Diane Fleishman Director, Experiential Learning & Career Management Millersville University Successful Collaborations Lead to Campus-Wide Civic Engagement

Collaboration Leads to Success Millersville University is perfectly placed for civic and community engagement: Located in Lancaster County PA – rural & urban (Lancaster City’s population is about 50% Hispanic and more than 80% of the children in the school district receive free or reduced lunches MU is part of the PA State System of Higher Education with 8,000 undergrads and grads with a history of community partnerships Achieved the President’s Honor Roll for Community Engagement with Distinction and the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement

Community & Civic Engagement & Research Projects (CCERP) CCERP was established in 2006 to emphasize the commitment to civic engagement that would become part of the institutional culture. Under the CCERP are: The Office of Experiential Learning & Career Management The Walker Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership The Center for Public Scholarship and Social Change A faculty and student planning council and a community, staff and faculty advisory board

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING and CAREER MANAGEMENT The Office of Experiential Learning and Career Management administers and coordinates the university’s academic internships and volunteer opportunities through community partnerships, assists in developing service learning courses, and supports the endeavors of the Centers.Office of Experiential Learning and Career Management Programs Include: Job and Internship Fairs Day of Caring, Food Drives, MLK Day, After School Corps, Second Mile Nonprofit Internship Awards Professional development Internship Office * Career Services * Volunteer Central

Job and Internship Fairs Build relationships with employers and faculty Large representations of for-profit, non-profit and governmental organizations Introduce students to employers and opportunities for internships & careers that may be new to them

Community Service Events Volunteer Central provides a service clearing house for agencies, service-learning faculty and for students who belong to organizations and those who do not Community Partners have come to rely on a large number of students to complete projects in a short timeframe such as Day of Caring, MLK Day and Into the Streets Ongoing opportunities such as Second Mile, First Book and After School Corps are available as are one time events such as our annual Food Drive

THE WALKER CENTER FOR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY & LEADERSHIP The Walker Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership provides student-centered educational and developmental projects and activities. It is premised on the view that through civic education students will be awakened and equipped to become active leaders in civic affairs.Walker Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership Programs Include: Voter registration, candidate forums “voter vans” and poll watchers Congress to Campus Walker Fellows

Congress to Campus We learned about this great program at an early ADP Conference Highlights are: Class presentations Lunch with Walker Fellows/Honors Students Pizza, Policy and Politics Presentation at local High School to more than 200 students

Featuring two Former U.S. Congressman; Hon. John LaFalce & Hon. Ron Sarasin

Center for Public Scholarship and Social Change The Center for Public Scholarship and Social Change is committed to the production and dissemination of rigorous research that is collaborative and community- based or community-focused. It is also dedicated to service and outreach that lends support and expertise to searches for creative and pragmatic solutions to pressing social issues. Program Highlights Reflect and Connect Engaged Scholars Distinguished Civic Leadership Awards Policy Conferences

The Reflect & Connect Series is a series of gatherings where community members—faculty, students, staff, and residents in the larger community—read short pieces of literature on service, reflect on civic engagement, and connect with opportunities in the community brought to them by Volunteer Central staff. Prior to each event, participants register for the session, obtain the reading about civic engagement from Huntington House or through links on Facebook, and read a short (2-6 page) pieces of literature. At the event, facilitators—faculty, staff, or students— organize discussion and activities to help participants reflect on the literature as it relates to service and civic engagement.

SAMPLE TOPICS The Reflect & Connect series involves a discussion around a short, interesting text about community service that invites members of Millersville’s community to come together to reflect on service and then sign up to connect to the community through volunteer opportunities. February’s Session will be led by Millersville’s American Meteorological Society. Please join us as we explore how MU-AMS is using their interest in weather to reach out to the community through events such as Public Weather Awareness Day. Dr. Timothy Shea, Department of English will facilitate on March session with “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel” by Leonard Pitt (Dallas News). Free and open to the public.

Distinguished Civic Leadership Awards Awardees are nominated by the community and selected by University and community members. They recognize multiple forms of civic leadership including children as well as adults in numerous categories A banquet is followed by a public celebration with a speaker who exemplifies the qualities of the award recipients The speaker meets with Walker Fellows and interested students in small groups

Engaged Scholars The Engaged Scholars Program aims to create a community of faculty with a shared interest in service learning and/or community based research to collaborate and support each other in the development of engaged public scholarshipEngaged Scholars Program Annual cohorts work together to develop syllabi and projects Professional development opportunities such as attending conferences and workshops

Public Policy Conferences Provides opportunities for campus and community to hear from nationally and internationally know experts on relevant topics Collaboration between faculty and students to develop and promote conferences Topics: Closing the Educational Achievement Gap Sustaining the Middle Class Science and Technology Policy Conference

CONCLUSIONS Collaboration strengthens all programs Collaborations can be intentional or incidental Repetition strengthens collaborations Don’t be shy about introducing the idea of including new entities Successful collaborations lead to campus-wide civic engagement

Millersville University PO Box 1002 Millersville, PA Diane C. Fleishman, Director Experiential Education & Career Management