January 19, 2016 Volume 2, Issue 2
A Familiar Face joins the Center for Service-Learning Team In July 2015, the Center for Service-Learning announced the appointment of Interim Director of Service-Learning and QEP Director, Kimberly Kinsey Mannahan. She remains an Assistant Professor of Psychology within the School of Arts and Sciences as well.
Spotlights Gulf South Summit..................... 2
Dr. Mannahan joined the CCGA faculty in 2011. Since then, she has implemented five service-learning courses, partnered with over 25 community partners, and been an avid supporter of the service-learning pedagogy. Dr. Mannahan received an Excellence in ServiceLearning Outstanding Faculty Award in 2014.
Faculty Gems ............................. 2
We are very excited to have her leading the team!
Honor Roll Recognition………...5
Faculty Fellows Program............ 3 Student Profile............................ 3 A Peek Inside Spring 2016 ......... 4 Service-Learning Symposium…..5
What IS Service-Learning? Envision service-learning as an enhancement of the traditional classroom experience. Students who sign up for service-learning courses should expect to engage in traditional classroom lectures, presentations, etc. But they should also expect to engage in a relevant, meaningful service project that will enhance their academic classroom learning. Through critical reflection on the service and classroom experiences, students will make significant connections between course concepts in a real world setting. Service-learning is intended to enhance academic learning, provide opportunities for personal and professional growth, and allow for civic learning through service activities.
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Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education The 2016 Gulf South Summit will be held in Savannah, Georgia from April 13th to April 15th. The mission of the Gulf-South Summit is to promote research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships, sustainable programs, and a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement (gulfsouthsummit.org).
We would like to congratulate our faculty and students who will be presenting at the Summit. We will highlight their projects in our next newsletter. Faculty and students who would like to attend the Summit are encouraged to apply for funding. Please contact us at servicelearning@ccga.edu. Application deadline: Friday, February 5, 2016.
“Service-learning theory begins the assumption that experience “Service-learning theory begins with with the assumption that experience is the is the foundation for learning; various forms of community service are foundation for learning; various forms of community service are employed as employed as the experiential basis for learning.” the experiential basis for learning.” - Morton &Troppe, 1996 - Morton &Troppe, 1996
Faculty Gems: Words of Advice We interviewed service-learning educators on our campus and asked them to share the strategies that worked well for their respective disciplines. “Being able to integrate this service-learning project into our lab, we have this extra time because it gives us the opportunity to go out in the field and do these hands-on class projects. We can build off the needs of our partner projects and cater to helping those agencies.” - Dr. Tate Holbrook Above: Marsh Cleanup Project Below: Students working with HOPE Community Development Agency service project
“I found that I have to give up some control over the design of my course in order to effectively implement service-learning. The projects seem to run more smoothly if I don’t overschedule and don't over-plan. I listen to my students and allow the projects to develop organically.” - Dr. Kimberly Mannahan “The hands-on helping and the sense of community and doing something that matters. Students seeing that they can use these dull, boring statistics and research methods to answer questions and get answers that matter, and get answers that are feasible to improving the quality of life for not just the animals, but the people.” -Dr. Karen Hambright “Getting students involved their freshman or sophomore year in the tutoring aspect (relevant to math major courses and students interested in education) so they know whether it is something that they really want to pursue in their future careers.” -Dr. Laura Lynch
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Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program The goal of the Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship Program is to create opportunities through which a faculty member can share his or her successful service-learning teaching strategies, assist faculty peers in their service-learning education and implementation, and contribute to the overall development of the service-learning program. To be eligible to apply for the Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship, faculty members must be employed full-time at the College, have successfully taught a minimum of three (3) service-learning courses, and must complete an application and review process. The 2016 Faculty Fellows are Dr. Sarah Hartman and Dr. Lydia Watkins.
Revised QEP Objectives and Service-Learning Outcomes (S-LOs) GOAL To integrate and enhance student-learning and development through service-learning
Dr. Sarah R. Hartman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education and Teacher Preparation, and has been a service-learning faculty member since 2012. Dr. Hartman is a past recipient of the Excellence in Service-Learning Outstanding Faculty Award in 2014. Last fall semester, Dr. Hartman taught two service-learning courses – Effective Instruction: Social Studies and Effective Instruction: Language Arts. In the social studies course, teacher candidates created lesson plans to teach on-site at the local cemetery to middle school students. The lessons integrated social studies benchmarks in a real-world classroom setting. Dr. Hartman hopes “to see service-learning become more impactful in the everyday lives of K-12 students; thus helping to excite and expose more folks to the notion of service-learning.” Dr. Lydia Watkins, Assistant Professor of Nursing, has been a service-learning professor almost as long as she has been a professor at CCGA. Since completing the training in summer 2012, Dr. Watkins has taught four service-learning courses at the College. She is also a recipient of the Excellence in Service-Learning Outstanding Faculty Award in 2015. She has attended and presented at the Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning & Civic Engagement through Higher Education the last two years. She would like to assist other faculty in developing and executing service-learning courses and helping them tie projects to course learning outcomes. Dr. Watkins expressed that she has “a passion for service-learning” and understands the “importance of it as we help model civic engagement for our students.”
activities and experiences that also meets community needs.
OBJECTIVE 1 Civic Learning Enable community engagement and promote leadership
OBJECTIVE 2 Academic Enhancement Link service experience to course content utilizing critical thinking and reflection skills
OBJECTIVE 3 Personal Growth Promote openness to global
“We Rise By Lifting Others” - Robert Ingersoll
and diverse perspectives.
Student Profile: Shawn Knowles Shawn Knowles (pictured on right) is a Senior at the College majoring in Psychology with a concentration of Human Services. Shawn is also a Student Assistant with the Center for Service-Learning. He enjoys his position at the College because he has the opportunity to work with faculty members, students, and community partners. His experience working with the service-learning office has carried over into his life off the campus. Shawn recently initiated a recreation program called Royal Inner City Athletics (RICA). At RICA, Shawn and his team provide recreational activities for inner city youth working with “At Risk “ children. The RICA program provide recreation/sports, tutoring, and mentoring opportunities for economically disadvantaged children and to youth considered to be below grade-level academically. Shawn has a passion for helping others and it shows in his work at the College and in the community.
Shawn Knowles
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A Peek Inside Spring Semester 2016 Student Highlight Nursing Major Holly Hammer generously shared insight on the value of service-learning courses with The Compass contributor Na’Chanelle Brown: What do you enjoy about the service-learning experience?
Spring 2016 Service-Learning Course Listings School of Arts & Sciences Course Biological Research Biology Senior Seminar English Composition II U.S. History I Calculus I Infant & Child Psychology Social Psychology Self & Social Existence
David Stasek, PhD David Stasek, PhD Rebecca Sharpe Patrizia Stahle, PhD Treg Thompson, PhD Carla Blumh, PhD Kimberly Mannahan, PhD Orsolya Kolozvari, PhD
School of Education & Teacher Preparation Course Integrated Practicum II Capstone Integrated Internship Explore Measurement & Geometry Middle Grades Practicum II Capstone Internship in Management Prescriptive Literacy Institution
Sharon Sellers-Clark, PhD Sharon Sellers-Clark, PhD Courtenay Miller, PhD Sharon Sellers-Clark, PhD Sharon Sellers-Clark, PhD Ronald Reigner, PhD
“Learning about different organizations in the community that I didn’t know about. “ How do you think servicelearning courses are different than regular courses? “It’s hands-on. You get to implement what you learned in class more than if you just researched something and put together a PowerPoint.”
School of Nursing & Health Sciences Course Community-Focused Nursing Nursing II
What have you learned about yourself in completing service-
Nicole Masano, RN, MSN, CNM Dawana Gibbs, RN, MSN; Beverly Rowe, MSN; and Donna Turner, RN, MSN
learning classes? “I’ve learned that I really want to do work that’s substantial and helps someone, and not (schoolwork) that just gets a good grade.”
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School of Business & Public Management Course Special Topics-Grant Writing
Mary Eleanor Wickersham, PhD
The Service-Learning Symposium & Award Ceremony 2016 The spring of 2015 culminated with a remarkable Service-Learning Symposium & Award Ceremony. There were over 50 Service-Learning Showcase posters presented by over 120 students, faculty, and community partners. The 2016 Symposium will be held on April 20 in the Southeast Georgia Conference Center. The Poster Showcase, the main event of the Symposium, will take place from 11 am to 1 pm. Students and faculty members are invited to share their work via poster presentation. The poster showcase provides an opportunity for those who have completed service-learning
projects to share their experiences with fellow students, faculty, staff, community partners, and other interested members of the community. Poster presentations make great final project for students. They are also an a valuable professional development experience. The Center for ServiceLearning covers the cost of printing. Faculty members who would like to incorporate a poster into their current courses are asked to contact the Center for Service-Learning for additional details and support at ServiceLearning@ccga.edu
“The Best Way to Find Yourself is to Lose Yourself in the Service of Others” - Mahatma Gandhi
CCGA Earns a Spot on The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll . . . Again!
For the third year in a row, the Corporation for National and Community Service has named the College of Coastal Georgia to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary community engagement initiatives. The Honor Roll “recognizes higher education institutions whose community service (and service-learning) efforts achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.” This is a proud achievement for the Center for Service-Learning, Division of Student Affairs, and the College as a whole. For further information about the President’s Honor Roll, visit: http://www.nationalservice.gov/special-initiatives/presidents-higher-education-community-service-honor-roll/2014presidents-higher
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Center for Service-Learning College of Coastal Georgia One College Drive Brunswick, GA 31520
Our Mission The mission of the Center for Service-Learning at the College of Coastal Georgia is to initiate and support curricular and co-curricular activities that enhance student learning and respond to the critical needs of our community. Our mission can be achieved through the development of effective, collaborative campus/community partnerships of service and learning. Among the Center's tasks are to:
Have something you’d like to contribute to this newsletter? Please, send us an email with your ideas and/or information and let us know! ServiceLearning@ccga.edu
1.) Undertake a broad assessment of community needs and meet with local community agencies to discuss potential and ongoing partnerships; 2.) Provide incentives, support, and training for faculty interested in the integration of service-learning into teaching and research; 3.) Help build community and campus awareness of service-learning and its virtues/ benefits; and 4.) Support and assess current and future service-learning courses.
For more information contact: Kimberly Kinsey Mannahan, Ph.D. Interim Director of Service-Learning & QEP Director Phone: (912) 279-5716 E-mail: KMannahan@ccga.edu Cody M. Cocchi, M.Ed. Asst. Director of Service-Learning Phone: (912) 279-5976 E-mail: CCocchi@ccga.edu http://www.ccga.edu/ servicelearning/ Newsletter Contributors: Shawn Knowles Writer & Student Assistant ServiceLearning@ccga.edu