Syracuse University to recognize commitment to community at Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship ceremony

Monday, March 23, 2009, By News Staff

Syracuse University to recognize commitment to community at Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship ceremonyMarch 23, 2009Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Syracuse University will honor students, faculty, staff and community partners who exemplify SU’s commitment to engagement with the community and Scholarship in Action with the 2009 Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship at a celebration dinner today (March 23) at 5:15 p.m. in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium.

SU students, faculty and staff engage in tens of thousands of hours of community-based work in partnership with the Syracuse community, the region and the world. Public scholarship is done through the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service (CPCS), as well as many other SU/community partnerships and programs.

“Every year when I read the nominations and prepare for the Chancellor’s event, I continue to be struck by the depth and breadth of the kinds of projects and activities SU students are doing,” says Pamela Kirwin Heintz, associate vice president for engagement in the Division of Academic Affairs and director of CPCS. “We have fantastic students at SU who value their role as engaged citizens, making significant commitments and contributions to their communities, whether here in Syracuse or on the other side of the world. And the wonder of it all is that I know these projects and activities enhance our students’ learning as they begin to see the world through the eyes of their community partners. What a win-win for us all.”

This year’s honorees include:

Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship

Residence Hall Awards

  • DellPlain/Butterfield Hall Council-Students have been involved in a number of initiatives and programs, including raising money for breast cancer and suicide prevention awareness, sponsoring a blood drive and hosting Halloween trick-or-treating for Syracuse children.

  • South Campus Organization for Programming Excellence (S.C.O.P.E.)-This organization creates small- and large-scale volunteer and community engagement initiatives to build and sustain a sense of community among South Campus residents. One of their new programs, ‘CuseCares, pairs local sixth-grade students with South Campus residents through a pen-pal progam.

Student Organization Awards (These awards are for recognized student groups.)

  • Engineers Without Borders (EWB)-Formed at SU in 2006, this organization works on sustainable engineering projects in developing communities and countries. The group is currently partnering with Into Abba’s Arms, an orphanage in Kenya, to redesign the facility with an emphasis on clean indoor air quality.

  • National Association of Black Accountants-This organization takes part in community activities and institutional engagement and promotes inclusiveness on campus.

Student Organization Award-Honorable Mention

  • Conflict Management Center (Maxwell School)-Student volunteers received training, which they then put to work in co-facilitating sessions in CNY Speaks, a citizen engagement project.

Student Group Award (This award is for groups of students who came together informally around issues or interests, but are not formally recognized as student organizations.)

  • BOOST (Bolstering Original Opportunity and Self through Technology creates self-reliance in women by teaching participants from the local community basic technical skills to assist them in the workforce or in starting their own business.

  • The GED Tutoring Group works with inmates at the Auburn Correctional Facility to help them study for their GEDs.

Special Civic Engagement Award

  • Protestant Campus Ministry has been involved in an ongoing basis in the rebuilding of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

  • SU-ESF Habitat for Humanity is one of the top five Habitat campus chapters in the country. This year, the chapter fully funded and constructed a home in Syracuse and sent students to Louisiana and other areas around the country to build more homes.

Academic Service Learning Awards-Course/Project/Programs

  • (ADD 440): Ad Design Research Problems (College of Visual and Performing Arts)-Students immersed themselves in an image and recruitment campaign for the Syracuse Police Department.

  • (EEE 630)-Urban Farm Greenhouse Project (Martin J. Whitman School of Management)-Working collaboratively with other schools on campus, students formulated designs for an urban greenhouse, as well as financial plans and ways to integrate emerging technologies into a holistic plan.

  • Goldring Arts Journalists (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)-Master’s degree students identified, researched, wrote and edited stories of Syracuse for an arts and culture special section in The Post-Standard and produced a multimedia program for the newspaper’s website.

  • (HTW 302): “Influencing Healthy Behavior” (College of Human Ecology)-Working with the Amaus Healthy Services Clinic at Cathedral, students collected food, shoes, hats, mittens, clothing and personal care items for socially vulnerable individuals.

  • (HTW 307): “Culturally Competent Healthcare” (College of Human Ecology)-This course enables students to evaluate the effects of cultural differences, traditions, values, beliefs of various ethnic groups and how cultural norms influence healthcare, its delivery, access and health outcomes.

  • (WRT 205): “Critical Research” (College of Arts and Sciences)-Students formed a collaboration with participants in Enable’s Day Habilitation Program and created a journal that depicted the emotions and thoughts of the participants as they theatrically transformed into the idol and role model of their choosing.

Academic Service Learning-Individual

  • Laura Baldesarra ’09 and Jason Yeadon ’09, seniors in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Baldesarra and Yeadon, communications design students, submitted an entry, “Disney’s Memory Maker and DHD Player” to the Walt Disney ImagiNations Competition and came in first ahead of 62 other international entries received. Their challenge was to imagine the potential the innovation had, associate it with a brand, and project how it would change the world around them.

  • Margaret McWeeney ’09, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences and participant in the Renee Crown University Honors Program-McWeeney undertook a Community Research Fellowship and collaborated with the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation on a two-year project. She interviewed various stakeholders for a thesis on the history and realities of Native American education. The results of her study will be relevant to educational policy decisions at the local and state levels, and serve as a prototype for the study of Native American education.

    Community Service Leadership Awards

    Group

    The following groups/organizations and academic projects are recognized for their sustained commitment to community engagement and public scholarship. Some of the work they have done in the past year includes tutoring and mentoring, working with organizations that provide food assistance, and working with the elderly and refugee populations.

    • Alpha Phi Omega
    • Balancing the Books
    • Beta Alpha Psi
    • Defense Comptroller Program Class of 2009
    • Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
    • OrangeSeeds: First-Year Student Leadership Program
    • Renee Crown University Honors Program (Honors Student Association, Hughes Elementary After-School Program, Nottingham High School AP World History Tutoring Program, The Breakfast Club at Levy Middle School)
    • Sport Management Club
    • SRC/LCS Tutoring Program
    • Student Athlete Advisory Committee
    • Students in Free Enterprise (S.I.F.E.)
    • Syracuse University Army ROTC
    • Syracuse University Volunteer Association
    • The Young Artist’s Theatre Group

    Academic Service Learning Awards

    • (CMD 352): “Design Project Management” (College of Visual and Performing Arts)-This course allowed students to form design teams to research the history and specific problems facing residents of the Syracuse’s Near Westside neighborhood.

    • Genesis Health Project (College of Human Ecology)-The project is a community-designed, faith-based initiative to reduce obesity and promote a healthier lifestyle among African Americans.

    • Healthy You (College of Human Ecology)-Healthy You is a student-produced, bi-yearly health newsmagazine designed to promote health literacy and healthier behaviors among students, faculty and staff, and Syracuse residents.

    • (HTW 311/600): “Health Literacy” (College of Human Ecology)-The course explores the many links between health, literacy, health outcomes and health care disparities. Students volunteer at seven community locations to help improve health literacy.

    Individual Awards

    First-Year Leadership Award

    • Patrick Alvarez, a first-year student in The College of Arts and Sciences, created a nonprofit group, Project Feed Me, to combat hunger in the United States and the lack of youth involvement in community service and philanthropy.

    First-Year Leadership Award (Honorable Mention)

    • Carrie Strout, a freshman in the College of Human Ecology, is recognized for her continuing work as a volunteer firefighter.

    Resident Advisor Leadership Award

    • Rachel Dudley, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences-Dudley is recognized for her work as a resident advisor and for developing enthusiasm for public service among her residents.

    2009 Inspiration Awards

    • John Dau, president of the John Dau Sudan Foundation, and Frank Lazarski, executive director of the United Way of Central New York-Both are recognized for the dedication and inspiration that they display to students.

    Chancellor’s Citation

    • Avi Hameroff, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences (SRC Literacy Award). Hameroff is recognized for his commitment to the Hughes After School Program, for which he provides tutoring and mentoring. He served as the volunteer coordinator, responsible for organizing the tutoring schedule and recruiting new volunteers.

    • Mary-Bridget Hamm, a senior in the College of Human Ecology-Hamm is honored for her commitment to the Youth Empowerment Program at Bellevue Middle School Academy. Hamm developed a breakfast club, educated the school population on different food groups, and planned a hydration day to focus on why drinking water is important. She also developed a mentoring program at Bellevue.

    • Katelyn Hancock, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences-Hancock is a volunteer with the John Dau Foundation and has created a website and assisted with fundraising. She has facilitated about 10 fundraising events, helped develop an academic course focused on the clinic in Sudan, and arranged for two classes in the Newhouse School to assist the foundation.

    • Carissa Matthews ’09, a senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications-Matthews recruited 100 students to pool their knowledge and expertise in public relations and offer it to local nonprofits, enabling the nonprofits to develop the tools they need to provide their services and maintain their viability.

    • Sofia Pablo-Hoshino, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences-As a resident advisor, Pablo-Hoshino was a role model and leader, and challenged her residents to be globally minded thinkers. She is a peer leader for the WellsLink Leadership Program, a tutor with Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse, and a volunteer for the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring Project.