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To Whom Much Is Given

2007 Conference on Service Learning in Higher Education

Conference Schedule

Breakout Block IV

3:00-3:45 Sessions

Assessment in Service Learning  (Birmingham Room)

An often-neglected component of service learning, assessment and evaluation of service learning courses and programs can not only improve the quality of teaching and learning but also contribute to an important and growing body of research on the impact of service learning on students’ educational development. This workshop will help faculty members overcome challenges to assessment by providing an overview of assessment measures and suggestions about how to use the data.

Marybeth Lima (Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Louisiana State University)

Nonprofit and Community Partners’ Perspectives on Poverty     (Central Bank Room)

Matters of Faith: Are We Leaving the Poor Behind?

This session will examine the role of local churches in developing solutions to poverty and how communities of faith can minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the “least among us” in rural and urban areas. Examples will be shared of best practices as well as mechanisms for strengthening community and faith-based partnerships.

Cheree Causey (Executive Director, Susanna Wesley Society)

PCM: A No-Interest Loan/Grant Program for Low-Income Residents of Lee County

This presentation will discuss the Presbyterian Community Ministry (PCM), a nonprofit, ecumenical organization in Lee County, Alabama, serving housing and emergency needs through non-interest bearing loans and grants to low-income residents. The presentation will introduce PCM as a valuable model of compassionate engagement with some of Alabama’s neediest citizens that might be emulated in more communities.

David Carter (Associate Professor, History, Auburn University)

Empowering Mothers in Poverty: The Revival of the Community Midwife in Alabama

Any discussion on alleviating poverty in Alabama should include midwives. In this panel session we will 1) survey why maternity care is overlooked in deliberations on poverty; 2) examine ways our maternity care system affects impoverished mothers; and 3) explore opportunities to help expand maternity options for everyone in Alabama.

Jennifer Crook Moore (Certified Professional Midwife, Alabama Birth Coalition)

Carol Ann Vaughn (Professor, Women and Leadership Studies, Samford University)

Innovative Courses (B)  (Wilson Room)

Be Extreme Inside and Out: Developing Service Learning Within Nonprofits

Panelists will discuss a service learning course collaboration with “Be Extreme Inside and Out,” an empowerment and pregnancy prevention program for teenage girls in rural East Alabama implemented by social workers and community volunteers.  Panelists will examine the lessons learned through collaboration and the program evaluation which resulted.

Nancy Stewart (Assistant Professor, Social Work, Jacksonville State University)

Maureen Sullivan (Social Worker, Cleburne County Schools, and creator of Be Extreme)

Teaching 18^th Century Literature through Service Learning

Panelist will discuss ways in which service learning helped clarify issues surrounding the persistence of poverty by connecting poetic representations of eighteenth-century rural poverty and students’ own observations of, and attempts to address, contemporary poverty in the Black Belt.  This session will include a short analysis of a poetic passage to simulate a classroom exercise.

Stephen Epley (Assistant Professor, English, Samford University)

Successfully Linking Theory with Application:  School and Community-Based Service Learning Courses Addressing Health and Fitness

This session involves discussion of community and school based service learning projects involving motor development of special needs children and school-based health promotion and fitness testing.  Pre/Post data will be presented.   Attendees will learn about designing, implementing and evaluating service learning experiences in a real world setting.

Candy Howard-Shaughnessy (Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Kinesiology & Health Promotion, Troy University)

Gayle Bush (Professor, Kinesiology & Health Promotion, Troy University)

Student-Directed Service Learning Projects  (Mason Room)

Empowering Inner-City Youth

Panelists will discuss their civic engagement projects geared towards empowering inner-city youth. These include urban arts education, urban gardening, and youth mentoring. The discussion on student driven community-based education will emphasize key elements for successful collaboration, including identifying needs, finding resources, gathering momentum, and ensuring sustainability.

Jonathan Woolley (Student, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Jazmund Walker (Student, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Michael Frederick (Student, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Turning Current Issues into Service Learning Projects

Participants will learn how to transform current state and international poverty issues into student created service learning projects that engage students, community partners and community members in active social change. Surveys, brochures and other project material will show how to make sure the project complies with educational and service learning requirements.

Karen Starks (Assistant Professor, Social Work, The University of Alabama)

Service Learning: Striking a Balance among Stakeholders  (Nichols Room)

Are the interests of principal stakeholders involved in service learning programs the same, especially those of students and community? How do stakeholders find common ground? What are their potential conflicts? Join a lively discussion from varying perspectives on how to ensure success in service learning through acknowledging players’ differences.

Norma-May Isakow (Director, Office of Service Learning, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Rosie O’Beirne (Research Associate, Center for Urban Affairs, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Harry Hamilton (Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

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