SERVICE-LEARNING AND RESIDENTIAL COLLEGES

SERVICE-LEARNING

Academic service-learning is course-based teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. In the 2020-21 academic year, 1,811 students offered an estimated 11,901 volunteer hours to the service-learning program, a value of $272,175.87. There were 108 students recognized for completing the BearsServe Challenge, meaning they tracked more than 30 hours of volunteer service.

HIGHLIGHTS

◊ A total of 51 students logged at least 100 hours of service during their time at UCA, earning them a white graduation cord.

◊ UCA’s AmeriCorps state program, BearsServe Leaders, continued for a second year, and 16 students participated in the year-long program as quarter-time AmeriCorps members. Six others served through a summer program expansion.

◊ BearsServe Leaders and UCA Volunteers in Service To America (VISTA) members organized and participated in national service days including 9/11 Day of Service projects providing cleanup and landscaping at the Rise House outreach center in Conway and creating a community art mural project in Malvern.

◊ Emma Davis was recognized for her civic commitment as a Newman Civic Fellow, a national award for students conferred by Campus Compact.

RESIDENTIAL COLLEGES

The Residential College program continues to lay academic and social foundations for more than 800 new students each year. It helps first-year students transition to college by providing dedicated faculty, specialized classes, and co-curricular programming within the residence halls.

This year the colleges combined creativity and technology to establish virtual learning communities which allowed students, staff, and faculty to interact, easing the burdens of physical distancing required by public health guidelines during the pandemic.

HIGHLIGHTS

◊ Allen Thomas, academic director of HPaW@Baridon, was nationally recognized as a 2020 “Champion of Pride” by The Advocate. The magazine featured LGBTQ+ activists, artists, politicians and educators from every state who are focused on creating a more inclusive society.

◊ Business Residental College (Biz@Bear) used First Security Field at Estes Stadium for the program “Accounting in the Red Zone.” Louisa Moseley, academic director of

Biz@Bear, used this event to help students study for their accounting finals and raise awareness about child abuse and neglect. Students collected over 200 stuffed bears for the Children’s Advocacy Alliance.

◊ STEM Residential College (STEM@Arkansas) faculty associate Jeff Beyerl exemplified co-curricular integration through a simulation called “The Discovery of Calculus,” giving students an opportunity to recreate the communication between Sir Isaac

Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

◊ This was the last year for two residential colleges: EDGE Residential College (EDGE@Hughes) and The Stars Residential College (The Stars@Short/Denney).

They combined to form Muse Residential College (Muse@Short/Denney) which opened in fall 2021. Urban Farm Project

Americorps Day of Service

March to the Polls

BEAR ESSENTIALS FOOD PANTRY

UCA’s Bear Essentials Food Pantry moved to a larger, more accessible area in the Physical Plant in January 2021. The UCA pantry serves students, staff and faculty, and the numbers have increased significantly over the past year. There is a new refrigerator, which allows the pantry to offer more fresh and frozen foods. Wendy Holbrook, assistant vice president for Student Engagement, Leadership, and Service, helps run the operation. She says she is grateful for UCA and Conway’s generosity. The pantry, which opened in 2014, is funded 100% by donations.