Workshop Descriptions

Session I, 2:00p.m.-2:45p.m

I: Quest for Success: A National Award-Winning Service-Learning in First Year Program

Room: Sugar Maple
Daniel Cantor Yalowitz, Ed.D, Associate Dean for Special Projects; Robert Consalvo, Chair, McCormick Division of Business; David Lindenberg, Staff/Faculty for Quest for Success; Sylvia Jimison, Associate Academic Dean/Faculty, Quest for Success Program Coordinator; and First-Year Students Jennifer D'Aiuto, Ruary Clancy, Patricia Marquart, and Ashleigh Feeley from Southern Vermont College

A panel of faculty, students, and the Program Administrator of SVC's nationally recognized "Quest for Success" First Year Student Program will identify and describe key aspects of their experience in this pilot service-learning/civic engagement/extended Orientation course.

II: Strategic Partnerships: Academics, Student Life & Service-Learning

Room: Handy
Rowland Brucken, Associate Professor of History; Nicole DiDomenico, Director of the Office of Volunteer Programs; Evan Spaulding, Student, Norwich University

This workshop will present various models combining academics and service-learning with travel to the Cook Islands, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Nicaragua, and will cover staff and faculty partnerships, student-led planning, challenges and trade-offs.

III: In Other Words: A Documentary Photography Collaboration Between Students and Elders in the Northeast Kingdom

Room: Jost
John M. Miller, Fine Art Department Chair and Associate Professor of Photography and Digital Media, Johnson State College

Johnson State College students produced a documentary of their work with members of a senior living community in Craftsbury. Miller will show examples of student photography and reflective writing to demonstrate:

IV: Learning to Teach Diverse Populations: Service-Learning with Refugee Children in Champlain's Education Courses

Room: Williams
Ken Reissig, Instructor, Education and Human Services Studies Division, Champlain College

As refugees enter our local schools, teachers find new challenges and opportunities in their classrooms. Education students from Champlain College are learning these issues first-hand at Edmunds Middle School in Burlington. Over three semesters they apply theory while serving as general education and literacy tutors for Somali Bantu and Sudanese students.

V: Students Working on ESL and Translation Services with Farm Workers and their Families : A Collaborative Project of the Addison County Farm Workers Coalition

Room Location: Chittenden
Gloria Estela GonzaláezZenteno, Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and Spanish, Middlebury College

This presentation will discuss how service to farm workers and their families has been integrated into the curriculum of Spanish language and Latin American Studies courses at Middlebury College, both impacting the community in positive ways while enriching the students' educational experiences. Examples of services provided by students range from benefiting just one individual (e.g., translating for someone with a bad tooth) to advocating for policy change at the State level.

Session II, 3:00-3:45p.m

I: Service-Learning and Problem-Solving: Reflecting on the Senior Capstone Course for Environment and Natural Resources Students at UVM

Room: Sugar Maple
Matt Kolan, Lecturer, Rubenstein School for Enivronment and Natural Resources; students, University of Vermont

The senior capstone course at the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources focuses on the skills and process of interdisciplinary problem solving. Students partner with a wide array of community organizations to work on projects ranging from energy efficiency for low-income residents to research regarding an eco-cemetery in Bristol, VT. In this workshop, students will discuss the course and their projects and instructor Matt Kolan will reflect on the course's role in broader curriculum planning for engagement in the Rubenstein School.

II: Farm to Kitchen Connection and Student Involvement at Sterling College

Room: Handy
Allison Van Akkeren, Faculty and Kitchen Supervisor; Elena Gustavson, Kitchen Manager; Julie Almeter, Student and Salvation Farms Student Worker, Sterling College

This workshop presents the objectives/actions used by the Sterling College Kitchen to meet their environmental mission to manage the College food system as an integral part of the educational program by demonstrating a "living what we teach" philosophy, and how students and the local community are deeply involved with our kitchen/farm collaboration.

III: Toward a New Liberal Arts: Teaching Effective Action for the Public Good

Room: Jost
Ken Himmelman, Director of Admissions, Bennington College

Colleges often speak of the need to educate young people to be responsible citizens in a democratic society. The usual mechanisms of internships, community service organizations, and service-learning classes offered by committed faculty, are almost always isolated from the larger curricular framework of the institution. This presentation will lay out how Bennington College is grappling with institutionalizing - within and throughout the curriculum - the deeper connection we want students to make between their experience in the classroom and their engagement in the public domain.

IV: Students Leading the "Greening" at Castleton State College

Room: Williams
Paul Derby, Professor of Anthropology and Sociology; Sarah O'Neill, Student and Green Intern, Castleton State College

A student "Green" intern and a professor demonstrate how student-led initiatives - the nationally recognized recycling program, Smart Metering in the residence halls, the Sustainability Club, signing of President's Climate Commitment, and production of bio-diesel - evolved into an institutionalized program of environmental sustainability at Castleton State College and were key in "selling" the programs to the college. The presentation also shares methods to measure the progress of sustainability efforts and related student learning through civic participation.

V: Fostering Corporate Citizenship through Service-Learning

Room: Chittenden
Jacob Park, Assistant Professor of Business Strategy and Sustainability, with Students from
Green Mountain College

This presentation provides a case study of integrating service-learning in an undergraduate business management class where students provided a wide range of management advice to improve business practices for two small Vermont companies. The workshop will include some resources on service-learning in management and business in the liberal arts curriculum.

We encourage member campuses to participate in the following ways:

Deadline Approaching for Survey and Best Practices Showcase!!!