B Y: G L EN D A H E N S L E Y S E PT E M B ER 9 , 2 0 1 3
FOCUS: First-year students in action
First-year Opportunities for Community & University Service
FOCUS Day of Service on Saturday, August 24 th
Here are just a few highlights from the event. 183 volunteers helped with 10 projects during the day:
 Created more than 150 cards and letters for veterans, active duty military members, and senior citizens;
 Planted 50 native shrubs at the HHS building;
 Cleanup crews collected dozens of bags of trash on campus & on Highway 107;
 Placed 1,000 red flags around campus to raise awareness about the Red Flag/Red Zone campaign;
 Helped with 2 trail-work projects: Cullowhee's new community garden, and our no-kill cats-only shelter.
Several projects are featured on the Center for Service Learning Facebook page ,
ASP Day of Service – Saturday, July 20 th
This July 139 students in the Academic Success Program (ASP) participated in a day of service and combined community festival. These students and supporting staff members contributed over 700 volunteer hours to local organizations. Working with community partners, the ASP Day of Service raised almost $4000, to be divided equally among the three nonprofits.
You may see a summary of their work in the following student-created video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPr0A7EFzU
Announcing the Lily Community Engagement Award --- Learn more here!
Like any good swimming hole, the opportunities at WCU are deep and wide. In particular, The Center for Service Learning’s newest initiative, the Lily Community
Engagement Award (LCEA), has been developed especially for the active, the aware, and the engaged student. Through the LCEA students can participate in a range of community-based experiences like our Days of Service, Alternative Breaks, and hundreds of other activities and service experiences on WCU’s campus and beyond. The LCEA is designed to keep track of their experiences and involvement. For those students successfully completing the program (achieving 100 points over their four years) a certificate will be awarded, honors cords will be bestowed, and a Cullowhee Lily will be planted in their honor on WCU’s beautiful campus!

The Ripple Effect: A Learning Community Making Waves
 “The experience I gained was an eye-opener,” said Yanez. “Big issues like hunger are happening every day in our area, and I loved being part of a solution.”
– Leticia Yanez, nursing major from Asheville, Ripple Effect
 “When I would see a need, I would try my hardest to get everyone involved to fill the need.”
– Alissa Ross, medical science major from Polkton, Ripple Effect
 “Our value-added contributions are all about building community and sense of place as well as fostering our students’ learning. Learning communities such as the ‘Ripple Effect’ help to establish our students’ sense of self by creating meaningful interaction with their peers, as well as connecting with the greater community through service, all within an educational framework.”
- Carol Burton, Associate Provost - Undergraduate Studies
 “The Ripple Effect Learning Community is designed to guide you on a journey – a journey that begins with self-discovery and ends with a commitment to and understanding of yourself and social change. Consider this opportunity a call … a call to pursue your dreams, build a legacy and leave the WCU community better than you found it.” – Lane Perry, director of the Center for Service Learning, in a letter to community participants
To learn more about the Ripple Effect Learning Community, read the Reporte r feature by Teresa Killian-Tate. http://thereporter.wcu.edu/2013/08/new-freshman-learning-community-centers-on-service-social-change/
Ripple ON!
And now, the ripple has begun! Be on the lookout for the stickers – ask your students what they mean--- it is fantastic!
and
WHEE Teach: A Living-Learning Community
By Jenny Stewart, Teacher Recruitment Specialist in the College of Education & Allied Professions
A large part of the WHEE Teach mission is service. During the 2012-2013 year, we were able to volunteer in the
Cullowhee Community in many different capacities. The students especially enjoyed the events that got them involved with the local schools and children. WHEE Teach was represented at the Cullowhee Valley After-School
Program, the CVS Fall Festival, and the Cullowhee United Methodist Halloween Carnival, just to name a few events. WHEE Teach also chose an organization each semester to assist with their mission. In the fall, we collected supplies for deployed soldiers, to thank them for their service, through the Shoeboxes for Soldiers campaign. During our spring fundraiser, we partnered with Zaxby’s to raise money to provide food during the summer for children who typically depend on the public schools’ free or reduced meal programs during the school year. This program was especially important to our community because it provided food for students who did not have enough at home. In service to the campus, WHEE Teach sponsored a movie night followed by a panel discussion where we screened the movie “ Stand by Me”. Students were challenged to think about diversity and how educational systems have changed. Students left this event with a different perspective and food for thought!

The DEAL Model
Transferable Writing Prompts for Critical reflection upon Service-Learning Experiences
By Dr. Lane Perry, Director of the Center for Service Learning
“The goal of critical reflection is to revisit or preliminarily visit an experience in order to ask questions, formulate dialogue, and essentially make meaning of an otherwise unexamined learning opportunity…….
An established and widely accepted practical approach to critical reflection within the pedagogy of servicelearning was developed by Ash and Clayton (2004) and is referred to as the DEAL Model. According to Ash,
Clayton, and Moses, (2007) and Ash and Clayton (2009), the DEAL Model consists of three sequential steps following a student’s engagement in a service experience:
1.
Description of service experiences in an objective and detailed manner;
2.
Examination of those service experiences in light of reflection prompts according to a course’s learning goals;
3.
Articulation of Learning, including goals for future action that can then be taken forward into the next experience or improved practice and further refinement of learning.
The Description, Examination, and Articulation of Learning all occur in sequence after a service experience has been completed. The DEAL Model can be used throughout a semester and assigned on a repeatable basis.”
To learn more - see the full article and lesson guide the end of this publication – included here with permission of the author. And to learn more about how to make the most of the learning in your service learning curriculum, please make it a point to talk with Dr. Lane Perry at the Center for Service Learning – you will be very happy you did!
Service in the Red Zone! – Saturday, September 21 st
Cat Cash
Thanks for this ‘How to” from Mike Razdrh, Associate Director of the One Stop--
Something relatively simple things can stress a new student – and we need to remember they are all new to our ways of doing business – in the classroom and out. So just in case-you may appreciate having an answer ready.
“There are several ways to add Cat Cash. A student can add cash to the “add value machines” at several campus locations and it will load immediately. It can be done with cash or check at the OneStop or on the
“Specialty Payment” site with debit or credit cards. The latter two methods will take up to an hour to load onto the student’s card. http://www.wcu.edu/current-students/student-accounts-office/payment-options/index.asp

Early Alert
From Lowell K. Davis, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Success
Early Alert process is a convenient way for you to make online referrals on students who are experiencing academic and/or social difficulties. Although not a substitute for direct communication with a student, or to circumvent processes that the University already has in place, early identification and intervention increase our chances of helping a student succeed.
If you are concerned about a student who has: poor class attendance, low-test scores, missing, incomplete, or poorly completed homework assignments, I encourage you to make a referral. By seeking to address students' needs as they arise or become noticed, appropriate interventions can help to empower students to make choices that have a positive impact on their lives and help them achieve their goals.
To make a referral, please click on http://EarlyAlert.wcu.edu
, which will take you to the submission page or you can do a keyword search of the WCU Web site for “Early Alert”. There is also a convenient link located on the form where you submit attendance and report progress in My Cat.
Under “nature of this report” click the “Early Alert” button on the drop down menu. If this is not regarding a particular incident with a student, but an ongoing concern or issue dealing with a class or advising, we suggest that you use the date you fill out the report as your “Date of incident” and select “Academic Building” as the
“Location of incident”.
Please share as much information as possible to assist in appropriate outreach. If you would like to first talk to someone about your concerns, please call the Office of the Student Affairs at 828.227.7234, the Advising
Center at 828.227.7170 or the Office of the Provost at 828-227-7495.
As an additional resource, please refer to the Helping Students publication :
Student Life Calendar: For a complete listing of what's going on for students from intramurals, to concerts and lectures, to organizations, arts and culture, and so much more....
Events Calendar: I nformation on arts and culture at WCU - plays, concerts, art exhibits, films, and more...
Service Learning: Current Events
ACE: Arts and Cultural Events Calendar
Coulter Faculty Commons Calendar
THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF TIBET
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 @ 7:30 PM
BARDO ARTS CENTER

Whee Cover U!
LGBTQIA + Advocacy Group
Thursday, September 12 th
, 7pm
ICA Conference Room - UC
Constitution Day 2013
Tuesday, September 17 th
from 7-8:30 pm – Bardo Arts Center Lecture Hall - Room 130
In recognition of Constitution Day, the Public Policy
Institute will be hosting a panel discussion concerning election laws and voting rights. Particular emphasis will be placed on the recent changes to North Carolina election laws and recent Supreme Court decisions, such as this past term’s decision concerning the Voting Rights Act. This event is open to the public. Please join us and encourage your students and members of the community to attend and participate.

Name: Changes to North Carolina Voting Laws: Improving or Impairing Elections?

Description: This panel discussion will examine contemporary issues in elections and voting, with a particular emphasis on recent changes in North Carolina laws. Topics will include aspects of the recent reforms, such as the voter identification requirement, shortening the timing for early voting, and the removal of straight-ticket voting, and panelists will discuss the policy implications of these changes. This topic is important as we recognize the significance of the Constitution in our democratic system.

Panelists: Kory Swanson (John Locke Foundation); Zeb Smathers (Democracy North Carolina); Chris
Cooper (WCU faculty); Todd Collins (WCU faculty)

Format: Panel discussion with time for audience participation
Study Abroad Fair
Tuesday, September 17 th
11am-3pm
UC Grandroom
2013 Diversity Week Speaker
An evening with Brian Johnson
Thursday, September 19 th
at 7pm
UC Grand Room

Red Zone Campaign 2013
Take Back the Night (Keynote Speaker: Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai)
Wednesday, September 18, 2013; 7:00pm
(doors will open at 6:00pm for an informational fair)
UC Grand Room (3rd Floor UC)
Sponsored by:
Intercultural Affairs, Student Community Ethics, First Year Experience, Equal
Opportunity and Diversity Programs, and Residential Living, Leadership and Student
Involvement
AND more in the Red Zone for September >>>>>>>
Tribute Defense (Self-Defense Workshop) Wednesday, Sept. 11; 7-8pm -Blue Ridge Conf. Room A
Entering the Red Zone: Field of Red
Red Zone Day of Service
Monday, Sept. 16 thru Friday, Sept. 20 on the UC Lawn
Saturday, September 21 st
– contact ICA or CSL
Relationship GPS: Recalculating!? Tuesday, September 24; 6:00pm --Multipurpose Room
“It’s Not Funny: Why Sexual Assault and Humor Don’t Mix ” Wednesday, Sept. 25; 7pm --Albright-Benton Hall
Self-Defense Workshop
Film on the Lawn: Safe Haven
Wednesday, September 25; 7-8pm --- CRC, Studio 1
September 26, 2013; 8:30pm (or dusk)
Sexual Empowerment Week September 30, 2013-October 4, 2013
DAYS OF SERVICE
Please consider including one of our Days of Service on your syllabus, attending a brown bag session, or taking advantage of your Community Service Leave this fall! If you would like to schedule a consultation or a class presentation, learn more about other service opportunities, just contact us at servicelearning@wcu.edu or
828.227.7184.
September 14: 9/11 Day of Service
September 28: Mountain Heritage Day
October 1 & 17: FACE Brown Bag Session 1 – Introduction to Community Engaged Learning
October 5-11: Alternative Fall Break trip
October 24: Last Lecture – Professor Burton Ogle, School of Health Sciences
October 26: Make a Difference Day
November 2: NC Campus Compact Student Conference
November 17-23: National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
Arts and Cultural Events
P resents the annual Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmaker screening dates for 2013-2014.
ACE 2013-2014!
 September 11 th
at 7:30pm in BAC: The Mystical Arts of Tibet’s performance “Sacred Music Sacred Dance”
 September 9 th
– 13 th
in the UC Grandroom: The Mystical Arts of Tibet’s Sand Mandala
 September 24 th
and 25 th
at 7:30pm in the UC Theatre : Sublime Frequencies film screening /Q&A:
Vodoun Gods on the Slave Coast: A Film By Hisham Mayet & The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry In The
Sahel A Film By Hisham Mayet
 October 2 nd
at 730pm in BAC: Nai Ni Chen Dance Company
 October 16 th
at 730pm in the BAC: Alash Tuvan Throat Singing Ensemble
 December 4 th
– TBD in the UC Grandroom: The Tarradiddle Players present A Commedia Christmas Carol

Groups offered by Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)
See the CAPS website to learn more about the free and confidential weekly groups offered by Counseling &
Psychological Services (CAPS). This semester our offerings address a variety of concerns that may impact your students. Please take a look at the details and let your students know about the availability of this resource.
Career Services
Online Career Support
Off-campus students, graduate students or any student at Biltmore Park, distance learners, alumni, or students at home between sessions can still access all of our services, not just on the website but online in real-time.
Students may "meet" with a career counselor online using GoToMeeting! To schedule a GoToMeeting event, student will call 828-227-7133. Students will be given a meeting time and directions and will receive an email at that time directing them how to join the meeting.
To access online career support, go here
Peer Career Mentors!
Our Peer Career Mentors offer students on-location guidance and support from their Mobile Mentoring
Station at locations across campus. They can critique resumes, teach students how to search for jobs, showcase resources like Perfect Interview and Focus 2, and help research careers. Please look for their yellow table, and refer students to the PCMs for help with any of these tasks.
Their schedule for the semester is here
Fall Etiquette Dinner September 24, 2013 (6:00PM-8:00PM)
Topics addressed will help to prepare students for interviews conducted over a meal or in a receptiontype atmosphere. The attire is business casual. This event is $20.00 per person. Cash, check, declining balance, or CatCash is accepted. Registration will be open 8 a.m. September 3 and continue until 5 p.m.
September 20. To reserve a seat, please visit Career Services in 205 Killian Annex.
Rooted in the Mountains: Valuing our Common Ground
4th Annual Symposium Integrating Indigenous Knowledge,
Language, Health, and Environment
September 20-21, 2013
WCU Health and Human Sciences Building
4121 Little Savannah Road
Cullowhee, NC 28723
5 th
Annual Native American Heritage Expo
Save the Date!
November 11-13 in the UC Grand Room

PEAKS Potty Times
Western Carolina PEAKS disseminates a newsletter called the Potty Times every two-three weeks which includes toilet teasers, words of wisdom, campus events, etc. If you would like for us to advertise a specific event in the calendar section, please send me an e-mail with what you would like included. I will need the information the
Tuesday before each week that one goes to print. Contact Laura Ansley, Department of Residential Living.
• September 22 - October 4 – Need information by September 17
• October 13 - November 3 – Need information by October 8
• November 3 - November 17 – Need information by October 28
• November 17 - December 1 – Need information by November 12
• December 1 - December 13 – Need information by November 26
-- reference and participate in the Transition Pathways Course site....
– resources and information for students and for faculty……….
--- help with teaching, technology, and more--- helping you do what you do better!
--- the place for student clubs and organizations and other co-curricular opportunities .
– resource guide for faculty teaching the first-year seminar …
- resource guide for FYE transition course instructors …
--- many resources and network links to help you along the way …..
FYE Message Board – A weekly e-journal for and by FY students.
Engage students in the conversation of learning and experience – with each other!
The next regular publication date is October 1, 2013 --- please let me know if you want to share updates about programs, events, or other opportunities for teaching and learning in FYE!
Glenda Hensley, FYE Director ghensley@wcu.edu

Transferable Writing Prompts for Critical Reflection upon Service-Learning Experiences
“We had the experience but missed the meaning,
And approach to the meaning restores the experience.”
-T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets (1943)
The goal of critical reflection is to revisit or preliminarily visit an experience in order to ask questions, formulate dialogue, and essentially make meaning of an otherwise unexamined learning opportunity. Ash and Clayton (2009) identify critical reflection to be “an evidence-based examination of the sources of and gaps in knowledge and practice, with the intent to improve both” (p. 28). This examination and process of breaking down complex experiences and then co- (collectively) and re-constructing (individually) them into working assumptions is essential to the learning process and establishing greater meaning for the student. The concept of constructing knowledge or basing future decisions and actions on that knowledge is hinged on the expectation that learners who have educative experiences will also be given the opportunity to reflect on those experiences. Supporting this expectation, Peterson
(2002) determined that while experience may be one of the best teachers, it is never as valuable as when combined with and subjected to critical analysis, reflection, and interpretation by a learner. Moreover, Ash and Clayton (2009) identified experience alone as a potentially problematic teacher. This has been attributed to the perception that experience alone can allow students to “reinforce stereotypes about difference, to develop simplistic solutions to complex problems, and to generalize inaccurately based on limited data” (p. 26).
An established and widely accepted practical approach to critical reflection within the pedagogy of service-learning was developed by Ash and Clayton (2004) and is referred to as the DEAL Model. According to Ash, Clayton, and
Moses (2007) and Ash and Clayton (2009), the DEAL Model consists of three sequential steps following a student’s engagement in a service experience:
1.) D escription of service experiences in an objective and detailed manner;
2.) E xamination of those service experiences in light of reflection prompts according to a course’s learning goals;
3.) A rticulation of L earning, including goals for future action that can then be taken forward into the next experience for improved practice and further refinement of learning.
The D escription, E xamination, and A rticulation of L earning all occur in sequence after a service experience has been completed. The DEAL Model can be used throughout a semester and assigned on a repeatable basis. For example, if a group of students are working with a local community organization on the process of establishing a community garden, the DEAL Model could be repeated after each service interaction. Page two includes the description of how to implement and use the DEAL Model as a guide for individual and group reflections.
Critical reflection is a process that creates educative opportunities to stop, think, question, and discuss what a learner has experienced, read, written, or thought; so that perhaps, when they ‘restart’ or ‘go back’ to their thinking or doing experiences, they may be more aware of the role they play and the influence they have in their field and world . Essentially, service-learning, educative experiences, and critical reflection are about opening a learner’s metaphorical eyes and enlightening their perspectives through thought provoking scenarios, self-reflection, and dialogue.

Figure 1. Schematic of DEAL Model (Ash, Clayton, & Moses, 2007).
References
Ash, S. & Clayton, P. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher
Education, 29 , 137-154.
Ash, S., & Clayton, P. (2009). Generating, deepening, and documenting learning: The power of critical reflection in applied learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1 , 25-48.
Ash, S. Clayton, P. & Moses, J. (2007).
Teaching and learning through critical reflection: An instructors’ guide
.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
Peterson, C. (2002). Preparing engaged citizens: Three models of ex periential education for social justice. Frontiers:
The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 8 , 165-206.

Higher Intensity Reflection through the DEAL Model
Describe Service Experience(s) Objectively
(This description is assigned in order to provide a strong foundation for the rest of the meaning-making and critical reflection process.
This exercise brings back to life the nuts and bolts of an individual’s experience.)
□ Where were you?
□ Who else was there?
□ When did this experience take place?
□ What was said and by whom?
□ What did I/others do?
□ Why were we there? ( remember be objective, meaning limit assumptions here )
□ EXTRA: What is your world?
Examine Service Experience from the Personal Growth Perspective (This examination is designed to get you to think about your experience in a way that you can derive personal meaning. Meaning-making is an important component of reflection and reflection must absolutely accompany action and experience.)
□ How did this experience make you feel (positively and/or negatively)? How did you handle your emotional reactions? Do you believe you should have felt differently?
□ How do you think past experiences influenced the manner in which you acted or responded to this situation? Are you comfortable with the influence past experiences have had on you?
□ In what ways has this experience opened (or began to open) new (or previously unexamined) perspectives for you? Why have these new perspectives developed?
□ What does an individual personally need to have to be the one to take action? How do you see these elements
(skills, characteristics, experiences, etc.) being influential to an individual’s decision to take action?
□ EXTRA: What do you expect of your world?
Examine Service Experience from the Civic Learning Perspective (This examination is designed to get you to think about your experience in a way that helps you derive a civic connection. A civic connection establishes the wider influence between what you have done and how it may or may not have influenced others.)
□ Why or why not is the service you provided important to the community you worked with?
□ What are some of the underlying factors that have led to the “needing” of the service you have provided? Why do these needs even exist in our community, or how did they come to be?
□ What were you/we trying to accomplish? In taking the actions you/we did, was the focus on symptoms of problems or causes of problems? Was the focus (symptom or cause) appropriate to the situation? How might you/we focus more on underlying causes in the future?
□ What agendas did you and others bring to the situation? Are these agendas appropriate? Are they understandable?
Are they shared? How are these agendas related to larger social or cultural issues?
□ How might your actions be viewed by the community or the person receiving your service?
□ EXTRA: What does your world expect of you?

Examine Service Experience from the Academic Enhancement Perspective
(This examination is designed to get you to think about your experience in a way that you can connect it to your classwork. An academically enhanced environment can lead to questions and connections that might otherwise be left unexamined.)
□ What specific elements of our course material (or another course’s material) relate to this experience?
□ How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept? Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding?
□ How was I able to apply a skill, perspective, or concept related to our academic material?
□ EXTRA: How can what you know (or are learning) help you make achievable your expectations of the world, and the world’s expectations of you?
Articulate Learning
(This exercise is designed to get you to deepen and expand the elements you have illuminated in the previous reflection exercises. This also helps you capture your learning in a way that can improve the quality of your learning and your future actions.)
□ What did you learn?
□ How, specifically, did you learn it?
□ Why does this learning matter, why is it important?
□ In what ways will you use this learning? What goals should you set in accordance with what you have learned in order to improve yourself and/or the quality of your learning and/or the quality of your future?

Lower Intensity Reflection through the DEAL Model
Articulated Learning Statement
Please complete this task after you have participated in your service-learning project and read the assigned reading
<insert assigned reading here>, but before the group reflection session taking place on <insert reflection date>.
Please choose one of the following dimensions as the focus of this Articulated Learning Statement and then respond to the five questions with that dimension in mind.
It is expected that you will thoroughly reflect on your learning and will include specific references to the readings, class or online discussions, and any relevant experiences related to the course material.
Definitions of the Three Perspective Categories
Academic Dimension : an awareness of academic content (either in this course or others) that has been enhanced by the readings, discussions, and experiences.
Civic Dimension : an awareness of either the larger community (university, city, country, etc.) or smaller community
(this class, family, friends, etc.) in which you live that has been enhanced by the readings, discussions, and experiences.
Personal Dimension : an awareness of a personal characteristic of yours that has been enhanced by the readings, discussions, and experiences.
Reflection Prompts : please complete the following prompts with your service experience and any relevant readings or discussions as resources for your responses.
1. The dimension I am focusing on and why in this Articulated Learning Statement is ...(1 point)
2. With regard to that dimension, through the readings, discussions, and experiences, I learned ... (1 point)
3. I learned this specifically through ... (1 point)
4. This learning matters to me because ... (1 point)
5. Because of this learning, I will attempt to change the following scenario in the future by ... (1 point )