better together 2011-2012 annual report

VISTA

AN UPDATED PRESIDENTS’COUNCIL

A YEAR OF PROGRESS & TRANSITIONS

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Going Far, 2011-12

Together B

ett

er

A YEAR IN REVIEW

www.sccampuscompact.org - South Carolina Campus Compact 2

3 SCCC President’s

Council

6-21 Member Service

Highlights

Read about our members’

service highlights for the

2011-12 academic year. To-

gether, we have greatly im-

pacted poverty.

22-23 VISTA Abstracts Each of the 2011-12 Ameri-

Corps*VISTAs provided an

abstract capturing what it has

meant for them to be a full

time volunteer over the past

year. Learn about the amaz-

ing work that was achieved

for our state because of their

presence.

27 Healthy Families

Obesity is a mass epidemic in

the state of South Carolina.

The Healthy Families Ameri-

Corps Program took on the

epidemic with creative ways

to teach and promote healthy

lifestyles for our state’s fu-

ture.

p21 I <3 My College Town

Spartanburg joined together to give back to

their community!

Contents

27

The University of South Carolina hosts

four of 20 Summer Associates that were placed at seven of our mem-

ber campuses. They will serve as sum-

mer VISTAs providing both direct and

indirect service for their campus and

surrounding community.

3 SCCC President’s Council

4 A Year of Progress and Transitions—

Read an introduction to the first SCCC

Annual Report from Chairman DiGiorgio

and a farewell from Kim Keel.

5 Newberry College as New Member

We would like to extend a special welcome to

Newberry College, the newest member of the

South Carolina Campus Compact. An annual report published by

South Carolina Campus Compact 2011-12 (published July 2012)

Editor, Designer: Alexandra Persson


Dr. Anthony DiGiorgio

Chairman for SCCC

President’s Council

President of Winthrop

University

Rock Hill, SC

Dr. David Swinton

President

Benedict College

Columbia, SC

Dr. Jairy Hunter

President

Charleston Southern

University

Charleston, SC

Dr. Henry Tisdale

President

Claflin University

Orangeburg, SC

Dr. James Barker

President

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Dr. P. George Benson

President

College of Charleston

Charleston, SC

Dr. David DeCenzo

President

Coastal Carolina

University

Conway, SC

Dr. Caroline Whitson

President

Columbia College

Columbia, SC

Wishing you a happy retirement!

Dr. Elizabeth Flemming

President

Converse College

Spartanburg, SC

Dr. Keith Miller

President

Greenville Technical

College

Greenville, SC

Dr. Benjamin Dunlap

President

Wofford College

Spartanburg, SC

Dr. Marshall White, Jr.

President

Midlands Technical

College

Columbia, SC

Lt. Gen. John Rosa

President

The Citadel

Charleston, SC

Dr. Jane Upshaw

Chancellor

University of South

Carolina Beaufort

Beaufort, SC

Dr. Thomas Moore

Chancellor

University of South

Carolina Upstate

Spartanburg, SC

South Carolina Campus

Compact SCCC is a coalition of 17 SC institutions working to promote and develop the civic purposes of higher education. Through this work,

SCCC improves the ability of higher education institutions to partner with their communities to collectively impact local needs and pro-

vide real world learning for college students. Members of SCCC collaborate to share and seek resources and best practices to mobilize

students, faculty, and staff toward this end. SCCC member campuses represent the full spectrum of higher education institutions, public

and private, two and four-year, research universities, technical and community colleges, historically black colleges and universities and we

partner with both urban and rural communities across the state to achieve our goals. The Presidents’ Council includes all of the Presi-

dents and Chancellors of our member schools. We would like to extend a special welcome to the newly appointed Presidents,

Elizabeth Dinndorf of Columbia College and Dr. Maurice Scherrens of Newberry College!

Dr. Maurice Scherrens

New President

as of May 18, 2012

Newberry College

Newberry, SC

Dr. Harris Pastides

President

University of South

Carolina

Columbia, SC

Elizabeth Dinndorf

New President

as of July 1, 2012

Columbia College

Columbia, SC


Dear Friends,

Over the past year, we have achieved many successes - in growth of membership as well as in positive outcomes and deliverables for each of our respective institutions and com-munity partners. The Presidents’ Council decision to endorse the national Campus Compact goal of ‘Access and Success’ as our primary goal for the next year aligns with the notion that South Carolina’s challenges and social problems are bigger than any one organizational effort can undertake.

Yet, the opportunity to develop the public will that is a requirement to change deeply entrenched systems is best found in our halls, on our grounds and among our sphere of influence - it is the most likely place from which fundamental change will come. The roots of complex problem-solving, requiring both inspiration, challenge, the motivation to act as well as reflect, to think and question and dream are most present in higher edu-cation surrounded by splendid minds, willing to question everything, and yet stop at nothing to help others in need.

To leverage in a genuine and authentic way the opportunity for grassroots community members to work alongside of those who have dedicated themselves to the rigorous of scholarship, and together respond to the call to action

to serve diverse communities, both local and global - is the very ethos of the phrase ‘community anchor.’ I remain committed to leading SCCC to provide your campus both tools and skills necessary to achieve this unique leadership role in your communities, cities and towns.

As we embrace a transition year, I am pleased to intro-duce our first annual report celebrating the good work

completed by each of our members throughout the past year. I know that with the talent and passion evidenced in these pages, we will attain new heights during the 2012-13 year.

Best regards, Anthony J. DiGiorgio

Chairman, Presidents’ Council SCCC President, Winthrop University

2011-12: A Year of

and

- Anthony J. DiGiorgio

Chairman, SCCC & President, Winthrop University

Dr. Anthony J. Digiorgio Chairman, SCCC and

President , Winthrop University

To all friends and fans of SC Campus Compact,

It has been my pleasure to work with and get to know each of you over the past sixteen months and together with you, bring SC Campus Compact to a new iteration and different developmental phase. South Carolina has reached a critical mass in service learning and civic engagement, and is poised to reach new heights through your commitment to your students, your

respective campuses and your communities. As you welcome Jessica Lynn, your new Executive Director, please keep up the excellent work of service learning and civic engagement in South Carolina and continue to move steadfastly forward, always better together. Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Executive Director.

Sincerely, Kim Keel

African proverb


Newberry, SC—

Newberry College presi-

dent Maurice Scherrens

has become the seven-

teenth president to affiliate

with South Carolina Cam-

pus Compact to promote

service-learning and civic

engagement activities in

higher education in our

state.

South Carolina Campus Compact is a growing coali-

tion of colleges and universities committed to the

promotion of community service, service-learning,

and civic engagement. Operating as a presidents’

organization, South Carolina Campus Compact’s

members include two year and four year, public and

private higher education institutions throughout the

state.

SC Campus Compact now serves approximately

224,282 students on (17) member campuses across

the state.

“We are so pleased to share the news of our growing

SC Campus Compact network. We know that with

the leadership of President Scherrens, Newberry

College will serve well our core mission of graduat-

ing active, engaged citizens,” said Dr. Anthony J.

DiGiorgio, President of Winthrop University and

Chair of the Presidents’ Council of South Carolina

Campus Compact. “By incorporating service learn-

ing and civic engagement into both curricular and co

-curricular activities, students are learning valuable

life lessons in leadership, decision-making and civic

responsibility.”

Dr. Scherrens, newly named president of Newberry,

agrees. “Newberry College has a strong legacy of

service and leadership. Joining our voices with this

strong council of higher education leaders will help

us continue to impact our world in a positive, civi-

cally-engaged way.”

The concept of service learning is simple: it is an

intentional student learning process through civic

engagement and service with community partners.

Through service learning curricula, colleges foster

civic responsibility, help make coursework more

meaningful and memorable through real-world ap-

plication, and

build the rela-

tionship be-

tween the col-

lege and the

community.

Welcome

-Billy Walker, Chairman of Newberry College Board of Trustees

President,

Dr. Maurice Scherrens

Campus Coordinator,

Dr. Joseph McDonald


“I can’t believe this is true. Peo-

ple helping us and expecting

nothing. Thank you.”

Those are the words of a Co-

lumbia resident who benefited

from donations distributed by

an alliance appropriately called

Yes We C.A.R.E. In response to

President Barack Obama’s In-

terfaith and Community Service

Campus Challenge, the Benedict

College Service-Learning and

Leadership Development Pro-

gram and a coalition of faith-

based organizations formed Yes

We C.A.R.E (Constituents

Aligned to Respond Effective-

ly).

The service-learning initiative

began on October 22, 2011 and

concluded on Benedict Col-

lege’s annual day of service on

April 24, 2012. Nearly 300 stu-

dents helped collect and distrib-

ute resources to low-income

and homeless residents in the

Eau Claire community through

a monthly One Stop Shop. A

total of 787 individuals obtained

gently used clothing and house-

hold items collected through

donations. Additionally, stu-

dents distributed social services

information to aide participants.

During the final One Stop

Shop, Benedict College Presi-

dent Dr. David H. Swinton was

present to recognize the efforts

of interfaith collaborative part-

ners from Grace Christian

Church, Masjid As-Salaam,

Ridgewood Missionary Baptist

Church, and First Calvary Bap-

tist Church.

Benedict College Campus Highlight


November 8, 2011 marked The

Citadel’s Second Annual Arland

D Williams Heroism Day. The

Citadel cancelled formal classes

on that day and each cadet par-

ticipated in a pre-approved out

of classroom learning experi-

ence. Everything from work-

shops to trainings were offered,

but by in large, the most popular

option was service learning.

In a single day, 768 cadets

taught 3,006 students in 13

Charleston County School Dis-

trict Innovation Zone schools

about heroism and helped them

make cards for their heroes and

heroines, 266 cadets served 23

community partner agencies on

site, 199 cadets participated in

direct service to an additional

nine community agencies. All

of the service opportunities of-

fered on Heroism Day were fa-

cilitated by the VISTA office at

The Citadel. Each service group

contained at least one peer lead-

er.

Of the 1,102 cadets surveyed,

66.8% believed that their Hero-

ism Day activity was a worth-

while use of their time. Those

who chose to serve on Heroism

Day felt that their time was well

spent. The cadets who served as

peer leaders developed their

leadership skills. About 30 agen-

cies in and around the Charles-

ton area benefited from having

cadet help on that day.

The Citadel Campus Highlight


The Cinderella Project was the most inspiring activity

this year at our institution. Twenty Claflin University

students worked together to collect dresses and ren-

dered a day of beauty for underprivileged girls to at-

tend their high school prom. The thirty-three partici-

pating high school students thoroughly enjoyed the

event and several of the students have asked to par-

ticipate again next year.

In total, 137 dresses were collected. Claflin Universi-

ty also developed an important partnership with the

Free Medical Clinic. Students who are interested in

pursuing careers in the medical field had the oppor-

tunity to give back to the community by volunteering

their time at the clinic. Students expressed their joy

during the time spent at the clinic and sincerely ap-

preciated getting to know the patients. Like the Cin-

derella Project,

Claflin University

also hopes to contin-

ue and strengthen

their new partnership

with the Free Medical

Clinic.

Claflin University Campus Highlight


One in three residents in Clemson are living at or

below the poverty line, twice the national, state, and

county averages. This stark fact was the impetus for

the Poverty Simulation that the Active Citizenship

Team (ACT), in partnership with Gamma Sigma Sig-

ma, hosted this past spring. The students of ACT

(liaisons for the Civic Engagement office), were driv-

en by recent efforts of the Pickens County United

Way.

The United Way has been spearheading a coalition

focused on increasing access to emergency needs

(food, shelter, etc.), creating awareness of poverty in

Pickens County, and finding long-term solutions to

eliminating this poverty. Through serving on the coa-

lition, the Civic Engagement team has gained new

insight into the needs of the community surrounding

the university and was able to utilize the simulation

as a tool to share this insight.

Forty-five students attended the simulation where

they were assigned roles to play for the duration of

‘one month’ (comprised of four, 15 minute inter-

vals). Participants were placed into various family

situations, ranging from single parents to nuclear

family units, and volunteers acted as various commu-

nity agencies (like schools, employers, banks, etc).

Over the course of the ‘month’ the participants had

to complete day-to-day tasks: going to work, paying

the bills, buying food for their family, and taking care

of their children.

After the simulation,

students reflected on

their experience. An

overwhelming theme

during the reflection

was that the event

was “incredibly eye open-

ing” and that the stu-

dents “learned much

more than anticipated.”

Clemson University Clemson University Campus Highlight


Coastal Carolina University’s

Volunteer Services Center

was proud to start a service

based retreat for students.

This past April 11th students

took part in an amazing re-

treat that focused on com-

munity service and leadership

training. This retreat allowed

the volunteer services center

to be showcased for their

commitment to service and their ability to produce

wonderful leaders on our campus. The retreat was

started by a group of students wanting more out of

the typical volunteer experiences. They believed that

if they could connect with each other on a common

ground of service, they could bring changes to the

community. Participating in various leadership activi-

ties the group came together in the idea that by help-

ing one another we are helping ourselves grow into

civically engaged individuals

who are making a change.

Student leaders led the

group through a variety of

activities in which they

shared their personal stories

in order to forge relation-

ships. The group came to-

gether to discuss issues that

we face every day. They be-

gan to trust one another and

come together on a common ground of a love for

service and a need for leadership. The group shared

with one another and became friends but most im-

portantly, they served. They served their community

and took the time to reflect on what that meant to

them. We hope that the retreat will continue and that

the students will shed their knowledge to other future

leaders on campus.

Coastal Carolina University Campus Highlight


This year, in addition to serving 10-15 hours a week

at a Charleston area non-profit, each student in the

Bonner Leader program at the College of Charles-

ton focused on the issues of the water crisis, out-

reach to the elderly, animal advocacy, human traf-

ficking, and community enrichment. The 26 Bon-

ner Leaders broke down into issue groups, with

each group responsible for preparing and presenting

an educational piece during one of the weekly meet-

ings. These issues were explored both locally during

Service Saturdays and during alternative break

trips. The freshmen and sophomores traveled to

Puerto Rico where they worked with facility upkeep

for a substance abuse shelter and rebuilt trails in a

portion of the rain forest inhabited by the endan-

gered Puerto Rican parrot. The juniors and seniors,

in response to an 8.0 earthquake in Pisco, Peru,

worked on various disaster relief projects. During

Engage & Empower week in April, each issue group

planned and

hosted an event

for the entire

campus focusing

on their topic.

College of Charleston Campus Highlight


Columbia College, partnered

with St. John Baptist Church

and the Square Foot Garden-

ing Foundation, to develop a

model project to improve

diabetes prevention in Co-

lumbia, SC. The program,

developed by VISTA mem-

ber Jamie Opdyke, combined

monthly Crock Pot cooking

lessons, walking programs,

and community gardens. We

began our gardening at St.

John with the pre-school.

They planted seeds into two

gardens that have grown into

vegetables they pick for lunch

and snacks. The project cul-

minated with an event in

March, which engaged over

100 students and community

volunteers who dropped 10

gardens, four fruit trees,

Muscatine and Blackberry

bushes for the Church and

community. After complet-

ing our initial goal with St.

John, we began with Grace

Christian Church in May.

This will lay the foundation

to move deliberately through

each faith-based organization

in 29203. Our project intends

to be a model, now funded

by the Cen-

ter for Dis-

ease Control

(CDC).

Columbia College Campus Highlight


In 1889, the founder of

Converse College might

have very well been speak-

ing to the needs of the 21st

century world when he said

that the “well being of any

country depends much up-

on the culture of her wom-

en.” In an effort to instill

this core value of service in

our students, Converse fos-

ters its relationship with its

community partners to re-

cruit volunteers. 12,224

hours of community service

were contributed to the

Spartanburg community

during the 2011-2012 calen-

dar year.

Mortar Board, Crescent,

The Bonner Leader Pro-

gram and Team H.O.P.E.,

and Serve Spartanburg,

Hunger and Homelessness

Week, Alternative Spring

Break, MLK Day of Service,

Impact Day of Service, and

the Don’t Throw it Away

Collection Drive, faculty,

staff and students all con-

tributed to Converse’s ser-

vice efforts.

This is a significant accom-

plishment for a college with

a total student population,

both undergraduate and

graduate, of 1,263.

Converse College Campus Highlight


Charleston Southern Uni-

versity would like to high-

light the establishment of a

student chapter of the na-

tional organization All

Girls Allowed as an official

student organization on

campus. All Girls Allowed

is dedicated to eradicating

China's one child policy, to

protect the lives of baby

girls, empower women and

educate people about this

injustice and it its conse-

quences. The University

and founder Chai Ling

have a wonderful working

relationship and took ac-

tions toward philanthropic

collaboration during the

past academic year. South

Carolina Campus Compact

VISTA, Lanita Sumpter,

along with Dr. Hester

Young and a core group of

interested students have

done wonderful things

with this new partnership.

The chapter became a

sanctioned organization

through the student gov-

ernment association in the

fall and got right to work.

Their biggest accomplish-

ments for the year were

presenting the 37 seconds

campaign during various

campus events, raising $75

for mothers in China, do-

nating baby gifts to my

sister's house, and food to

a local children's shelter.

Currently, the chapter is 30

members strong and mem-

bers are looking forward to

doing even more next year.

Charleston Southern University Campus Highlight


The first Greenville Tech Gives Back opportunity

was offered in March, 2012. Eighty volunteers from

Greenville Tech. representing faculty, staff, and stu-

dents assisted with the Greenville Forward Garden-

ing for Good project. Volunteers at eight community

gardens prepared soil, pulled weeds, mulched, and

more. These gardens

provide a local source

of healthy food and

ensure that Upstate

shelters have fresh

produce.

In May, 30 volunteers

completed two pro-

jects through Hands

On Greenville Day.

One group painted

offices for a hospice

provider. Another group gardened and played bingo

at an assisted living facility. In June, volunteers will

pack and sort food at Harvest Hope Food Bank. One

shift filled quickly and a second shift was offered, so

that 50 volunteers can now participate.

Response to this initiative has been very positive.

Each opportunity has filled, and in the case of Har-

vest Hope, some people are being asked to wait until

the next event is scheduled. These service opportuni-

ties allow volunteers to spend time in an informal

setting getting to know students and colleagues from

other departments. As Greenville Tech. celebrates 50

years of growing Greenville, Greenville Tech Gives

Back has allowed the college

to grow the community in a

meaningful way through ser-

vice and to engage staff and

students in the process.

Greenville Technical College Campus Highlight


Of our many service and engagement activities this

year, we were fortunate to expand our work with the

Ronald McDonald House (RMH) as well as form a

new partnership with the Lexington Two Coalition.

Along with our usual decorating of the Ronald

Mcdonald Home for holidays, we provided dinners

and gifts for the parents on Mother’s and Father’s

Days. In addition, we worked with the Lexington

Two Coalition’s Rise Above It project to involve

high school students from the Midlands Middle Col-

lege in researching synthetic drugs, reflecting on their

research, and creatively presenting their new

knowledge through theater and song.

The success of this project makes it highly likely that

we will continue

this partnership in

coming years.

Midlands Technical College Campus Highlight


University of South Carolina Campus Highlight

During the 2011-2012 academic

year, the University of South Car-

olina displayed a renewed com-

mitment to strengthening service-

learning initiatives. In the fall of

2011, the Coordinating Office of

Community Engagement was

formed to serve as a central coor-

dinating portal through which all

stakeholders in service at the Uni-

versity and in the Columbia Com-

munity can enhance their current

service-learning activities. In Jan-

uary, 2012 the Office of Student

Engagement hired an Assistant

Director of Service-Learning, Dr.

Dottie Weigel, for the first time.

With over 40 service-learning

courses taught in the fall of 2011

and spring of 2012, students im-

pacted the Columbia community

with their expertise and

knowledge in various disciplines

ranging from nursing, to engi-

neering, to education. After at-

tending the final presentations in

Karen Mallia’s service-learning

course, Communicating for a

Cause, a staff member of the

South Carolina HIV/Aids Coun-

cil shared this, “We were all

astonished by the thoroughness

and sensitivity given to the issue,

organization, and mission. In all

sincerity, it was an emotional ex-

perience, bringing some of us to

tears that this group of intelligent

and articulate young people could

encapsulate the seventeen years

of SCHAC and present a plan of

which we were in such desperate

need.”

It is because of testimonials like

this that we know that USC stu-

dents are truly impacting the

community.


The University of South Caroli-

na Beaufort hosted the City of

Bluffton’s Relay for Life on our

campus. The event was can-

celled early due to rain, or really

torrential downpour and light-

ning at 10:30pm right after we

finished the limbo competition.

Organized chaos followed, as

we tried to pack up several

tents, an inflatable movie screen

and hundreds of Relay for

Life’s signature luminaries.

The students amazed me, none

of them abandoned the group

and they all worked tirelessly

and quickly to pack everything

up. It took about an hour and

all of them were completely

drenched but they continued

to work hard. I was proud of

the money they raised for Re-

lay that night, but I was more

proud of the strength of char-

acter they showed when things

didn’t go according to plan.

Bluffton’s Relay for Life raised

over $19,000 and USCB stu-

dents raised over $1,000. That

was cool too. Many thanks to

Ed Heberling and Paige Kegley

for chairing the event as USCB

representatives.

USC Beaufort Campus Highlight


USC Upstate had a wonderful 2011-2012 academic

year. Our freshmen students in our University 101

classes dedicated almost 2000 hours to the Spartan-

burg community in service work during the Fall se-

mester and many

of our student or-

ganizations

worked with agen-

cies ranging from

Big Brothers Big

Sisters to the Su-

san G. Komen

Race for the Cure.

In March, ten

USC Upstate stu-

dents and two fac-

ulty/staff mem-

bers travelled to

Charleston, S.C. and Florida to participate in the an-

nual Alternative Spring Break Trips. Five students

spent their break in Charleston working with Good-

will Industries and Camp Happy Days and five stu-

dents spent their

break just outside

of Lone Oak Flori-

da working with

the Florida Trail

Association. We

are excited for the

2012-2013 aca-

demic year as we

gear up for our

first year with the

VISTA program

and the redevelop-

ment of our Ser-

vice Learning

components!

USC Upstate Campus Highlight


This past year, Winthrop

University experienced one

of its greatest civic engage-

ment achievements with the

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

of Service. Celebrated an-

nually on Dr. King’s birth-

day, January 16th, the day

has been an excellent op-

portunity for Winthrop stu-

dents to serve their commu-

nity through on- and off-

campus volunteering. This

year, Winthrop sent over

two hundred students,

along with faculty and staff,

out into the Rock Hill com-

munity to serve its residents

who were in need. The

nearly dozen projects that

students volunteered for

ranged from picking up

trash along the highways to

delivering meals for the el-

derly to packing lunch bags

for children in need.

The Day of Service was a

part of a two-day celebra-

tion of Dr. King’s life and

work, with a memorial and

candlelight vigil held in his

honor by the brothers of

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

It was an excel-

lent opportunity

for our students

to learn and

grow through

service.

Winthrop University Campus Highlight


Looking back at this academic

year, there are a lot of mile-

stones we could reflect upon.

One project in particular that

Wofford is exceptionally proud

of is the College Town Service

Initiative. It’s a one-day, com-

munity wide service event,

which incorporates the collab-

oration of all seven colleges

and universities with over fif-

teen community partners in

Spartanburg County.

This service event allows stu-

dents from all of the colleges

to come together to serve and

network for future collabora-

tions in the community. What

was so inspiring about the en-

tire event is that student lead-

ers from all of the colleges and

universities worked with the

Wofford and Converse VIS-

TAs to help lead other groups

of students at their service site

and in reflection.

To see that initiative with only

an infrastructure set up by the

VISTAs was incredibly inspir-

ing. Both Wofford’s VISTA

and the other VISTAs in Spar-

tanburg are lucky to have such

supportive stu-

dents in this

College Town.

Wofford College Campus Highlight


S.C. Campus Compact

Supervisor: Tondaleya Jackson SCCC VISTA: Kendra Smith*

Working as an AmeriCorps* VISTA with Campus Compact has afforded me the wonderful opportunity to serve alongside Benedict College students and community members in raising awareness for hunger and poverty is-sues faced by residents in our commu-nity.

Throughout the academic year, we have served community partners and residents in the Midlands as well as the LowCountry. This year, I have been able to witness students obtaining the passion to serve others and gaining the knowledge of how service-learning can provide the foundation for a career in service or other future endeavors.

Supervisor: Dr. Conway Saylor SCCC VISTA: Brittany Bounds

This year, I had the opportunity to serve at The Citadel. We had pro-jects going on all year long. My fa-vorites to coordinate were Science

Night and Fine Arts Night for a local elementary school. I loved seeing an event all the way through from brain-storm to clean up. The most fulfilling parts of these events were twofold: watching the elementary children get excited to learn and watching our Cita-del cadets interact with the children. One reason I chose VISTA was be-cause I wanted to ignite passion for service in college students. In the past year, I saw passion ignited and I would not trade it for anything!

Supervisor: Dr. Conway Saylor SCCC VISTA: Samantha Farmer As a VISTA at The Citadel I became an integral part of building upon a re-cent corps wide service learning re-quirement for Leadership 211. I was able to watch cadets who would have otherwise remained on campus and in “The Citadel Bubble” branch out and serve their community (and in some cases, their neighbor at the soup kitch-en located down the road from The Citadel). Cadets engaged in service by participating in one day service events led by their peers and semester long service commitments. Each service opportunity in connection with our wonderful community partners helped the Charleston community in the areas of poverty, education, health and disa-bilities, or environment.

Supervisor: Allison Sabb Glenn SCCC VISTA: Brandon Priester

In my three years working as an Amer-iCorps*VISTA, I have had the oppor-tunity to learn so much. Being able to help the students of Claflin University where I served and graduated from gave me a great sense of accomplish-ment. Showing and teaching the stu-dents what it means to give back to the community in which they live gave me great joy.

Alongside Mrs. Allison Glenn we en-couraged the students and staff of Claflin University to take a hard look at the community and tasked them to help make a change. We made great changes for the people in the Orange-burg community and I know more great changes are still to come.

Note * indicates re-enrolling VISTAs for the 2012-13 academic year!

Samantha Farmer,

Dr. Conway Saylor &

Brittany Bounds

Allison Sabb Glenn

& Brandon Priester

Tondaleya Jackson

& Kendra Smith


S.C. Campus Compact Supervisor: Jennifer Shurley

SCCC VISTA: Amber Thacker

“If you come to help me, you are wast-ing your time… But if you come be-cause your liberation is bound with mine, let us walk together.” This past year serving at Clemson and working with folks in the Gantt Center for Stu-dent Life as they fight for Social Jus-tice, this quote accurately captures a paradigm shift for me. I believe a lot of us in national service took this path because of a desire to help others, but it wasn’t until this year that I realized that is not sufficient. Serving as a VISTA at Clemson has truly showed me that in order to create real change, our intent cannot be a self-sacrificing one. Rather, it must be borne out of the realization that we are strongly interconnected and cannot live full lives as individuals until each member of our community has the ability to do the same.

Supervisor: Paula Drummond

SCCC VISTA: Sarah Chafe

I have

never lived out of the state of Massa-chusetts, so when I told my family I wanted to move to South Carolina, you can imagine their surprise. Decid-ing to be part of South Carolina Cam-pus Compact was a big step for me. Not only was I leaving behind my fam-ily and friends but I was deviating from my plan. There was no year of service in the plan, but this detour may have been the best one I could have taken. This detour has actually proved not to be a detour at all, but just a new path. Thinking back on my year at Coastal Carolina, I will remember all the expe-riences that I have had. I took students on two alternative break trips, planned events for Hunger and Homelessness Week, started a volunteer services re-treat, and helped students complete over 1,350 hours of community ser-vice. These students have reminded me of why I ultimately took a leap of faith and moved 17 hours from home. I did it because deep down my passion for service and leadership outweigh any-thing else. The joy I get in watching these students grow into civic minded individuals is undeniable. I am grateful to have watched them grow over this last year and they have certainly helped me to grow as well!

Supervisor: Stephanie Visser

SCCC VISTA: Laura Mewbourn For the past year, I have served as the coordinator of the Bonner Leader pro-gram at the College of Charles-

ton. The Bonner Leader Program is a scholarship program focusing on community service and leadership development. Each student is

partnered with non-profits where they serve 10 hours a week. We meet week-ly to educate the group on topics in-cluding time management, study skills, and policy development. I collaborat-ed with non-profits to develop new placements, organized service projects, and developed lesson plans. I’ve done trail work in the rainforest of Puerto Rico, developed policies that should strengthen the program for many years to come, and built relationships with 26 amazing students.

Paula Drummond &

Sarah Chafe

Laura Mewbourn

& Stephanie Visser

Amber Thacker &

Jennifer Shurley

“

”


S.C. Campus Compact Supervisor: Mary Carlisle SCCC VISTA: Jamie Opdyke The highlight of my year, without a doubt, was earning trust in the com-munity in which I live and work. Coming to South Carolina as an out-sider has been incredibly difficult; when meeting with community mem-bers, they immediately noticed my strange accent and put up a wall. In the past, outsiders had come in, sur-veyed the community, and withdrawn without contributing anything sub-stantial. I broke that barrier and worked with the community on a gar-den and improving their health through education and cooking les-sons. Our zip code has improved dra-matically, both in physical appearance and health statistics.

Supervisor: Mary Carlisle SCCC VISTA: Katie Welborn Last Friday I took students to serve on Harden Street near down-town Columbia at The Free Medical Clinic. The clinic runs off of grants, donations, and hours and hours of volunteer time. The Free Medical Clinic, Inc., provides quality healthcare, at no cost, to residents of the community who cannot pay for such services and who have no health insurance.

Students learned about the organiza-tion and then worked on data entry. We were very impressed with the Di-rector’s work ethic and commitment to the organization. Even though the

front office was closed, he would hear the front office phone wring, stop what he was doing, walk all the way to the front of the building, pick up the phone, and address the client’s needs. His desire to help those in need was very visible.

After serving, a local frozen yogurt shop gave us free froyo for volunteer-ing at the clinic. It's always encourag-ing to see local businesses support community service initiatives.

Supervisor: Jason Luscioto

SCCC VISTA: Kelsey Sherman

This has been a wonderful, productive year. Kelsey Sherman ded-icated a lot of her time to strengthen-ing existing community partnerships and campus programs. She worked closely with other higher learning in-stitutions in Spartanburg on the MLK Day of Service and CSI Service Day. She helped manage the Bonner Lead-er program and played a roll in the creation of a residential Summer Bon-ner Leader program. Kelsey is ex-tremely grateful for the opportunities and experience given to her by SCCC and Converse College; they will travel with her for the rest of her life.

Supervisor: Dr. Hester Young

SCCC VISTA: Lanita Sumpter

During my time at Charleston Southern Univer-sity, I have had the privilege of build-ing relationships and partnerships with some very amazing people in-cluding non profit workers, students, faculty, and staff. Some things that I

am most proud to have been a part of are: estab-lishing All Girls Allowed as an official chapter on campus, raising and de-

livering over 350 pounds of non per-ishables to a homeless shelter, recruit-ing volunteers for three Habitat for Humanity house builds, recruiting volunteers for a local after school pro-gram, donating over 50 books to a local elementary school, recruiting volunteers for Summerville Miracle League all year, recruiting volunteers for Stall High School and the amazing turn out for their school pageant, sending volunteers to Eagle Harbor Boys Ranch, working with faculty to integrate service into their classes, and particularly any and every student that I have inspired to LOVE service. That was my greatest joy, inspiring people to go out into the community and donate their time to other people and actually find joy in it. If I have done nothing else, that would make it all worthwhile in my eyes.

Dr. Hester Young

& Lanita Sumpter

Jamie Opdyke,

Mary Carlisle &

Katie Welborn

Jason Loscuito

& Kelsey Sherman


S.C. Campus Compact

Supervisor: Susan Gasque SCCC VISTA: Grace Crosby

As Greenville Tech’s first AmeriCorps VISTA I had the opportunity to build the infrastructure of service learning at the college. I primarily “worked be-hind the scenes” to create a service learning handbook and website, meet with faculty members and community partners, and identify a service learn-ing/volunteer management database.

I learned early on the im-portance of networking with others interested in service learning projects. One service event that illustrated the significance of networking in a new environment was the food drive. By serving on the steering committee for the food drive, I met College Skills instructors with whom I later recruited for help with the coat drive in Febru-ary and worked with on other projects. I also met the coordinator for Green-ville Tech Gives Back Events and as-sisted her with planning and recruiting faculty and student volunteers to three service events that involved over 150 students and faculty members as par-ticipants.

Supervisor: Dr. Diane Carr SCCC VISTA: Dyrell Clark

This year as a VISTA at Mid-lands Technical College, I creat-

ed the first Health and Safety Carnival on MLK Day which included a blood drive for the American Red Cross. I gathered volunteers to participate at the Ronald McDonald House for Hal-loween decorating, a Thanksgiving Lunch and Learn, a Mother’s Day din-ner and a Father’s Day dinner. In ad-dition, I emailed numerous nonprofit organizations to plan a volunteer fair, helped with fundraisers, and for almost half the year I have served the commu-nity with the Midlands Middle College, the Lexington Two Coalition and LRADAC, spreading awareness about synthetic drug use and underage drink-ing. This year’s work has helped me redefine my career direction. Every-thing done this year was exciting, new, hard, adventurous, and most of all re-warding.

Supervisor: Dr. Joseph McDonald

Newberry College will host its first SCCC VISTA next year with their Di-rector of Valued Based Learning, Dr.

Joseph McDonald as the Campus Co-ordinator!

Supervisor: Dr. Jimmie Gahagan SCCC VISTA: Stephanie Gross

In starting my second year with AmeriCorps VISTA and Campus Compact I had no idea what to expect. After coming from a small, private, liberal-arts background in the north, I knew that my year in South Carolina would look quite different. Some surprises I expected. Others tru-ly astonished me. My work at the University of South Carolina this year has been defined by the bright, thoughtful, and committed students that I have interacted with through service-learning. The dedica-tion that students at USC have shown to community efforts is something that I have not witnessed before. Students learn about the community, try to un-derstand complex issues, and then ad-dress these issues through programs

and events that they de-sign. I have witnessed mul-tiple students’ progress from classroom student, to community-based scholar,

to engaged citizen. It has been a truly rewarding experience to be a part of the staff that helps to cultivate these students into leaders in service.

Dr. Diane Carr

& Dyrell Clark

Susan Gasque &

Grace Crosby

Dr. Jimmie Gahagan

& Stephanie Gross

Dr. Joseph McDonald


S.C. Campus Compact

Supervisor: Jim Glasson SCCC VISTA: Elizabeth Burns

This was my third term of service with AmeriCorps and my first as a VISTA. I

was a little ap-prehensive about spending a year “capacity building” in-stead of through direct service but was determined to make as big a difference as possible by motivating college students to volunteer with me. I’ve

had the opportunity to convince business students to become certified to prepare taxes and to lead a bunch of college freshmen on an Alter-native Spring Break where we tackled their fear of working with adults with developmental disabilities. Helping shape the students’ college experience and hopefully fuel their passion for civic engagement has been a truly re-warding experience.

Supervisor: Kara Ferguson

University of South Carolina Upstate will host its first SCCC VISTA next year with their Program Coordina-tor for Student Life, Kara Fergu-son as the Cam-pus Coordinator.

Supervisor: Jessalyn Story

SCCC VISTA: Sarah Hager*

My past year as a VISTA with SC Cam-pus Compact at Wof-ford College is a year I’ll never forget. Being an alumnus of Wofford College, AmeriCorps has giv-en me the opportunity to impact my school in ways I never could as a stu-dent. I work daily to support the Bon-ner Scholars program in an effort to strengthen our partnerships with local non-profits. Seeing the students’ compassion and dedica-tion to their service in the community is nothing less than inspiring. I’ve also been lucky enough to work closely with another SC Campus Compact VISTA at Converse College, Kelsey Sherman. Having her presence and support as we planned several community wide ser-vice projects has made my VISTA year an incredible one to say the least.

Supervisor: Ellin McDonough SCCC VISTA: Matthew Sohner

For the last year, I have been serving the community of Rock Hill, South Carolina through projects dedicated to improving literacy for local school chil-dren in low-income communities. I

helped formulate the pilot program for an after-school reading initiative called the Reading Tent, and took my success with that project to create an in-school mentoring program for 2nd-5th graders called Book Buddies. As a long-time South Carolina resident, learning about a prevalent problem facing many young South Carolinians and being able to serve my state to help correct it has been a deeply rewarding experience.

Supervisor: Laura Foster SCCC VISTA: Patricia Riley

For the past year I have tried to inspire college students to go a little bit further, think a little bit harder, and give

back a little bit more, I’ve tried to accomplish this by building student leadership and the capacity of the Winthrop Homework Clinic, Com-munity Garden, Alternative Spring Break program, and working with SOAR I’ve sent more emails and text messages then my inboxes can handle, drowned in excel spreadsheets, attend-ed many committee meetings, always been in volunteer recruitment mode, and have had to accept that while change is slow it is incredibly reward-ing. I’ve learned so much by being a VISTA that I’ve struggled to write this because for three years a VISTA is what I’ve been. It is hard to say good bye to not only a community and cam-pus that embraced me but to a pro-gram that has defined who I am for so long. VISTA has been a life changing experience, the lessons I’ve learned I will take with me wherever I may go.

Ellin McDonough &

Matt Sohner

James Glasson &

Elizabeth Burns

Laura Foster

& Patricia Riley

Jessalyn Story

& Sarah Hager

Kara Ferguson


Summer & Healthy Families

Supervisor: Kim Keel SCCC VISTA Leader: Christina Soyden My, how time flies! During the past two years I have learned so much about South Carolina, Campus Com-pact and Higher Education. My experi-ences as a VISTA/Leader have been wonderful. I have met so many excep-tionally inspiring and motivated peo-ple! Seeing this current year’s VISTAs from recruitment to completion has made me appreciate the dedication our campus coordinators have to the VISTA program. Having to say good-bye and start new with a different VISTA each year must be extremely bittersweet and is certainly a huge commitment. To our campus coordi-nators- Thank you- for smiling at us when you really want to roll your eyes and for bragging about our work, we couldn’t have done so much without your guidance. To our VISTAs- Thank you- you may have had weeks when you wondered why you decided to serve as a VISTA, but you are all out-standing young professionals. To our campuses- Thank you- for prioritizing community service, service learning, and civic engagement at your institu-tion, we’ll have a better tomorrow be-cause of your commitment. To our community partners, faculty and stu-dents- Thank you- it’s because of you that our world keeps turning! I’ve truly enjoyed watching SCCC grow, thank you!

Supervisor: Kim Keel SCCC VISTA: Alexandra Persson This year I had the privilege to write about all of the wonderful service work that our 17 members have completed. I helped with the creation and mainte-nance of our communication vehicles including our monthly VISTA News, V-News, organic presidential and cam-pus coordinator newsletters called SCoops, Better Together, and voila, Going Far! As a SCCC VISTA, I had amazing insight into what service means in so many outlets, mediums, and contexts. I learned a tremendous amount that I will cherish and utilize no matter where life takes me!

This year 20 SCCC Summer Associates are serving at seven of our member campuses. The Summer Associates will serve as Summer VISTAs, provid-ing both direct and indirect service to their community. In total, the Summer

VISTAs will reach 17 community partners!

Summer VISTAs focus on a variety of activities that surround the gen-eral mission of South Carolina Cam-

pus Compact. The Program itself helps to empower the members, all of which are college students, to meet community needs.

The Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics at The Citadel will be a

statewide strategic partner to pilot a common statewide evaluation of the impact of Summer Associates. Dr. Conway Saylor of the Citadel greatly contributed by generating the tools and methods. Our goal is to develop com-mon metrics with the academic rigor that would qualify our combined pro-gram evaluations to be ultimately pub-lished as scholarly work.

We are excited to examine the out-comes at the end of this year’s sum-mer. This program is an excellent way in which campuses develop meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships with their communities.

This year our AmeriCorps Healthy Families Members have completed a variety of creative and innovative activ-ities to help further healthy living initi-ative in our state. The Members make a difference in their communities, gain valuable civic and workforce skills, and upon completion of their term earn an education award.

This year our AmeriCorps Members partnered with over 50 community partners and provided nutrition and wellness education and outreach activi-ties to help build their capacity to offer nutrition and wellness curriculum. Nine schools participated in the pro-gram.

A few examples of the variety and di-versity of programming planned, creat-ed and delivered on nutrition educa-tion by our AmeriCorps Members at their community partner sites include Zumba, Tailgating Healthy on Game Day, lessons on portion sizes and nu-trition labels, protein and dairy lessons, how to make fruit pizza class, a healthy habits program and much more!!

This was the second and final year for the program, however ambition to continue the promotion of healthy lifestyles will remain with our compact.

Kim Keel, Alexandra

Persson & Christina Soyden

Thanks to our sponsors. Community Service

Impact

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Leaders

Educate

Service

www.sccampuscompact.org

together

-African Proverb

better together 2011-2012 annual report

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