International Expert on Rebuilding After Disasters Visiting Tuscaloosa

• June 29th, 2011
• in News, People

TUSCALOOSA "” An international expert on rebuilding after disasters, Dr. Adenrele Awotona, a University of Massachusetts professor who directs the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters, is in Tuscaloosa for two days (Wednesday and Thursday, June 29-30) to lead a workshop for area and university officials and citizens.

The College of Education and the Division of Community Affairs are co-sponsors of the workshop, which focuses on children and their families. The workshop covers such issues as assessment of impact, identifying children needs before, during and after disasters; developing a comprehensive post-tornado action plan; and future disaster risk reduction, said Dr. Rick Houser, professor and head of the Department of Education Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology and Counseling.

"The aim of the workshop is to ensure that the needs and priorities of children are integrated into official reconstruction policies," Houser said.

About 75 individuals representing cities, counties, schools, churches, foundations, businesses, neighborhood organizations, academic and service departments are on hand for the workshop.

Dr. Samuel Addy, director of UA's Center for Business and Economic Research, released a six-page study to participants that estimates the economic and fiscal impact of the April tornadoes. Addy's report is careful to point out that these are estimates and that all of the storm effects are temporary.

"¢ 6,000 unemployed, but after returns and other factors, reduces to 3,761 as a direct effect of the tornado.

"¢ Jobs temporarily lost range from about 5,600 to 13,200.

"¢ Total lost earnings, $219 million to $508 million

"¢ Taxes lost, $19 million to $44 million

"¢ Recovery activities (cleanup, assistance, rebuilding, etc.) will pump $2.6 billion into the state economy in 2011. These funds will come mostly from insurance and federal sources.

"¢ Another $2 to $3 billion in rebuilding will continue into 2012, resulting in about 37,000 to 74,000 jobs and $1 to $2+ billion in earnings for an average of about $32,000 per worker and $63 to $126 million in state income and sales taxes and $24 to $47 million in local sales tax receipts

All of this "will generate enough revenue to cover damage-induced losses to state finances as well as the state spending for cleanup," if assumptions hold, according to the report by Addy and Ahmad Ijaz, CBER director of economic forecasting.

CCBP Awards Ceremony 2011 in Pictures

• May 10th, 2011
• in Events, News, Wrap-up

Faculty and staff, students and community partners convened for the fifth Center for Community-Based Partnerships Awards Ceremony in Tuscaloosa on April 22.

Representatives of the Community Affairs Division of The University of Alabama presented awards for outstanding engagement activities initiated by students, faculty, and partners. David Wilson, the keynote speaker and president of Morgan State University, accepted an award for leadership in engaged scholarship.

More information to follow in subsequent posts.

Call for Applications to the 2011-12 Imagining America PAGE Summit and Working Group

• May 9th, 2011
• in Call for Proposals (RFP), News

Sustained Graduate Engagement
The Call for PAGE 2011-2012 Fellows

Submission Deadline:  June 1st
Click here to apply

PDF version

PAGE (Publicly Active Graduate Education) is Imagining America's network for publicly engaged graduate students in humanities, arts, and design. PAGE enhances the theoretical and practical tools for public engagement; fosters a national, interdisciplinary community of peers and veteran scholars; and creates opportunities for collaborative knowledge production.
 
IA invites graduate students with a demonstrated interest in public scholarship and/ or artistic practice to apply for a 2011-2012 PAGE Fellowship.  Awardees receive $600 to attend a half-day Fellows Summit on September 21st and the 2011 Imagining America national conference, September 22-24, both in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The PAGE director will partner Fellows with senior scholar mentors as well as help promote opportunities for peer mentorship and support from IA's network.   Upon acceptance of a Fellowship, participants also commit to participating in a yearlong working group to promote collaborative art-making, teaching, writing, and research projects. In doing so, PAGE is looking to foster a cohort of Fellows interested in pursuing collective and innovative scholarly practices.   Fellows are asked to present such publicly-engaged scholarship/ art before the close of the academic year at either an IA regional meeting, a campus workshop of their own design, or another appropriate professional convening.
 
Within the frame of our 2011 national conference, themed around "What Sustains Us?" the PAGE Summit will take up questions similar to the gathering as a whole (see below), but through the lens of graduate education.  This is an urgent moment in higher education, not the least in graduate programs, requiring us to think through sustaining public engagement through the intersections of mentorship, diversity, real-world interaction, student success, and scholarship.  Fellows will be asked throughout the year to reflect upon their own public practice in the cultural disciplines, its place in making higher education a more democratic space, and the ramifications of the changing economic climate.
 
Graduate students at all stages of their MA/MFA/PhD programs, including previous fellows, may apply to be PAGE Fellows. Applicants must be graduate students during the 2011-2012 academic year, but do not have to be planning a career within higher education.  Note: Only students who are affiliated with Imagining America member institutions are eligible for this award. For a list of member institutions, and more information about Imagining America, visit www.imaginingamerica.org.
 
Applicants must submit a CV and a short reflective essay (up to 500 words) on past, current, or future work in the context of one of the following issues, posed in the IA National Conference CFP:
 
How can the increasing efforts to realize the democratic, public, and civic purposes of American higher education be sustained and forwarded? What sustains our engaged practices within a context of diminished resources and rapidly shifting cultures within higher education?
 
How can engagement efforts contribute to sustained economic and cultural viability in urban and rural communities?
 
What sustains stakeholders confronting challenges around power, race, class, and privilege?

Questions?  Please contact National Director of PAGE, Adam Bush at asbush@gmail.com



Tornado Disaster Relief

• May 6th, 2011
• in News

To our Council for Community-Based Partnerships family:

We hope that this email finds you and your families safe and well.

As we seek to address the many needs that our community has in the aftermath of the 4/27 tornadoes, and as we look toward the future, we would like to ask for your assistance with a specific project that requires our immediate attention.

Within the next few days, the tornado relief center that has been located at Holt High School will be relocating to Holt Baptist Church, and the relief center at Leland Lanes will be redirecting volunteers and resources to Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church. We are asking for your assistance in:

1) Directing volunteers (faculty, staff and students) to these churches;

1) Coordination of volunteers and/or coordination of UA summer courses that could use service learning to assist those who have been affected by the tornado; and

2) Offering of service learning opportunities through existing courses that you  or others may be teaching in the 2011 Interim, Summer I and summer II semesters.

Initially, a primary focus for our support of communities in the Holt and Alberta City area will be in serving as a point of contact for individuals who may be seeking a variety of services. Additionally, we are hoping to address issues related to limited transportation for those who have been affected by the tornadoes.

If you are interested in assisting us with this work, or have further questions, please contact us at:
(205) 348-7392, or at the following email addresses:
Chris Spencer: christopher.spencer@ua.edu
Heather Pleasants: hmpleasants@ua.edu

Additionally, please see the list below of websites and facebook pages for additional ways to be of assistance. This list is not comprehensive"”we encourage you to visit these web spaces in order to gain more information on ways to help those in need.

Facebook pages:

Recover Tuscaloosa
Give Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa City Schools
Kelly Horwitz
Help Tuscaloosa
Rebuild Tuscaloosa
Toomer's for Tuscaloosa
T-Town, Never Down "“ Tuscaloosa Tornado Disaster Relief
Animals lost and found from the tornadoes in Alabama on 4/27/11

Websites/Blogs:

Recovertuscaloosa.com
Helptuscaloosaschools.com
www.givetuscaloosa.com
University of Alabama College of Education Relief Efforts: http://education.ua.edu/about/news/tornado-relief/
University of Alabama Acts of Kindness Fund: https://www.ua.edu/advancement/giving/donate/?division=2&account=349
Alabamapossible.org/blog
http://ttowntornadorelief2011.com/

Homegrown Alabama Farmers Market Kicks Off at UA

• April 27th, 2011
• in Events, News, Previews

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. "“ The Homegrown Alabama Farmers Market will open on Thursday, May 5, with a Cinco de Mayo celebration and will continue every Thursday from 3-6 p.m. through Oct. 27 at the Canterbury Episcopal Chapel lawn on Hackberry Lane between Bryant Drive and University Boulevard.

Homegrown Alabama is a nonprofit, student-led group at The University of Alabama. The program seeks to educate students and community members about the value of local produce, as well as to foster partnerships between local farmers, UA and the greater Tuscaloosa community.

The Cinco de Mayo celebration will feature Mexican food and music, and artisans will be on hand along with the weekly vendors who sell fruits, vegetables, baked goods, beef, cut flowers, coffee and tea, eggs, homemade herbal teas, soap, pralines, canned goods, hot foods and arts and crafts.

Homegrown Alabama recently received approval to accept Electronic Benefit Transfer, the system for distributing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

A machine will be located at the market to transfer EBT-SNAP funds into $1 and $3 tokens with the Homegrown Alabama label. Tokens can be used to purchase fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, maple and honey products, and seeds and plants that produce foods.

As part of an incentive program, Homegrown will match every $10 spent using EBT with an additional $5 in tokens, while funds last. The tokens cannot be refunded but will never expire and can be used at any Homegrown Farmers Market throughout the 2011 season or any season thereafter.

In addition to accepting EBT, Homegrown Alabama will continue its participation in the Canterbury Episcopal food pantry program, Deacon's Deli, which distributes vouchers to its patrons to purchase produce at the market. Market vendors and customers will also be encouraged to donate fresh food to Deacon's Deli and Meals on Wheels.

For more information on the EBT incentive program and how to donate, call 205/210-9621, or visit http://homegrownalabama.org/market.html.

Story courtesy of The University of Alabama.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER

• April 21st, 2011
• in Events, News

Click here to download an application 

The Community Service Center is accepting applications for a summer Habitat project in Baldwin County, Alabama known as House United.

We are excited about this new project where 20 UA students will work with 20 Auburn University students to build an  entire house for a family in just one week, and we want to encourage you, or other students that you know, to apply for this unique opportunity.

The dates are June 12-18.  The cost is $250 which covers meals, lodging, and transportation.  The deadline for applications has been extended to Wednesday, April 27–the application is attached.  Please consider volunteering for this opportunity, and please feel free to forward this message to other students who may be interested in participating. If you have questions about this project, please direct them to:

Wahnee Sherman, Ed.D.

Director, Community Service Center

The University of Alabama

Box 870292

Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

wsherman@sa.ua.edu

www.volunteer.ua.edu

Make a Difference.Change the World. VOLUNTEER.

Call for Editor and Editorial Fellows: 2011 IARSLCE Conference Proceedings

• April 20th, 2011
• in Conferences, News

The IARSLCE is soliciting applications for the positions of Conference Proceedings Editor and Editorial Fellows.  The Conference Proceedings Editor and Editorial Fellows will oversee the publication of a new online IARSLCE Annual Conference Proceedings, comprised of all accepted 1000-word conference submissions from each year’s conference. The published Proceedings will include abstracts only, rather than full papers, and will serve as an added resource, especially for international audiences. The new Proceedings will increase the public visibility of the conference scholarship and the potential of communication with other researchers.

To Apply

Please submit, by May 2, 2011,a letter of interest highlighting research background and interests, editorial review experience, and CV, to the Publications Committee Co-Chairs, KerryAnn O’Meara and Barbara Moely, at the IARSLCE Office: sobrien1@tulane.edu.

Editorial work will occur over the summer prior to the Fall IARSLCE conference.

The Editor and Editorial Fellows will be appointed by June 15, 2011 and begin their work in July, 2011.

Proceedings will be published on line prior to the annual conference, no later than October 1, 2011.

Please see the attached document for full instructions, or click here to view on our website.

Minority Business Forum to Meet April 19 at Bryant-Denny

• April 6th, 2011
• in Events, News, Wrap-up

TUSCALOOSA "” Another in the popular "Breakfast and Business" series sponsored by the Minority Business Forum (MBF) and The University of Alabama will be held Tuesday, April 19, in the Recruiting Room of Bryant-Denny Stadium, beginning at 7:45 a.m.

"Like the others in this series, this meeting will give minority vendors and contractors the chance to network with and hear from fellow suppliers, university officials and various service specialists to learn how to do more business with the university," according to program organizer Christopher H. Spencer, director of community development at the Center for Community-Based Partnerships (CCBP) on the UA campus."

"Participants tell us they receive valuable information at these meeting," Spencer said. "They establish useful contacts that have helped their businesses overall and their opportunities to do business with the University in particular."

Speakers from various UA business areas such as procurement services, contracts, construction, purchasing and other offices will address the participants. The UA divisions of Community Affairs and Financial Affairs are co-sponsors with the MBF.

The most recent program, on February 15, drew more than 60 business men and women from all over the state. For more information and to register, send an e-mail to chspencer01@ua.edu.

CCBP, whose slogan is "Engaging Communities and Changing Lives," is an initiative of the Office of Community Affairs connecting faculty, staff, students and community partners in research-based projects to help solve critical problems within communities.

Charlie Lucas and Kathryn Tucker Windham honored at luncheon

• April 5th, 2011
• in News, Previews

Universty of Alabama students and professors, including several CCBP representatives, gathered with local arts advocates to honor Kathryn Tucker Windham and Charlie Lucas, “The Tin Man,” for cultural contributions in the University Club’s Sun Room on March 24. Windham was unable to attend. Pictured are Lucas (center), Chip Cooper (left), and Elliot Knight (right). To read more about Lucas’ work, pick up the upcoming issue of PARTNERS magazine.

SCOPE Second Workshop Draws Good Crowd Despite Stormy Weather

• March 23rd, 2011
• in News

Special to CCBP

Finding the right mentor can greatly improve a student’s or young faculty member’s chances of success. A student may need more than one mentor. The relationship should be reciprocal, with both sides benefiting. Undergraduates need encouragement to approach faculty for advice. The words “mentor” and “mentee” should be replaced with “better” words.

These were among many ideas floated at the second SCOPE (Scholars for Community, Outreach, Partnership, and Engagement) workshop of the semester held at 131 Lloyd Hall, Monday, February 28.

A major misunderstanding, said several on the panel and in the audience, was assuming that one’s program adviser is also one’s mentor. Those expecting that will likely be disappointed, after all an adviser may have dozens of advisees. He or she cannot have that many mentees (or trainees or protégés, other words suggested as substitutes for mentee).

Despite being under a thunderstorm alert, 20 faculty and students attended the workshop.

Workshop No. 3, covering the procedures for Institutional Review Board certification, will be held March 28 at the same time and place.

Here are some other ideas expressed at the meeting or e-mailed to the workshop organizers after the meeting.

“It seems there is a lack of understanding on the undergraduate level of what a mentor is in academia and how to go about getting one or several. I have heard many frustrations about advisers not giving individualized attention to students, and I think this stems from the actual differences between an adviser and mentor, but the perception from some students is that this person should play both roles. “” Elliot Knight

“I think finding a mentor should not be a casual, oh-it’ll-happen-thing. The student needing a mentor should take an activist position. Of course from the other side, I am often seeking mentees who are good at something I am not so good at. For example I was once up to date on SPSS, but no more”” too many changes since my grad school days. So I seek students who can bring me up to speed. Who, then, is the mentor and who is the mentee? “” Ed Mullins

“I thought that the workshop was interesting and helped to break down the barriers for students, especially undergraduates, who wished to approach faculty with ideas. While I thought that the panel represented an interesting mix of faculty and students who talked in general about mentoring, I felt that the accounts given tended to be vague and nonspecific. I believe a workshop such as that (which was really a panel presentation, though advertised as a “workshop”) would have benefited from hearing from those involved in a mentor/mentee “¦ relationship who could speak to the “here and now” of the situation, rather than recalling past relationships or speaking in vague terms.” [And on another issue] “Now that we have had good attendance at one workshop, it should be easier to get the word out for the next one. I would suggest, along with listservs, printed fliers and even “˜chalking the walk’ before the next workshop.” “” Jackie Brodsky

“One of the things that I found interesting enough that we should pursue it is making undergraduates feel comfortable approaching faculty with ideas and questions. Also, I was wondering if we should try to put together teams of two or three to attend faculty meetings in each college to explain who we are [SCOPE] and what our presence on campus means.” “” Maryann Whitaker

Other matters covered: mentoring can occur both inside and outside the institution; since mentoring is a two-way street, roles and responsibilities for each member should be identified; schedule regular meetings; assess your progress; be honest about what’s working and what isn’t; be candid if either member is not doing what’s needed or expected; examine the printed and online resources regarding mentoring.

If you have other thoughts about this workshop, the previous one (on writing successful conference proposals), or ideas to make the next one better, send an e-mail to any member of the steering committee: Jackie Brodsky, brods001@crimson.ua.edu; Gerald Franks, gerald.franks@ua.edu; Tiarney Ritchwood, tdritchwood@crimson.ua.edu; Maryann Whitaker, mswhitaker@crimson.ua.edu; Joshua White,  jvwhite@crimson.ua.edu; Dr. Heather Pleasants, hpleasan@bamaed.ua.edu; Dr. George Daniels, gdaniels@ua.edu; Dr. Ed Mullins,emullins@bama.ua.edu.

Serving as moderators for the workshop were Dr. George Daniels and Dr. Heather Pleasants. Members of the panel were Maryann Whitaker, Elliot Knight, Lane McLelland, Dr. Danny Wallace, and Dr. Wilson Lowrey.