, Augustana’s director of international programs & enrollment. “Certainly, we promote it (study away) with prospective students, but it starts with the faculty every year, who lead courses on practically every continent. Of course, they come back and talk about it and the students who went with them talk about it. So, it’s just part of the dialogue here.”
The numbers are impressive, but aren’t stopping the International Programs Office (IPO) from dreaming even bigger. As part of the long-term vision in Augustana’s strategic plan, Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030, the university will offer its own semester-long study abroad program in Central America with a physical location in Costa Rica, set to open by the spring of 2023.
“It’s a new challenge and a lot of work, but it’s something we’ve been dreaming about for a long time,” Iverson said. “I think everybody in the IPO is just really excited to see this come together and see the first group of students go. But, if I’m dreaming really big, if the model is successful, if I look toward 2030 and beyond, I hope that it’s the kind of thing we might do again in two or three other locations. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a location on every continent?”
But, Iverson jokes that they’ve got to make this one work first. The 2004 Augustana alumnus, who studied and lived in countries such as Spain, Norway and Nicaragua, said Costa Rica was “the natural, obvious choice on so many levels” and “there wasn’t a whole lot of debate about other locations.” He said starting a campus in Costa Rica would capitalize on existing interest as one of Augustana’s top semester-length study abroad destinations. The country is safe, close, allows for virtual learning and is most of all, affordable. Cost is by far the No. 1 reason students choose not to study away. In terms of tuition and fees, as well as room and board, the IPO envisions that the costs for students will look the same as costs on-campus at AU. The only added expenses will be plane tickets and the “extras” in which students choose to participate.
“I think our students recognize that they need to expose themselves to the way the rest of the world really is,” Iverson said. “It’s a really important experience for their future career trajectory. Employers and graduate schools want all of the skills that people develop when they study abroad — independence, confidence, the ability to travel, approaching problems from different perspectives, to work with people who don’t look like you, the ability to speak a foreign language, even just a little bit. I mean, what employer or graduate program wouldn’t want those things?”
Augustana is in the process of selecting a physical location for classes and housing, staff, transportation and dealing with all of the other logistics that come with laying down roots in another country. But, the university has had partners with strong connections to AU and operations in Costa Rica — such as Intertec and Sanford World Clinic — to lean on for advice.
“It’s all those kinds of details that we’re sorting out now. The things that we know how to do really well are designing the academic content and supporting activities. Our faculty are great at taking existing courses and envisioning all of the completely different experiential learning opportunities afforded by the Costa Rican setting,” said Iverson.
Micah ‘04 and Jaclyn (Sutton) Aberson ‘05 with their daughters Sutton and Andie
TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES LEAD TO TRANSFORMATIVE GIFT
To help support the initiative, Augustana secured a leadership gift from alumni Micah ‘04 and Jaclyn (Sutton) Aberson ‘05, who are passionate about funding experiential learning opportunities like the ones that would take place in Costa Rica.
“We both have a deep passion for Augustana, so it starts there. And, within that deep passion for Augustana, we also have been blessed through our collective career opportunities to be in a position where we can do something and give something back. So, I think we both felt called to do something,” said Micah, executive vice president for Sanford Health, who oversees large parts of the organization.*
“It was really by happenstance, but I do think that sometimes there’s divinity and coincidence. And, I think they’ve just sort of started to scratch the surface on what the potential could look like, as you take the programs and the offerings of Augustana. The relationships that Sanford has been able to establish and see how that sort of stew all comes together. And, I think that there’s great potential to do some pretty remarkable things in that country, both by way of education and training Augustana students, but also engaging the people of Costa Rica with an educational opportunity that’s different and apart from what they otherwise perhaps have access to.”
Growing up in Sioux Falls, Micah said his family vacationed, but they never traveled internationally. While attending Augustana, Micah said he realized that in order for him to develop spiritually and emotionally as a person, he needed to “view the world through a different lens” and “wanted to get off the beaten path a little bit.” Augustana’s Director of International Programs at the time, Donn Grinager, convinced him to go to South Africa.
“There were other students who were traveling to Western Europe, which I knew I was going to have an opportunity to see through music. So, I wanted to do something different and go on an adventure,” said Micah. “I would say that those six months that I spent internationally and in South Africa were the most transformational period of time in my life.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13: “Charting a New Course: Augustana to Drop Anchor in Costa Rica”
Jaclyn, who practiced law at Hagen, Wilka & Archer, LLP and now stays at home to provide a home base for their children, said giving back in “some small way” like this fills her heart. While at Augustana, she also had transformative experiences while studying away during January Interim (J-Term) and spring break service trips to places such as New York and the Pine Ridge Reservation, however, she missed an international experience in Hong Kong due to a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak at the time.
“I think Augie really helped me develop a curiosity about the world and then an understanding that my world is not the world, and I have a responsibility to learn more about the world,” Jaclyn said.
Micah added, “Thus, some of the passion that we have around international studies and allowing other students the opportunity to do that.”
— Elizabeth Lee ‘22
Elizabeth Lee ‘22
MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPERIENCE ‘TICO TIME’
Augustana students like Elizabeth Lee ‘22 are the reason why the Abersons give. The Minnesota native is double majoring in Spanish and languages, literatures and cultures, as well as minoring in English as a second language (ESL). Lee is applying to graduate school for linguistics and ESL. Hoping to one day teach English abroad, she came to Augustana with the expectation because of its reputation of providing students opportunities to study abroad.
“I think it’s so incredibly important for every single person to study away,” Lee said. “Your world gets so much bigger. You learn so much about yourself, and also about what else is out there in the world — that there’s so much more than just where you came from and what you know.”
After having gone to India for a J-Term, she realized she wanted even more out of her next experience.
“You spend almost the entire time in the honeymoon phase and you don’t really ever click in and wrestle with the differences,” said Lee. “After going to India, I decided being a tourist isn’t for me. I would much prefer to live in a place and be able to interact with the people there.”
And, that’s exactly what she did in Costa Rica in the fall of 2019 on a semesterlength program through International Studies Abroad (ISA). While there, Lee ziplined and hiked volcanoes, but also worked with girls who have been taken out of sex-trafficking, experienced a home stay with her Mama Tica and Papa Tico, as well as life with a Brazilian roommate. She attended church and classes — one of which was one-on-one with a Spanish-speaking professor.
“One of the things I think that holds students back (from studying away) is being afraid of their friend group shifting or losing what they had,” said Lee. “But there are so many opportunities to meet people that you wouldn’t even think of, and by going away, you’re going to come back a better person for whomever is there to greet you.”
Lee’s biggest takeaway from her experience in Costa Rica was learning how to live in the moment, otherwise known as “Tico Time,” a phrase used to describe Costa Ricans’ nonchalant attitude toward time, and their relaxed attitude in general — something even more students at Augustana will have the opportunity to experience soon. n
Visit augie.edu/international for more information.
* Since the time of this writing, Micah has chosen to leave his role at Sanford Health, but continues his enthusiasm and commitment to the Costa Rica project, separate and apart from his employment with Sanford.
