November’s Teacher Talk focused on continuing our conversation from the August Opening Workshop (on Community Engagement). Neil Schmitzer-Torbert welcomed attendees, and highlighted upcoming Teaching and Learning events, including:

• Oct 19^th – Campus visit by Greg Wegner, GLCA
  • GLCA Teaching & Learning Center (virtual) roll-out
  • email announcement/RSVP to follow
• Oct 26 – Follow up lunch on the ethics of community-engaged learning
  • Potential topics: developing community relationships, working with religious/political orgs, IRB approval, etc.
• Feb 12^th, 2016 – Joe Favazza returns to campus
  • Joe is available for small group workshops/conversations for those seeking to implement community-engaged learning in upcoming courses
  • Interested faculty should RSVP to upcoming TLC email

Neil continued by asking each invited speaker to briefly introduce their community engagement resource.  The introductions were followed by a group Q&A/discussion.

Roland Morin:  CIBE

• Community Engagement Resource: Lilly Endowment Grant
  • The Lilly Grant funds mini-grants awarded to faculty/staff proposing programs that promote leadership, experiential education, and entrepreneurship. These competitive grants are awarded in the amount of $500-1500 per grant (total funds available for all mini-grants is $4500 per year).  Awardees may also apply for follow-up funds ($500) for the next two years.  The Lilly Grant ends May 30^th, 2018.
  • The next round of proposals is due Monday, November 30^th, at 4:30pm (submitted electronically to Roland). Roland will email the submission guidelines to faculty this week.
  • Previous awardees: Colin McKinney (Lego robotics – outreach), Sara Drury (turning point clickers – deliberations and community events), Ann Taylor (supporting student organizations in science outreach to local schools)

• Liberal Arts Bridges to Business (LABB) Students
  • Roland is continually developing projects for students trained in the LABB program (46 currently on campus) that involve consulting, analysis, research on community projects
  • He welcomes collaborations with faculty on community-engaged learning projects utilizing LABB students as resources.

Lon Porter:  Chemistry, 3D Printing

• The Wabash 3D Printing and Fabrication Center allows student to apply science, gain 21^st century skills (design, computer-aided drafting), and participate in community-engaged learning.

• Current Projects:
  • Initially, Lon and his students began 3D printing functional devices for analytical chemistry (spectrophotometers), but these instruments can also be used in community outreach projects with local schools (future plans: make instruments that Wabash students 3D print available to Crawfordsville High School Biology classes).  The cost of a retail-purchased spectrophotometer (~$12000) is prohibitive for most K-12 schools; the 3D-printed version will make hands-on science projects feasible.
  • Partnership with e-NABLE, a non-profit providing 3D printed prosthetics for children missing hands/digits, provides a true service-learning experience for Wabash students.
  • Independent Colleges of Indiana – Ball Venture Fund Grant
    • Lon collaborated with Roland Morin (CIBE) and Elizabeth Morton (Art) on a $22,000 grant that funded the purchase of six 3D printers and five faculty mini-grants ($500 stipend, $100 materials). Proposals for mini-grants will be reviewed by Wabash faculty and should propose exploratory, cross-disciplinary projects.  The Ball Grant is for one year only, so only one round of proposals will be funded.

• Paths for student involvement:
  • Research positions in Lon’s lab
  • WISE positions funded through CIBE

Eric Wetzel:  Biology, Global Health Initiative

• The Global Health Initiative (GHI) has opportunities to combine education, research, and service at both a global and local level.

• For those interested in community-engaged learning projects related to health, Eric can provide contacts to the Montgomery County Health Dept. (Amber Reed), Mary Ludwig Free Clinic, Youth Services Bureau, and many other groups. The GHI already has strong working relationships with these groups, and they have welcomed students in the past through internships.
• Some examples of current or potential projects that leverage the GHI’s local network:
  • arts/writing – stories from the community as a resource
  • classroom guest speakers – local health professionals from the GHI board

Sara Drury:  Rhetoric, Wabash Democracy & Public Discourse Initiative (WDPD)

• The WDPD’s mission is to equip students to have productive conversations about difficult problems. This work often takes students into the community, but also happens on campus.

• Facilitating public discourse helps students see different ways of communicating about political issues by slowing down conversations to help participants think through all possibilities.

• Sara and WDPD students can provide advice on using discourse in the classroom, and facilitate planning of deliberation events. Also, the WPDP student employees are trained as deliberation/conversation facilitators.
  • These students represent all 3 divisions, and are generally given projects whose content matches their expertise.
  • The students can act as small group discussion facilitators, giving the course instructor more flexibility
  • The students also have experience working with community partners, and could act as “course mentors” for courses with high levels of community-engaged learning

• Current examples of WDPD-facilitated delibrations in classrooms
  • Structured deliberations about genetic engineering in Biology/Biochemistry courses
  • Masculinity discussions in EQ (Anne Bost)
  • Philosophy of race conversations (Adriel Trott)

• For Spring courses, Sara is open to collaborations involving WDPD students on projects that would culminate in April 2016

Group Q&A/Discussion:

• Eric Wetzel reminded attendees that often we do not have to even look past campus to find health or other community issues. “Local can be right at your feet.”

• Joyce Burnett noted that connecting to the community can be as simple as having community members come to your class. A recent tutorial section had community members report about their job in the community, which set up the community as the expert.
  • Adriel Trott seconded this idea, as a visit to the local jail/teen court made a big impression on her students. She noted that community engagement can start on a small scale.

• Bob Royalty asked Roland Morin whether a “doing” part (on the part of students) is required for the Lilly mini-grants, or whether “observing/learning” projects are okay. Roland stated that while “doing” is important for the Lilly grants, the definition is very broad.  Roland said, “If it’s a great idea, we’ll try to find ways to fund it.”
  • Roland reminded attendees that Lilly grants must be based in Indiana
  • Sara Drury suggested that reflection papers as a “before & after” activity would be a way to show significant student outcomes for community-engaged learning

• Warren Rosenberg asked how Crawfordsville’s recent designation as a Stellar Community could help Wabash promote community-engaged learning—specifically how can the College get involved with grant applications by the city?
  • Roland Morin explained that the Stellar designation puts city at top of lists for funding. The city will hire a Stellar coordinator who will look for appropriate grant opporunitities.  Once this person is appointed, we need to reach out to them to communicate the College’s interest in community-engaged learning.

• Michael Abbott reminded attendees about the ways the Digital Arts Initiative could support community-engaged learning. Both Damon Mohl and Matt Weedman (Art) can provide filmmaking support, and the upcoming maker space project will provide more unique opportunities for outreach.
  • For example, students now can build digital simulation systems to explore ethical questions, other dimensions of issues. These “interactive empathy builders” can help students understand a community issue from a first person point of view.

• Sara Drury reminded attendees that the Indiana Humanities grant program funds events with a public engagement component, such as guest speakers, town hall meetings, etc. Awards are up to $2000.

• Finally, Roland Morin encouraged attendees to consider utilizing the CIBE offices in the Chase building downtown. He feels this spaces is a great setting for engagement activities, and also has the only videoconference system in the county.

Notes on this Teacher Talk were prepared by Heidi Walsh.