Learning While Serving New Funding Announced for UC Students to Pay it Forward

The University of Cincinnati was awarded $15,000 in the second year of a three-year grant – the majority of which is paid to the community in the “Pay It Forward” service-learning program for student philanthropy. The Ohio Campus Compact grant, “Pay It Forward: Strengthening Communities through Student-Led Philanthropy,” supports three UC service-learning courses over the 2010-11 academic year.

Each of the three UC courses were awarded $5,000 from the program, with approximately $500 used for administrative expenses and approximately $4,500 going to non-profit agencies selected by the students.

Here are descriptions of the three UC courses that were awarded the funding:

Diversity and Health – The course got underway during winter quarter and is taught by Farrah Jacquez, an assistant professor in the Psychology Department of A&S. Students are exploring individual and social factors that contribute to health issues and are working to reduce disparities involving gender, race, disability or social status as they explore health interventions. Part of this effort will involve interviewing children at the Cincinnati Public Schools’ Academy of Multilingual Immersion Studies (AMIS), which serves children whose native languages are French and Spanish. The school also serves a large African-American student population. The 35 UC students enrolled in the course will base their decisions about funding on efforts that will best benefit the health of the AMIS students.

“Last year’s class members did a health needs assessment with parents, children and teachers at AMIS,” says Jacquez. “Based on what they learned, they awarded $4,800 to the school to create an afterschool activity program to include both dance and soccer components.”

Writing, Philanthropy and Student Engagement – The sophomore-level service-learning English course at Clermont College will get underway in spring quarter and will be taught by Barbara Wallace, director of UC Clermont’s College Success Program, who also leads the college’s service learning initiative. Students will research key issues affecting at-risk youth as well as the service of nonprofits to this population. The direct service learning aspect of the program will include tutoring, mentoring and assisting the youth with their school work and other activities at three local Boys & Girls Club locations. The UC students will enhance their writing, research and critical thinking skills while they become more civically engaged. The culmination of the course involves students donating grant funds to area nonprofits. Wallace says students who took the course last year reported that they greatly enjoyed the feeling of empowerment that they gained by deciding which of many nonprofit organizations should receive grant funds.

Introduction to Intercultural Communication – The course last fall was taught by MJ Woeste, a field service associate professor in the Communication Department in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), with $4,500 awarded to City Gospel Mission to support a women’s and men’s recovery program.

The 35 students enrolled in the course last fall explored differences in communication practices among cultures, focusing on local populations that are living in poverty or are identified as marginalized communities. Students worked with local agencies that assist male and female populations struggling with homelessness and addiction.

Matthew Lisko, a senior communication major from Dublin, Ohio, says his participation in the course’s “36-hour experience” changed his entire perception of people who are homeless. As part of that experience, he was required to spend 36 hours around the City Gospel Mission, with only three dollars and no transportation. “It was such a humbling experience,” he says. “You discover that people who are homeless are a lot like you and I.”  Lisko says that as a result of the course, he’s leading a 36-hour experience with another one of Woeste’s courses during winter quarter.

“I saw a very real level of involvement and ownership of the students in the process of giving and working in the community,” Woeste says. “The real-life involvement of the students breathed life into the theories in the classroom, and illustrated the benefit of them,” he says.

Lisko adds that the course inspired him to regularly spend his weekends working with the homeless. “A lot of the time, if you just talk to the homeless community, you learn a lot,” he says.

Service Learning at UC

UC defines service learning as a specifically designed learning experience in which students combine reflection with structured participation in community based projects to achieve specific learning goals. This participation at the local, national or international level helps students gain a richer mastery of their course content, enhances their sense of civic responsibility and helps students connect classroom theory with practice, ideas, values and the community. Over the previous academic year, 52 different UC academic departments offered 182 service-learning courses.

UC has forged a collaborative partnership spanning both academic affairs and student affairs – including co-located office space and sharing of resources and contacts – that serves to create deeper, more sustainable partnerships with our community. Under student affairs, UC’s Center for Community Engagement is dedicated to connecting the University of Cincinnati and the community through service. UC’s Office for Community-Engaged Learning under academic affairs supports students, faculty and community partners to ensure that the community-engaged learning experience at UC is a benefit to all involved.

About Pay It Forward

Funding for the Pay It Forward Program is made possible through the Corporation for National and Community Service (Learn and Serve America Higher Education). The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The corporation is the nation’s largest grant funder supporting service and volunteering. Through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, the corporation provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their country and their community while addressing critical community needs. Learn and Serve America provides support to schools, higher education institutions and community-based organizations that engage students, teachers and others in service learning.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching names UC among 115 American colleges and universities for its 2010 Community Engagement Classification. The foundation issued the announcement this month, naming UC among 35 research intensive universities to receive the classification.