SCOTT/ROSS CENTER FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
2009-2010 ACADEMIC YEAR SUMMARY REPORT
The 2009-2010 academic year marked another year of significant
accomplishment and recognition. For the fourth consecutive year the Center was
named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; the
only college in the state, and one of the few in the country, to be honored three
times at the distinctive level. Clearly this is testament to our dedicated staff and
students who served our community partners through the several servicelearning courses, work study, and volunteer positions described in this report.
UNDERGRADUATE SERVICE LEARNING AND CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT
At the start of each semester the Scott/Ross Center sponsors a service-learning
and volunteer fair where students meet representatives from numerous partner
agencies. The Center also distributes a placement guide that describes service
opportunities. For our guide to community service and service learning
opportunities, please visit:
http://www.simmons.edu/communityservice/pdf/GuideSRC41.pdf
UNDERGRADUATE SERVICE LEARNING
More than 430 students from 11 academic departments enrolled in at least one
of our 28 undergraduate service-learning courses during the past academic year.
Table I: Undergraduate Service Learning Courses
PROGRAM/COURSE TITLE
FACULTY
BIO 246: Foundations of Exercise and Health*
Lite, Randi
COMM 260: Journalism
Connell, Dan
COMM 390: Studio 5: A Communications
Workplace*
Burrows, Sarah; Grabiner, Ellen
ECON 100: Principles of Microeconomics*
Biewener, Carole
Bettencourt, Joy; Cunnion,
EDUC 156: School in an Era of Change*
Maryellen; Oakes, Gary
EDUC 460: Teacher strategies for an inclusive Nam, Jenny
classroom
ENVI 200: Environmental Forum
MCC: Achievement or Opportunity Gap
MCC: From Borders to Barrios
MCC: My Space, Your Space
Berger, Michael
Graves, Daren
Cohen, Louise
Berman, Mary
Deyton, Patricia; Guertler, Indra;
Warren, Bruce
Deyton, Patricia
Lin, Barry
Martin, Sarah; Turner, Geoff
Taylor, Jill
Biewener, Carole
London, Steve
MGMT 100: Introduction to Management*
MGMT 224: Socially-Minded Leadership
MGMT 260: Principles of Finance
PSYC 235: Developmental Psychology*
SJ 220: Working for Social Justice
SJ 222: Organizing for Social Change
SOCI 101: Principles of Sociology*
SPAN 380: Migrant in the City: Fieldwork
Seminar On Puerto Rican Culture
Cohen, Louise
* These courses are taught in multiple sections and/or both semesters.
COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK-STUDY
The Center also continued to administer one of the largest community service
work-study programs in the country. Close to 200 undergraduates served the
community through this federal program. Nearly 30 percent of the total federal
work-study funds received by the College were expended for community-service
positions, by far exceeding the seven-percent minimum required by the federal
government.
PROGRAMS COORDINATED BY SIMMONS STUDENTS
Reflecting the College’s commitment to providing leadership opportunities for
women, the Center also sponsored 15 student-led programs during the past
academic year.
 AFTER SCHOOL AT SIMMONS: A tutoring and educational activities program for
local
Elementary-school youth from a local public housing development,
coordinated by Lydia Hardy ’11, Erin Carter ’11, and Celia Arias-Pina ’12.
 AMERICA COUNTS AT THE FARRAGUT: Coordinated by Lindsey Saez ’10, this
after-school math tutoring program supports students in grades 1-3.
 AMERICA READS AT THE FARRAGUT: An after-school literacy tutoring program for
students in grades 1-3, coordinated by Connie Ao ’11 and Allison Pazar ’11.
 AMERICA READS AT THE MENDELL: An after-school literacy tutoring program for
first graders, coordinated by Rachel Zdebski ’11.
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 BOSTON TEACHER’S UNION: An after-school tutoring program coordinated by
Katherine Harper ’12 and Libby Collins ’12.
 EDUCATION SPARKS: This program for K-5 students offers activities with a
unique daily disciplinary-based theme. It was coordinated by Melissa Flynn
’10, Amy Ellingsen ’10, Megan McDonnell ’11, and Annie Dunbar ’10.
 FARRAGUT AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM: Rachel Czubryt ’10 and Jenna Keenan
’11 coordinated this tutoring and enrichment program for K-5 students.
 FARRAGUT MORNING PROGRAM: This before-school tutoring and enrichment
program for students in grades K-5 was coordinated by Kaitlyn Russell ’11.
 GATEWAY: Annie Dunbar ’10 coordinated this after-school tutoring program for
students attending a nearby high school.
 GIRLS’ LEAP: Sabeta Jarba ’11 coordinated this self-defense program for girls
ages 8-18. Simmons also is a site for the organization’s city-wide training
sessions.
 GIRLS PREPARING TO SUCCEED: Coordinated by Rosy Gonzalez ’11, this
program provides a self-esteem and academic support program for local highschool girls.
 SPLASH!: This after-school program at the Farragut School offers arts and
crafts activities for students in grades K-5, coordinated by Kealyn Gardner ’10
and Kaitlyn Russell ’11.
 STEPS TO SUCCESS: Coordinated by Emily Ingraham ’11 and Caroline Lew ’11,
this program for students from low-income households includes a college
awareness component with visits to the Simmons campus.
 STRONG W OMEN, STRONG GIRLS: Coordinated by Sarah Hewitt ’10 and Kate
Johnson ’10, elementary school girls benefit from this self-esteem and skillbuilding program.
OTHER MAJOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
 JUMPSTART
This national AmeriCorps program provided the Scott/Ross Center with a fulltime site manager who oversaw 40 Simmons students who each served at
least 300 hours at two Head Start programs in Boston’s Jamaica Plain
neighborhood.
 STEPS TO SUCCESS MENTORING
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We started this program based on our success with the Afterhours U program.
Students from middle schools throughout Brookline come to Simmons to
receive one-on-one mentoring related to college access and success and
other skills necessary for the students to achieve their goals. The mentors take
advantage of Simmons resources to provide activities related to the students'
interests.
 ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK
Each year our students volunteer to work for Habitat for Humanity in different
locations during our spring break. Last year our students volunteered to help
build a house in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
In summer 2009 more than 100 youth participated in programs held at Simmons
and administered by four of our partners: Mission Safe, Writers Express, Beacon
Academy, and Project Teach.
2009-2010 GRANTS AND AWARDS
The Scott/Ross Center received the following grants/funding:
 Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA grant (provided our
VISTA
staff member)
 Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps Student Leaders in Service
Award
 The Sarah E. Field ’44 Endowed Fund for Community Service (for Farragut
programs)
 The Deborah C. Brittain Alternative Spring Break Fund (for Habitat for
Humanity)
UNDERGRADUATE SERVICE AWARDS
At our annual Community Recognition Reception, the following awards were
presented to three graduating seniors who demonstrated an outstanding
commitment to service:
 Jenni McKee Distinguished Student Award: Annie Dunbar ’10
 Leadership in Service Learning Award: Elissa Zeno ’10
 Judy Botelho Commitment Award: Rachel Czubryt ’10
GRADUATE SERVICE LEARNING AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
We continue to be one of the few community service centers in higher education
to offer a structured service program with a dedicated staff person for students in
all five Simmons graduate schools. In the 2009- 2010 academic year, graduate
student involvement increased by 45% and the number of hours that graduate
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students contributed to community partners more than doubled.
 More than 326 graduate students from the five Simmons graduate schools
participated in service-learning and civic engagement programs organized by
the Center.
 Our graduate students completed more than 33,213 hours of service-learning
and community service; they positively impacted 13 of Boston’s 23
neighborhoods in several areas, including education, mentoring, health and
mental health, hunger and homelessness, advocacy, diversity, and the arts.
 The Center expanded graduate service-learning opportunities in two important
areas: introducing the first service learning course to be offered within the
Simmons School of Management (SOM), and initiating the practice of
embedding community partners within the Volunteer Management class in the
College’s Master’s in Communications (MCM) program.
 In May, 2010, the Center designed and held the Graduate Service-Learning
Institute, the first such institute ever to be offered within the New England
higher education community. The Institute was attended by more than 40
community partners, college administrators, and faculty. Based on positive
feedback and interest, we will work with MACC to coordinate future graduate
service conferences.
GRADUATE SERVICE LEARNING COURSES
Graduate service-learning projects encourage students to assume leadership
roles by piloting initiatives that organizations are eager to launch but lack the
resources to do so. While participating in service-learning, graduate students
apply lessons from their classrooms that assist non-profits with specific projects.
Community partners also benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the faculty
members facilitating the courses.
Table II: Graduate Service Learning Courses
PROGRAM/COURSE TITLE CON’T
GSM 526: Market Research for Strategic
Growth
GEDUC 493: Topics in Urban Education
(taught in both semesters)
GEDUC 400/401: Pre-practicum Seminar,
Practicum Seminar Elementary Education
MCM 497: Communication for Volunteer
Management
PT 750: Health, Wellness, and Advocacy
MCM 454: Corporate Image
MCM 481: Strategic Communication and
Organization Change
FACULTY CON’T
Wilson, Fiona
Graves, Daren
Cunnion, Maryellen; Davidson,
Ellen
Danna, Kris
Tasker, Toni
Powell, Vonda
Gifford, Gayle
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GRADUATE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
 AmeriCorps Student Leaders in Service (ASLIS) is funded through the
Massachusetts Campus Compact (MACC) and coordinated for Simmons by
the Scott/Ross Center. It provides a $1,000 AmeriCorps Education Award to
students who volunteer 300 hours over a one-year period, and $1,250 for
students who volunteer 450 hours over a one-year period.
During the past academic year, four undergraduate students and 33 graduate
students representing the College’s schools of Arts and Sciences, Social
Work, and Library and Information Science, earned $38,000 in program
scholarships.
 Women Who Lunch (WWL) is a joint initiative between the Women’s Lunch
Place and the Simmons Masters in Communication Management program.
The partnership is facilitated through the Scott/Ross Center. The first lunch
sponsored by Simmons connected MCM alumnae/i to the MCM program and
the College and addressed their interest in civic engagement. Future plans
include continuing this program each fall at Simmons and in the spring
(sponsored by another organization). Spring 2010 was sponsored by State
Street Bank.
 Doctoral Physical Therapy Program
The doctoral physical therapy service-learning program is the longest
continuous graduate service-learning program at Simmons (eight years). Due
to the success of the PT 750: “Health, Wellness and Advocacy” course, the
program expanded to meet the needs of designated community partners year
around. Currently, first- and second-year physical therapy doctoral students
have the chance to volunteer at two sites: Boston Healthcare for the Homeless
Hand to Hand program, and the Peterborough Senior Center Yoga program.
The third-year students enrolled in the PT 750 course are those who have
volunteered in their first and second year and are now in a coordinator
position. Their service-learning revolves around supporting their first- and
second-year colleagues as they work directly with the community. This
redesign of the program has given more volunteer opportunities to physical
therapy doctoral students, while enhancing the services provided to those in
need in the local area.

Promising Pals
Seventy-five graduate students, and more than 200 faculty, staff, and
alumnae/i participated in this mentoring and literacy program at the James P.
Timilty School during the past academic year. The College’s involvement with
this program has grown steadily during the past eight years. The 2009-2010
theme was “Dare to Dream.” This initiative matches more than 650 sixththrough-eighth graders with an adult pen pal. The pen pals correspond
throughout the year and meet at a celebration breakfast in June. SRC staff
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and the graduate student coordinator provide support and attend monthly
steering-committee meetings.
GSLIS Community Library Partnerships

Alternative Spring Break at the Mission Hill School Library
Each year, the Scott/Ross Center offers students community-service
opportunities during the March spring break. In 2010, the Center coordinated
a week of service for GSLIS students at the Mission Hill School library.
Students cataloged more than 1,500 volumes during the Alternative Spring
Break week. GSLIS students also participated in a one-day service event at
the Farragut School library.

Farragut School Library Partnership
For six years, GSLIS students have helped organize the library at Boston’s
Farragut School during Alternative Spring Break resulting in a fully functional
library. The library staff reports that the collection has reached an optimal
state. During the past academic year, our involvement included ongoing
support for two Guest Reader Days in K-5 classrooms. In addition, three
graduate students volunteered weekly to read in classrooms, develop
curriculum support materials, and process borrowed items.

Other GSLIS community engagement partners:
Our partners include the Brookline Public Library Teen Room, Orchard
Gardens School, and the Harbour School library. During this academic year,
the Center also inaugurated a new graduate service-learning partnership with
the Boston Public Library.
2009-2010 Distinguished Graduate Civic Engagement Award
Alyssa Arevalo ’10GS received this award for her volunteer and service-learning
work with the “Women Who Lunch” initiative.
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