A Campus-Community Partnership to Improve Child Welfare Service Delivery
This presentation will describe the development and impact of an ongoing campus-community partnership to improve service delivery to a community’s most vulnerable youth and families. Local child welfare organizations have long struggled with high turnover among their workforce, resulting in burdensome training costs and interruptions in care to families. To better prepare individuals for the demands of child welfare practice, the University of North Florida and Family Support Services of North Florida joined forces to create and embed a community-based Child Welfare Training Program in baccalaureate students’ program of study. Assessment findings as well as lessons learned that might inform replication will be shared to encourage conversation and reflection about the utility and value of authentic campus-community partnerships.

Jennifer Spaulding-Givens

A Collaborative Evaluation Approach for Impactful Community Engagement and Service-Learning
The poster presentation engages participants in a dialogue that explores ways in which collaborative approaches to evaluation and assessment are impactful in community engagement and service-learning. The Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning and Monsignor John J. Egan Office for Urban Education and Community Partnerships (UECP) is a dynamic and multifaceted community engagement center at DePaul University. Recently, the Egan Office and the Steans Center have intentionally refined their internal and external assessments, encompassing the efforts of both units to demonstrate community engagement and service-learning among community, health, and faith-based organizations, K-12 schools, faculty, and students. The poster will map the Steans-Egan to show the various ways participants can build collaborative approaches for assessment, evaluation, data and storytelling.

Barbara Smith, Monica Ramos

Campus-Community Coalition Building through Summer Student Internships Addressing Local Priorities
The purpose of this session is to share our Center’s Summer 2024 experience in developing a Bucknell student summer internship program with local community partners, with focus on addressing community-identified priorities. Our goals include: i) to identify the process of selecting nonprofit partners and involving them in the hiring process; ii) to provide an overview of our inaugural eight-week summer internship program, including logistics (transportation, schedules), pre-and-post internship reflections, mid-internship check-ins, and troubleshooting of issues with nonprofit site supervisors; iii) and discuss lessons learned to refine our approach for future summers of community impact internships. Key takeaways include the significance of effective communication, prioritizing community input, and establishing a robust collaborative partnership with nonprofit organizations.

Stacey Piecuch

Challenging the Divide Between Legal Promises & Healthcare Realities for Blind Patients
This project explores the challenges faced by blind patients in Virginia, where legal accessibility protections often fail to translate into practical, everyday support. It examines the disconnect between policy and practice through real-world examples and highlights underutilized resources available to bridge these gaps. The content focuses on actionable strategies for healthcare providers, advocates, and policymakers to create more equitable systems. By addressing these disparities, the work aims to inspire innovative approaches that transform well-meaning legislation into tangible, compassionate care for blind patients.

Bezawit Mulatu

Civic Engagement with private religious colleges: challenges and opportunities
Private colleges in the United States, especially those with a Christian ethos, hold specific viewpoints regarding the reasons for civic engagement. This session considers the ways in which theological or ideological relationship of individuals and institutions with such Christian backgrounds may require different techniques for engagement in the campus COMPACT movement. In considering the theological bases for the institution's commitments to civic engagement, practitioners seeking to expand opportunities with campus compact will consider different approaches.

J Cody Nielsen

Civic Mobility in the Heartland: Centering Civic Action, Civic Value, and Civic Power
Opportunities for young people to engage in civic life are not evenly distributed. This includes opportunities for young people to participate in civic engagement research initiatives that involve youth. In recent years, civic engagement research has increasingly advocated for working with young people rather than viewing them as objects to be studied. Drawing on experiences with the Civic Mobility in the Heartland research project, this poster offers insights into the ways centering youth voices and participation in civic engagement research can generate new research findings and opportunities for young people to contribute to civic life. Specific attention is given to findings and experiences of youth researchers around civic access, civic value, and civic power.

Jodi Benenson

Coalition Building in Engaged Scholarship Projects
Ernest Boyer coined the term “Engaged Scholarship” to describe teaching and research that connect “the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic, and ethical problems” (Boyer, 1996 [pdf]). To this listing we add environmental problems. We believe that higher education institutions have a key role to play in equipping students with the knowledge, connections, and resources to drive systems change in partnership with others. Representing the Good Energy Collaborative, Swarthmore College alumna and three community partners will share how they have worked together in solidarity on solar and other environmental justice projects, illuminating coalition building and systems practice in the context of the City of Chester and Philadelphia, PA.

Jennifer Magee, Ariza Nanji, Nolan Fontaine, .O, Jarue Lawson

Creating a 'WE' Approach to SL Discourse and Implementation
The "WE" Approach to Service-Learning (SL) empowers students by centering their voices in community engagement. "WE" stands for "We Engage," highlighting a collaborative model where students choose how to serve and contribute to their communities. This framework fosters student agency, creating more meaningful and personalized SL experiences. This session will introduce the "WE" Approach, discuss strategies for enhancing student involvement, and explore the benefits of collaborative SL practices for both students and communities. Attendees will gain practical tools to implement student-driven SL initiatives that enhance learning and community impact.

Deidra Rogers

Developing Measures of College Students’ Civic Character Using a Rigorous Mixed Methods Approach
During this session, we will be discussing our recent project, which aims to develop and pilot-test multidimensional measures of college students' civic character through a rigorous mixed methods approach. Grounded in the Tisch College Evaluation & Assessment Framework, the study focuses on three dimensions of civic character: Civic Identity, Civic Leadership, and Civic Agency. The session will detail the step-by-step process of validating these measures, focusing on the integration of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants committed to fostering students' civic character are invited to engage in discussions about the scale, reflect on how they currently—or plan to—assess their student’s growth, and explore future strategies for evaluating civic character and its potential to advance social change.

Sunah Hyun, Matthew Gee

Empowering Student Leaders: Leveraging Diverse Experiences to Bridge Educational Gaps
This session is purposefully designed to leverage the diverse past experiences of participating students to bridge educational gaps and foster student success through working with a community partner. As a student leader for a local nonprofit through my University, I have been able to pioneer two pivotal initiatives– A College Readiness Panel and a STEM Learning Fair. The objective of this session is the philosophy of student-led and student-driven engagement. By centering student voices and experiences, the programs are tailored to meet the unique needs of the community, making learning relevant and impactful. The key-takeaway is the power of student agency in driving educational change while highlighting a replicable model for other community leaders seeking to innovate in various programs.

Brooke Moses

Empowering Voices: Engaging Students in Civic Action on Campus
Join us for an interactive workshop aimed at empowering university students to engage in civic action by developing a comprehensive toolkit for class visits that informs peers about Auraria Votes and the voter registration process, while also sharing effective strategies for social media campaigns to motivate student voting; participants will leave with actionable resources, enhanced understanding of the voting process, and networking opportunities with fellow students committed to fostering a culture of active participation in democracy on campus.

Andrea Arreola-Soria, Madison Larsen

EPIC-N:Facilitating International Sustainable Development Through University-Community Collaboration
In this session, Gavin Luter, Acting Managing Director of EPIC-N, will discuss EPIC-N’s expansion into Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Gavin will discuss EPIC-N’s scoping efforts, implementation, and lessons learned from this expansion effort. Following this, he will provide examples of regional differences in EPIC model implementation, success and challenges from each region, and best practices moving forward. Gavin will end the presentation by providing examples of projects in these regions, including summaries, UN SDGs, and project deliverables. Participants will be encouraged to contribute questions, comments, and suggestions throughout the presentation. We are seeking input from participants on EPIC-N’s future expansion into Europe.

Gavin Luter

Ethos-Driven Leadership®: Fostering Student Belonging and Mental Wellness
This workshop is a unique opportunity to apply the innovative Ethos-Driven Leadership® framework, developed by Dawn Christian, the CEO & Founder of BeLeadership™, a groundbreaking leadership advisory firm committed to developing belonging as a leadership competency™. This framework, focusing on authenticity, inclusivity, and well-being, is a powerful tool to inspire student-led initiatives that promote mental wellness and belonging. Participants will gain practical strategies to cultivate an ethos-centered approach. Through interactive exercises, we'll demonstrate how to develop student leaders who can create supportive environments and implement effective mental health programs. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to foster a campus culture where students feel empowered and informed to lead initiatives that address mental health challenges and enhance well-being.

Dawn Christia

Exploring Youth Wellbeing and Social Media Use
In this poster, I will present on a community-based participatory research project, Exploring Youth Wellbeing and Social Media Use, conducted by members of my host site, the Tisch College Community Research Center (TCRC) at Tufts University, and Sociedad Latina. TCRC is a research center dedicated to community-based and participatory research and Sociedad Latina is a Boston nonprofit organization that focuses on empowering Latine youth.

August Smit

Increasing Transparency in Service-Learning through use of a Transparent Assignment
Increasing the transparency of expectations to improve student success is a cornerstone of experiential learning (EL) implementation. Transparent teaching tools can facilitate this by helping students navigate course content and expectations in EL courses and increase accessibility for diverse types of learners. In this interactive session, faculty and staff from Boise State University will share a transparency teaching tool, a “TILTed” service-learning assignment (SLTA) they created and integrated into a semester-long, service-learning course with multiple community partnerships.

Mari Rice

Making Progress: GMU's Journey to Building and Sustaining Community Partnerships
Building strong and mutually beneficial relationships with community partners is one of the most essential aspects of any community engagement focused office. However, with competing priorities and to-do lists that never end, it's easy to make these encounters transactional. In this Promising Practice session, participants will learn about George Mason's attempts to connect better with community partners through our Bonner Leader Program. This workshop is intended for anyone who wishes to find ways to engage meaningfully with partners in the busy worlds of nonprofits and higher education.

Cara Snider

Pulling Together with a Land Conservancy: Impacting plants, animals, and humans
This poster describes a program, now in its second year, in which a regional comprehensive university partners with a local land conservancy to address invasive plant species in the only public green space in an under-served zip code through a program designed to give underclassmen their first university-level service experience. Initiated over coffee and outlined on a napkin, this first-of-its-kind campus-wide initiative focused on bringing service to general education courses from Biology to Speech and English to University Studies. In year one, we collaborated with individuals from 4 universities, 7 community organizations, and hundreds of private citizens around ecological conservancy and making a positive impact. Stop by our poster to ask questions, give suggestions, and get excited about going green!

David Marlow, Sam Reinhardt, Matthew Hage

Reclaiming Greenspaces: Memorial Garden + Outdoor Classroom
The STRIPES program at Belmont Charter High School has transformed two neglected green spaces into vibrant community areas, including a memorial garden honoring beloved members of the Belmont family and a pop-up shop for student entrepreneurs. This project not only beautifies the campus but also strengthens connections between the school and the Parkside community, exemplifying the impact of place-based education.

Michael Friedman

Relational, Invested, Reliable: Benefiting Organizations and Students Through Community Engagement
In the Community Partnerships Department at The Chicago School, the Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA is responsible for placing student volunteers at a variety of community-based organizations. At a graduate school of psychology with a largely remote presence, the office also becomes a broad hub for student support. Students’ needs and skills differ from those of traditional undergraduates; Community Partnerships serves as an important, adaptable, and trusted touchpoint throughout their time in school. Drawing on experience in relational and community organizing, the VISTA offers insights as to how community engagement departments can offer students meaningful and accessible experiences, empower grassroots organizations, and drive institutional improvement.

Colleen Falconer

Service-Learning On a Continuum: Shallow and Deep Service-Learning in Rwanda
This presentation explores a study abroad program to Rwanda, developed by a regional U.S. university, focusing on the intersections of science, society, and service-learning. The program incorporates both "deep" and "shallow" service-learning experiences, emphasizing critical engagement. Deep service-learning involves extended community partnerships, exemplified by a multi-day cookstove project in a rural village. Shallow service-learning includes shorter engagements with local institutions. Data demonstrate improvements in global competency, intercultural awareness, personal development, and teamwork skills. While deep service-learning proved most impactful, shallow experiences also provided valuable learning opportunities. The presentation offers insights on program design, implementation, and assessment, providing guidance for faculty and administrators planning similar global service-learning initiatives that balance deep and shallow engagement for comprehensive student experiences.

Leah Horton, Riva Brown

The HERCULES Stakeholder Advisory Board: centering community voice in decision-making for 10+ years
The HERCULES Exposome Research Center, an environmental health research center within Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, has been guided by a Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) since before its inception in 2013. The SAB, made up of representatives from community, academia, and government, is an important mechanism for bidirectional dialogue between the Atlanta community and HERCULES. This poster will describe the structure, role, and responsibilities of the SAB, as well as evaluation results that include a survey and focus group with SAB members conducted in 2023. The evaluation elicits SAB member opinions regarding partnership functions, benefits, satisfaction, accomplishments, and trust. These results are also compared to results from a survey and focus group conducted with the SAB in 2015.

Erin Lebow-Skelley, Shankar Bhat, Sarah Timbie

The Purdue requirement for Civics Literacy
Four years ago, Purdue University launched their Civics Literacy initiative, requiring all Baccalaureate degree students to earn our Civics Literacy credential. This poster will present current status of the program, development and implementation, and initial research findings.

Fred Duttlinger

The youth population opting toward a holistic DEIJ approach
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) initiatives are fundamental to institutional practices and progress. DEIJ is essential for addressing societal issues and systemic inequalities and driving change, especially with the growing youth population. Youth aged 15-24 make up 16 percent of the global population (World Youth Report, 2020) and are instrumental in driving societal transformation. This demographic is large and incredibly diverse, bringing a wide array of perspectives and experiences. In our higher education institutions, we engage many of these youth from various backgrounds, which enriches our perspectives and enables a comprehensive approach to our work and practices. By incorporating DEIJ principles with a youth-centered approach, we can better address the unique challenges of diverse communities, leading to equitable solutions.

Halima Therese Gbaguidi, Nicole Webster

Urban Innovation Fund: Advancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in Camden,NJ
This poster will showcase the Rutgers Camden Urban Innovation Fund’s efforts to connect Rutgers-Camden faculty, staff, and students with the Camden community. By exploring projects that address education, health, economic development, environmental justice, public safety, and civic participation, this poster will highlight how these collaborations have expanded knowledge and foster publicly engaged scholarship. Attendees will learn about successful initiatives and gain insights into building impactful community partnerships.

Daniel Fidalgo Tomé, Nyeema Watson, Nathaniel Wright

Utilizing the AmeriCorps VISTA Program to Build Capacity for Climate Resilience in Decatur, GA
In February 2021, Agnes Scott College and the City of Decatur, Georgia completed a joint Climate Resilience Plan (CRP). The purpose of the CRP is to identify together the most pressing impacts of climate change anticipated in this region and to outline the strategies for addressing these impacts in terms of preparation and response. Our presentation will focus on evaluating collaboration and capacity building between the CRP VISTA Member, Agnes Scott College, the City of Decatur, MLK Service Project and other entities within the Climate Resilience Plan Task Force. We will also discuss ways in which this type of work can be replicated in other communities seeking climate or sustainability related planning and collaboration.

Blayne McDonald, Kimberly Reeves, Noemi Carrillo