Annual Report 2007-2008
Graduate Service Learning and Civic Engagement
Introduction
In the 2007-2008 academic year the Scott/Ross Center for Community Service (SRC)
experienced continued growth in both graduate service learning and civic engagement.
This year over 170 graduate students from a variety of graduate programs participated in
service learning, a 100% increase from last year. In addition to participating in service
learning classes, several civic engagement programs were also offered to graduate
students. AmeriCorps Scholarships for Service, Graduate Student Assistantships, and
Promising Pals along with a variety of community service events offered multiple ways for
graduate students to volunteer in the community.
News and Events
The Fenway Community Development Corporation
The 2008 academic year marked the Fenway CDC's fifth year of collaboration with the
Scott/Ross Center. The Fenway CDC presented its Community Service Award to the
Scott/Ross Center, stating, “…we can testify to their (students) positive impact on key
FCDC programs. Scott/Ross Center students have helped the Fenway CDC extend our
reach and continue vital programs in the face of funding cuts.”
In the News
“Offering a Therapeutic Touch,” an article featuring graduate service learning, was
published in the Boston Globe on May 12, 2008. The article focused on the uniqueness of
the hand-to-hand program piloted by Simmons doctoral physical therapy students and the
service they provided to homeless patients. The program takes place through Boston
Healthcare for the Homeless at the Barbara McInnis house in Jamaica Plain. Students
give hand rubs to homeless people recovering from illnesses or who are battling diseases
such as cancer.
“Inmates Shape up for their Release” was a feature article in the Boston Globe on May 19,
2008. Doctoral physical therapy students use their nutrition and fitness knowledge to work
with women in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility through the Community Re-entry
Program (C.R.E.W.). The C.R.E.W. program prepares female inmates for entry back to life
outside of prison. The program provides training in resume building, writing cover letters,
interview skills, health care, and goal setting to help the women apply these skills to
improve their lives and maintain jobs after being released. Students are able to connect
with the women to gain a greater perspective and understanding of the struggles these
women face while also gaining strong field experience by promoting and teaching about
healthy lifestyle choices.
Graduate Service Learning Courses 2007-2008
By working with local organizations, Simmons graduate students have the opportunity to
apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to community partners’ concerns.
Graduate service learning projects allow students to take on leadership roles of piloting
initiatives that organizations are eager to launch, but lack the resources to do so.
By participating in service learning, graduate students are able to apply the lessons of the
classroom to assist non-profits and smaller organizations with specific needs. Servicelearning at the graduate level utilizes the project model. Students work with a community
partner on a specific project, aligned with the course material, throughout the semester.
Community partners also benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the faculty
1
members facilitating the courses. Kelly Fagan, a Masters in Communications
Management (MCM) student, reflected on her experience with service learning in
Communicating Corporate Image, stating, “the learning and experiences are world class;
the clarity of moving from the text book to solving real life issues and challenges is
extremely rewarding and meaningful.”
Summer 2007
MCM 458: Online Communications
Professor Peter Masucci
Teams of students worked with several non-profits to analyze the web needs of the
organizations and apply online communication tactics. The teams worked with the Fenway
CDC, Massachusetts Campus Compact, Friends of the Fort Point Channel, Boston
Chinatown Neighborhood Center, and the Scott/Ross Center for Community Service.
Each team created a strategic web marketing plan to help meet the online needs of each
community partner. These group web recommendations assessed the partner website
and presented strategies to strengthen their online presence.
Fall 2007
MCM 422: Writing for Communications Professionals
Lecturer Kris Danna
Utilizing and building on the online marketing strategies service learning work from MCM
458 Online Communications, students wrote copy to complement and implement the web
recommendations for community partners from the prior class.
GEDUC 493: Topics in Urban Education
Professor Daren Graves
The theme of this class was Multicultural Education: Affirming Diverse Identities and
Challenging Oppression in Education. This course is intended to provide the urban
teacher with curricular and pedagogical theories and strategies to insure high quality
education to all students. Each graduate student planned and implemented a service
learning project with their own classroom supported by a workshop facilitated by the
Scott/Ross Center.
GEDUC 400/401: Pre-Practicum Seminar, Practicum Seminar Elementary
Professor Maryellen Cunnion and Professor Ellen Davidson
These courses addressed topics and issues that aligned with Graduate Education
students' classroom experiences, including developing curriculum frameworks and lesson
plans, as well as, classroom management and parent communication. Each student in this
class participates in a pre-practicum or practicum experience. The Scott/Ross Center
provides a service learning workshop that teaches each graduate student how to
incorporate service learning into their elementary classrooms. The Center also provides
support in the planning and implementation of service projects, including mini-grants to
cover the costs of the service project.
Spring 2008
MCM 481: Strategic Communication and Organization Change
Lecturer Gayle Gifford
Teams of students worked with several community partners such as Citizens Schools,
Women in the Building Trades, Fenway Community Development Corporation, America
SCORES, SpeakOUT, the YMCA/International Learning Center and Science Club for
Girls. Each partner identified an area of change occurring within their organization.
Through their service learning project, student groups assessed each organization,
provided consulting, and created a strategic communications plan addressing
2
communication strategies and organizational change. The course blended communication
theory with practice with the community partners. Students from the Fenway CDC group
also had the opportunity to present their work to the Fenway CDC board at the end of the
semester.
MCM 454: Communicating Corporate Image
Assistant Professor Vonda Powell
Students worked in groups with the Women’s Lunch Place to help strengthen the
organization’s branding and donor outreach. Students determined a theoretical model of
branding that best supported the Women’s Lunch Place’s objectives, taking into
consideration the organization’s strengths and goals. Each student group provided the
Women’s Lunch Place with a strategic communications plan to help obtain the goals.
PT 750: Health, Wellness and Advocacy
Professor Toni Tasker
Doctoral Physical Therapy students worked in groups with multiple community partners
such as Special Olympics, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Community Re-entry for
Women (CREW), Walk Boston, Citizen Schools, Science Club for Girls, and the
Peterborough Senior Center. They applied their knowledge of nutrition and exercise to a
variety of programs, reaching diverse groups within the community to help promote
healthy lifestyles and advocate wellness.
SPAN 380: Migrant in the City: Fieldwork Seminar on Puerto Rican Culture
Professor Louise Cohen
Spanish students in this course combined Puerto Rican culture with placements in the
community. Topics enhanced through service learning included migration, housing,
employment, education, race and racism, machismo, and the Puerto Rican woman.
Graduate students completed service learning placements with partners such as the
YMCA/ILC and ESL @Simmons.
Service Learning Assessment
Service learning continued to be implemented in a variety of classes this year and
exposed graduate students to diverse community partners in and around the Boston area.
Students were able to blend theory and practice by helping these organizations through
multiple projects. As one student in MCM 454 remarked on their evaluation, “The theory
we learned in class came to life in real and applicable ways in our recommendations for
the strategy for the [Women’s Lunch Place].”
At the end of each semester all students are asked to provide feedback on their
experience in their service learning course. The student’s comments are helpful in
assessing the overall effectiveness of the service learning project, the students’
experience working with their group, and the relationship with the community partner.
Feedback gathered from these surveys is provided to the professors to facilitate planning
for their future courses. Below are some highlighted results and feedback from graduate
service learning courses taught during spring 2008.
Found a connection between service learning and course content.
79%
Enjoyed their service learning experience.
82%
As a result of their service learning experience they now have a better
understanding of community issues
89%
If given the option in future courses they would participate in service learning
again.
72%
3
Community Partner Assessment
In addition to assessing the service learning experiences of our students, feedback is
gathered from community partners. The comments from community partners are helpful in
assessing the overall effectiveness of the service learning project and the relationship
between community partners and students.
In regards to their experience with service learning and graduate students, a community
partner stated, “We were left with some very useful recommendations to benefit our work.
Projects were of the highest caliber. We hope to implement some of the suggested ideas.”
Below are some highlighted results and feedback from graduate service learning courses
taught during spring 2008.
Question 15 of the Community Partner Survey asks community partners, “Please rate the
overall impact Simmons students have had on your organization this semester.” All the
responses were positive and 75.0% rated the impact as very positive.
Question 9: What are some of the things Simmons students brought to your
organization?
Response
Increase in number of services offered
77.8%
New ideas/programs
66.7%
Graduate Service and Civic Engagement Programs
AmeriCorps Student Leaders in Service
AmeriCorps Student Leaders in Service (ASLIS) is funded through Massachusetts
Campus Compact (MACC) and provides a $1,000 AmeriCorps Education Award to
students who volunteer for 300 hours over one year. This year 22 students from the
School of Social work and three undergraduate students participated in AmeriCorps
Student Leaders in Service. In addition to volunteering with a primary partner, students
served at local organizations such as Community Servings and participated in Choosing to
Participate through Facing History, Facing Ourselves.
School of Social Work ASLIS and Community Partners
Michelle Arseneau
Lindsay Baber
Colby Berger
Rebecca Christensen
Nerline Destin
Cecily Donegan
Jessica Eves
Trine Heinisch
Mikayla Hemingway
Corey Kritzman
Phernel Manigat
Adele McKeon
Alexandra Miller
Christopher Mullin
Sheetal Patel
Brigham Women’s Hospital
AIDS Action Committee
Home for Little Wanderers
Big Sister Association
Boston Medical Center
Institute for Health and Recovery
Programs for People
BIDMC- Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery/ Gulf
Coast Volunteers for the Long Haul
Curley Middle School (Rally Program)
Travelers Aid Family Services
SSW Student Government + Assoc of Black Social Workers
South Boston Collaborative Center
Prospect Hill Academy
The Home for Little Wanderers, Safe-at-Home
Big Sister Association
4
Vanessa Plantz
Kevin Reddal
Jessica Sayre-Scibona
Alexandra Schepens
Hanna Sponberg
Naomi Turbidy
Hebrew Rehabilitation Center
Beth Israel Hospital
Big Sister Association
Suffolk County House of Corrections
McGrath Educational Center (Y.0.U. Inc.)
VA Boston Healthcare System
CAS ASLIS and Community Partners
Katherine Centrella
Julia Reynolds
Danielle Zuber
Strong Women, Strong Girls/ Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Girls Preparing to Succeed (GPS)
Strong Women, Strong Girls
Promising Pals
Over 150 Simmons staff, faculty, students and alumnae/i participated in the Promising Pals
program at the James P. Timilty School. Simmons involvement with this program has
grown steadily over the past seven years. The SRC oversees involvement with this
program and works closely with Alumnae/i relations. This mentoring and literacy program
matches each Timilty student (approx. 650 sixth – eighth graders) with an adult pen pal.
The pals correspond throughout the year and meet at a celebration breakfast in May. This
year’s theme was “Buddy up for Peace” in response to street violence and the shooting
and death of a Timilty student.
GSLIS Farragut School Library Partnership
This community service program has been active for several years. GSLIS students have
helped to improve and organize the library at the Farragut School in Mission Hill. The work
that the students have done and continue to do has helped to improve the collection at the
school’s library and has resulted in a fully functional library. This year, as part of alternative
spring break initiative, 19 students and staff members helped organize and process the
books, read to children in classrooms, and worked on tools to help make reading more
accessible.
The SRC and GSLIS also collaborated with the Farragut School to recruit volunteers for
Guest Reader’s Day. Simmons students, staff and faculty participated as guest readers in
the K – 5 classrooms.
Film Screening
The Scott/Ross Center and the Gender/Cultural Studies Graduate Program co-sponsored
a special screening of the film The Price of Sugar, a documentary on the condition of
Haitian sugarcane workers in the Dominican Republic. Eric Grunebaum, producer and
Peter Rhodes, the writer of the film attended and participated in a Q&A after the film. This
initiative is part of the center’s larger mission to highlight community service on a global
level. The film was purchased by the Simmons College library and is now available to all
the Simmons Community.
5
Graduate Student Assistantships
Graduate Communications Liaison: Sujata Adamson-Mohan (GCS/MCM Dual
Degree Student)
Sujata worked on articles for various Simmons publications, creating more exposure for
the graduate civic engagement and service learning projects. She coordinated the SRC
application for the Presidents Honor Roll, a national merit award for community service
programs nationwide. She aided in updating and creating new marketing materials for
graduate service learning and civic engagement and served as Teaching Assistant for an
MCM service learning class coordinating and communicating with community partners
and students. Sujata coordinated the special film screening The Price of Sugar.
Special Projects Coordinator: Ethan Kennedy (GCS Student)
Ethan helped to coordinate and organize Promising Pals, which partners over 150
Simmons community members with students from the Timilty Middle School in Roxbury.
He helped to engage graduate students in volunteer initiatives and recruited graduate
student volunteers for the first Campus Initiative with Boston Cares.
SSW/Scott/Ross Center Liaison Graduate Assistant: Corey Kritzman (SSW)
Corey assisted with the facilitation and administration of the AmeriCorps Scholarships for
Service Program. She organized, planned and served as a leader for various civic
engagement projects. She worked on collaborative community engagement projects and
initiatives that promoted the missions of both the SSW and the SRC.
Graduate Service Awards
Three students received the Distinguished Graduate Civic Engagement Award this year:
Sujata Adamson-Mohan ‘08 (GCS/MCM)
Ethan Kennedy ’08 (GCS).
Corey Kritzman ‘09 (SSW)
Conclusion
The Graduate Service Program opportunities and participation continued to grow and
expand dramatically in 2007 – 2008. We experienced over a 100% increase in the number
of students participating in service by providing an increased number of diverse
community service and volunteer activities involving students across schools and
disciplines. We will continue to work on engaging students in civic opportunities and
support their leadership in these areas. We will further build strong quality community
partnerships with an emphasis on community partner input and sustainability. We also
hope to introduce service learning into new disciplines. Evaluation will continue to be an
area that we expand and utilize to improve our programs and to ensure that we are
meeting community needs. We will research and report on best practices in the field.
Promotion both internally and externally of graduate student work with the community will
continue to let others know of the great work being accomplished by Simmons graduate
students. We look forward to continue our leading role in graduate civic engagement.
6