Successful Collaborations Lead to Campus-Wide Civic Engagement

Diane FleishmanDirector, Experiential Learning & Career Management

Millersville University Successful CollaborationsLead to Campus-WideCivic Engagement Collaboration Leads to SuccessMillersville University is perfectly placed for civic and community engagement:Located in Lancaster County PA rural & urban (Lancaster Citys population is about 50% Hispanic and more than 80% of the children in the school district receive free or reduced lunchesMU is part of the PA State System of Higher Education with 8,000 undergrads and grads with a history of community partnershipsAchieved the Presidents Honor Roll for Community Engagement with Distinction and the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement

Community & Civic Engagement & Research Projects (CCERP)CCERP was established in 2006 to emphasize the commitment to civic engagement that would become part of the institutional culture.Under the CCERP are:

The Office of Experiential Learning & Career ManagementThe Walker Center for Civic Responsibility & LeadershipThe Center for Public Scholarship and Social ChangeA faculty and student planning council and a community, staff and faculty advisory board

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING and CAREER MANAGEMENTThe Office of Experiential Learning and Career Management administers and coordinates the universitys academic internships and volunteer opportunities through community partnerships, assists in developing service learning courses, and supports the endeavors of the Centers.Programs Include:Job and Internship FairsDay of Caring, Food Drives, MLK Day, After School Corps, Second MileNonprofit Internship AwardsProfessional development

Internship Office * Career Services * Volunteer Central4Job and Internship FairsBuild relationships with employers and facultyLarge representations of for-profit, non-profit and governmental organizationsIntroduce students to employers and opportunities for internships & careers that may be new to them

Community Service EventsVolunteer Central provides a service clearing house for agencies, service-learning faculty and for students who belong to organizations and those who do notCommunity Partners have come to rely on a large number of students to complete projects in a short timeframe such as Day of Caring , MLK Day and Into the StreetsOngoing opportunities such as Second Mile, First Book and After School Corps are available as are one time events such as our annual Food Drive

THE WALKER CENTER FOR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY & LEADERSHIPThe Walker Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership provides student-centered educational and developmental projects and activities. It is premised on the view that through civic education students will be awakened and equipped to become active leaders in civic affairs.Programs Include:Voter registration, candidate forums voter vans and poll watchersCongress to CampusWalker Fellows

Congress to CampusWe learned about this great program at an early ADP ConferenceHighlights are:Class presentationsLunch with Walker Fellows/Honors StudentsPizza, Policy and PoliticsPresentation at local High School to more than 200 studentsPizza, Policy, & Politics FREE Pizza, Salad, & Dessert BuffetQuestions Encouraged!

Featuring two Former U.S. Congressman;Hon. John LaFalce & Hon. Ron Sarasin

Center for Public Scholarship and Social ChangeThe Center for Public Scholarship and Social Change is committed to the production and dissemination of rigorous research that is collaborative and community-based or community-focused. It is also dedicated to service and outreach that lends support and expertise to searches for creative and pragmatic solutions to pressing social issues. Program HighlightsReflect and ConnectEngaged ScholarsDistinguished Civic Leadership AwardsPolicy Conferences

The Reflect & Connect Series is a series of gatherings where community membersfaculty, students, staff, and residents in the larger communityread short pieces of literature on service, reflect on civic engagement, and connect with opportunities in the community brought to them by Volunteer Central staff.

Prior to each event, participants register for the session, obtain the reading about civic engagement from Huntington House or through links on Facebook, and read a short (2-6 page) pieces of literature. At the event, facilitatorsfaculty, staff, or studentsorganize discussion and activities to help participants reflect on the literature as it relates to service and civic engagement.

SAMPLE TOPICSThe Reflect & Connect series involves a discussion around a short, interesting text about community service that invites members of Millersvilles community to come together to reflect on service and then sign up to connect to the community through volunteer opportunities.

Februarys Session will be led by Millersvilles American Meteorological Society. Please join us as we explore how MU-AMS is using their interest in weather to reach out to the community through events such as Public Weather Awareness Day.

Dr. Timothy Shea, Department of English will facilitate on March session with Sometimes the Earth is Cruel by Leonard Pitt (Dallas News).

Free and open to the public.

Distinguished Civic LeadershipAwardsAwardees are nominated by the community and selected by University and community members. They recognize multiple forms of civic leadership including children as well as adults in numerous categories A banquet is followed by a public celebration with a speaker who exemplifies the qualities of the award recipientsThe speaker meets with Walker Fellows and interested students in small groups

The younges awardee so far is an 11 year old girl who started a fund raiser named for a deceased brother. Another is a high school student who started a nonprofit named for a family friend who was killed 9/11. She has carried on his name by collecting clothing for the homeless in NYC. A faculty member and his wife started a nonprofit to surround hate speakers with a wall of silent people who carry open umbrellas to protect those being harassed. 19

Engaged ScholarsThe Engaged Scholars Program aims to create a community of faculty with a shared interest in service learning and/or community based research to collaborate and support each other in the development of engaged public scholarshipAnnual cohorts work together to develop syllabi and projectsProfessional development opportunities such as attending conferences and workshops

Public Policy ConferencesProvides opportunities for campus and community to hear from nationally and internationally know experts on relevant topicsCollaboration between faculty and students to develop and promote conferencesTopics:Closing the Educational Achievement GapSustaining the Middle ClassScience and Technology Policy Conference

CONCLUSIONSCollaboration strengthens all programsCollaborations can be intentional or incidentalRepetition strengthens collaborationsDont be shy about introducing the idea of including new entities Successful collaborations lead to campus-wide civic engagement

Millersville UniversityPO Box 1002Millersville, PA 17551-0302717-872-3774Diane.fleishman@millersville.eduwww.millersville.edu/ices

Diane C. Fleishman, DirectorExperiential Education & Career Management