Division of Student Affairs
2010-11 Annual Report
Department: Office of Civic Engagement and Service
Person Completing Report: Pam Curtis
Executive Summary
The staff of the Office of Civic Engagement began the new academic year with a full staff of two
coordinators (Kim Shaver and Gerome Stephens), one graduate assistant (Natasha Ramsey),
and a newly hired departmental assistant (Toni Solis). We did not have a VISTA Americorps
staff person due to federal funding changes. We have recently been notified funding will be
available for 2011-12 and have hired a person to begin in August. We also had a number of
student staff that came on as the semester began, including numerous graduate interns
(Swapna Vongooru, Tracey Walterbusch and Josh Hardman), FWS student assistants (Kristina
McQuillen - her 3rd year, Alexis Lurry and Chad Graven), Freshmen LEAD Directors (Sarah
Hugenberg and Wes Fischer) and Bonner interns (Jonathan Bender and Kristina McQuillen).
Though we desperately missed our VISTA, Amanda Romito, when she left last summer, she did
her job well of creating capacity which allowed us to create a full time position to incorporate
the areas she developed. We met many of our goals plus created some unexpected products
despite missing the VISTA and training new staff.
Accomplishments to highlight over this past year include the creation and inaugural year of the
Engage Lead Serve Board, which included a student-led and Gerome-supported renovation of
the ELS office. We all learned tremendously from this experience and have an even stronger
vision for the next year. For the third year, we held the MLK Day of Service Challenge which
was even bigger and better than the two previous years; it surpassed our numbers from the
previous year and continued to be the largest event of its kind in the commonwealth. New
collaborations on the event with the Cultural Center and Anne Braden Institute and a new
venue in MITC were significant positive changes and contributed to the success of the program.
We successfully completed our i2a SUN grant project which resulted in rewriting and
developing SLOs to incorporate critical thinking for all of our major programs as well as
measurement tools to assess what learning is occurring. Natasha and I did three professional
presentations on our work as well as a poster presentation and panel discussion done by
Natasha at the i2a Institute. Gerome led the second trip to India for service learning with five
students. Kim planned a service exchange with three KY Bonner schools, Centre, Union and
Berea in collaboration with the Muhammad Ali Center downtown, at which administrative staff
from the Bonner Foundation were present. Several community partners also participated in
the service exchange including Dare to Care and Center for Women and Families.
The spring semester ended on a collaborative note with an event sponsored by our office with
the support of Undergraduate Research and the Office of Community Engagement to expand
the Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression Symposium to include community
engagement projects. We initiated joining with these offices after separate events were held
last year. There continues to be an effort after this successful collaboration to further combine
efforts across campus. The ECPY 355 leadership class members were required to present their
leadership projects during the symposium which were well received. Finally, the year ended on
a powerful note as Pam attended the first ISLP to Trinidad in the capacity of faculty and
program coordinator, Gerome planned the two summer camps –Friend of Louniversity to be
held in July and expanded our sponsorships by adding Growing Local and Keep Louisville Weird,
and Kim completed her first year as NSE coordinator placing four students at universities
around the country and accepting five students from other universities. A UofL team consisting
of 2 Bonner Leaders (Jessica Coty and Raven Darko-Mensa) attended the Bonner Summer
Leadership Institute with Kim who co-presented a two part workshop during the meeting. The
Bonner Serve 2.0 grant was completed and resulted in purchase of Mac computer to enhance
the use of social media in our office. Through receipt of this grant we contributed to a
consortium of schools to enlighten higher education on social media and how college students
utilize it ($2000).
Our staff held an invigorating retreat to develop our plans for the coming year as well as to
celebrate our victories and learn from our failures. We have named our year, the Year of
Strategic Creativity to remind us to be innovative while focusing on our mission and goals. We
are grateful for the support we have had to make our goals happen. The CELS staff works
tirelessly to be creative with the resources we have to provide exciting leadership and
engagement opportunities to engage as many UofL students as possible.
1. Programs and Services

National Student Exchange – placed under Kim’s area of responsibility in January, held
four interest sessions, placed four students and accepted five from other schools.

Friend of Louniversity 2010 summer camp – 24 students attended, fee of $250/student
plus donations from Greater Louisville Inc. and Comfy Cow ice cream paid for all
expenses of the camp.

Three Alternative Break information sessions were held in the fall.

Community Service Fair: 44 community agencies , fed 200 people

Freshmen LEAD 61 student participants. 122 applications were received for the program
and all 122 students were interviewed. 59 students graduated from LEAD.

Local Alternative Break trip was cancelled and replaced by a cooperative trip to East St.
Louis with University of Kentucky staff and students. Service sites were St. Vincent de
Paul mobile food pantry and Thurman Elementary School. Four UofL and three UK
students attended along with 3 UofL and UK staff.

Domestic ASB partnered with Warren Wilson College and continued to grow a now four
year partnership with Black Mtn., NC community to include community garden,
elementary school, parks and recreation, Welcome Table program, and Bountiful Cities
(Asheville). 11 students and staff attended.

Engage Lead Serve board – 14 students served on the first ELSB (CHAIRS: Alison Cox,
Morgan Forrester, Akash Gupta, Olivia Mcmillen, Alycia Tooill, Ashley Wimsett: Rso
Members: Stephanie Scott, Student United Way; Anna Hellman, Uldm; Wes Fischer And
Sarah Hugenberg, Freshmen Lead Directors; Katlyn Nasseri, Cards For Kids Internship
Director; Rosslyn Steinmetz, Stand: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition; Tabitha
Overstreet, Sigma Alpha Lambda; and Jonathan Bender, Bonner Leader Intern.)

America Reads time sheet procedure – this new procedure reduced the possibility of
students falsifying time sheets and helped address Financial Aid’s need for original
supervisor signatures.

Living Learning Communities – four new communities for Fall 2010 were developed
under the guidance of a university-wide planning committee. Engineering was the
largest and very successful as it filled Wellness Hall (about 76 spots). Pre Dental Hygiene
(about 10 students) was very active and has several members who wish to continue to
take advantage of the services offered by their advisor, Unitas was not successful as
student participation dropped off within the first month and there was no designated
advisor to sustain the program throughout the year, and the Honors LLC failed due to
poor communication within the Honors program. Unitas will no longer have a
community and the Honors program has hired new staff to help develop the LLC and will
have a much stronger program in place for 2011-12. One of the most important goals
was to begin an assessment and data collection process which was successfully
completed in early spring in conjunction with Institutional Effectiveness and Research
offices.

Leadership Quest Community – this community’s second year had 12 active students in
Center Hall. 17 sessions for the students were planned by me over the year.

Sponsored and planned Bonner Spring Sophomore Service Exchange with Berea, Union
and Centre Colleges approximately 70 participants from all four schools. Sites included
Supplies Overseas, Brightside, Dare to Care, and Center for Women and Families.
Received a $500 CODRA grant to support this program.

Bonner Summer Leadership Institute programs – Kim co-presented with colleagues from
Lynchburg (VA), Waynesburg (PA) and WV Wesleyan (WV) a two part workshop for staff
and students on thriving rather than surviving the college experience with a focus on
community service. Two Bonner Leaders attended (RAVEN DARKO-MENSA – senior
internship track and JESSICA CODY – Bonner Congress track)
Bonners actively recruited for 11-12 and selected a new Bonner cohort of 14 students,
in addition, 8 Bonners will return for a second term, totaling 22 Bonner.


India trip – Ten students and Gerome went to India from December 10-23, 2010 –toured
the country and volunteered in a medical camp for three days.

CPC funds received - $93 for How Can We Best Serve conference.

How Best Can We Serve – training and awareness event focused on the social issue of
health equity held in conjunction with the Muhammad Ali Institute’s Peace and Justice
Week. Community partners from PEACC, The KY Cancer Program, KY Health Justice
Network, Campus Health Promotion, New Roots, Kentuckians for Single Payer Health
Care, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kent School, and Center for Health Equity
presented eight sessions and the keynote address were provided along with a final
reflection for the day.

Selected two winners of 2011 Bridge Builder Scholarship created by the Schmiedeler
family. We had 9 applications and the recipients of $1000 each are Thomas Rains and
Jessica Nelson.

Based on the government figures for hourly rate value of community service
($21.36/hour), the service projects we sponsored equal $233,550.24.
2. Major Accomplishments

Continuation of SOUL event at Welcome Weekend and use of on line registration.

Continue to work with expanded SOUL schedule throughout the year. We are already
partnering with Sustainability office and Alumni.

Work with Engage Lead Serve board to create their place on campus by developing
various programs throughout the year.

Plan 3rd Annual MLK Day of Service with campus partner, The Cultural Center.

Continue to engage alum to support our office programs through participation.

Utilize facebook and other social networking venues to promote service and leadership
opportunities on campus.

Support ELSB to begin their own traditions and consider their legacy as the founding
group of leaders.

Held 2nd Friend of Louiniversity camp. Determine if camp should/can be repeated and if
other camps will be added and if so how to work with Orientation to recruit
participants.

Continue to recruit service RSOs to work with our office and ELSB. Added Relay for Life,
Best Buddies and American Red Cross.

Recruited three graduate intern in our office.

Implement Cards for Kids Intern program in collaboration with Kids Center beginning fall
2010.

Create Learning Outcomes for all major programs; create assessment plan.

Continue participation in i2a.

Expand work we already do with Signature Partnerships. Continue to work on
relationship with Office of Community Engagement.

Continue to grow local and domestic service-learning programs through ELSB and
campus collaborations.

Work to assess LLCs for 2010. Determine additions and deletions of communities for
2011.

Submit at least one program proposal to present on i2a SUN grant project – SLOs and
assessment. Presented at SACSA and CPAK plus to Student Affairs at divisional meeting.
3. Staffing Summary

The staff in the CELS office this year included:
 3 Professional Staff
 1 Departmental Assistant (hired August 2010)
 1 Graduate Assistant
 0 VISTA
 3 Graduate Interns and 1 out of state summer graduate intern (recruited through
SACSA)
 2 Freshmen LEAD Directors
 3 federal work study student workers
 2 Bonner Senior Interns
4. Activities and Initiatives that Support Academic Units

Assisted Public Health Administration program and the English Department find sites for
service learning and internships.

Reported to the Phi Beta Kappa representatives.

i2a task group participant and Assessment subcommittee member.

Presentations to faculty and staff at Celebration of Teaching and Learning and i2a
Institute.

Hosted three graduate interns (CSP and Human Resources) and hosted one graduate
intern from out of state (CSP).

University wide Living Learning Communities Planning Committee, including members of
Academic Affairs, faculty, academic support services, advising, admissions, and various
Student Affairs offices
Served as faculty for ISLP Trinidad and Tobago.


Collaborated on Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium with
Undergraduate Research office (Dr. Feldhoff) and Office of Community Engagement (Dr.
Cunningham) to provide opportunities for students and students with faculty to present
on their programs to the campus community.

Served on KY Engagement Conference planning and CE Awards selection committees.
5. Activities and Services that Support Diversity

Assisted Latino Students Program by providing Bonner Leaders to assist with various
community arts/outreach programs.

Included new on-campus Bonner site through the Arts& Sciences Diversity program in a
collaboration with JCPS middle and high school students of color, “Reclaiming Our
Dreams”.

Spoke at Coming Out as An Ally Day.

Service sites used for all of our programs are chosen to support our community’s diverse
needs as well as our community’s diverse populations, such as Friendship House
(elderly), Churchill Downs Backside (immigrants and Hispanics), Fairness Campaign
(LGBT), Down Syndrome Of Louisville (special needs).

Breaking Bread program – collaborative among offices on campus that focus on social
justice issues – dinner and open house.

Participated in Cardinal Covenant Fair, International Student Information Fair and
International student tea.
6. Activities and Services that Support Community Service and/or Civic Engagement:

SOUL Welcome Weekend 8/21 15 sites in the community, 322 students participated.

SOUL Service projects – 8/28, 10/2, 10/23, 11/20, 2/12, 3/26, 4/9 Sites included: Conrad
Caldwell House, Olmsted Parks, Down Syndrome Walk, Brightside, Presbyterian Child
Development Center, Walk United!, and BRYCC Center. We cosponsored a SOUL with
APO to make blankets for the local children’s hospital and 15 students participated.

Alternative Service Break trips – India, North Carolina, East St. Louis and Washington DC
Total student attendees: 5 + 11 + 7 + 10 = 33.

MLK Day of Service Challenge - Collaborated with 11 community organizations and 2
campus organizations/ departments.

Bonner main sites included: Gilda’s Club, Americana Community Center, Brooklawn,
Center for Health Equity, Anne Braden Institute, PEACC, Cabbage Patch, Supplies
Overseas.

America Reads sites: Cochran Elementary Schools, Noe Middle School, Cabbage Patch,
Americana Community Center, Brooklawn.

Co-sponsored Community Service Fair with SAB.

Salvation Army Angel Tree – 80 wishes granted.

Big Brothers Big Sisters promotion event on West Lawn in the fall.
7. Staff Professional Development Activities and Programs

Pam
o Presented at SACSA and CPAK as well as for the Division of Student Affairs
o Continued to serve as Chair of Career Services Committee – resigned effective
fall 2011
o Facilitated various Strengths workshops across campus and elsewhere (notably
St. Catherine’s College)
o Continue to serve as chair of Student Affairs Professional Development
committee
o Trained new instructor to teach ECPY 355 –spring 2011 was my last semester as
instructor
o Serve as Sigma Alpha Lambda’s faculty advisor
o Presented with Natasha at high school HOBY program
o Participated in webinar on The Student Leadership Challenge and how to teach it

Kim
o Evaluation Chair/Membership Chair Gulf-South Summit Civic Engagement and
Service-Learning Conference, Executive Committee
o Presented workshop “Is the MFA the new MBA?: How right brain thinking,
creativity and service learning empowers students for the Gulf –South Summit
Conference
o Co-presented two part workshop on thriving at Bonner Summer Leadership
Institute
o Attended Fall Bonner Directors meeting
o KAVA (KY Association of Volunteer Administrators) member, attend meetings
o KYCC advisory, representing UofL Student Affairs; attended one state meeting as
well as regular meetings with OCE and i2a
o Attended International Association for Research on Service learning and
Community Engagement Conference at IUPUI in the fall
o Attended NSE placement conference and new coordinator training in Maine
spring semester
o Quantum Resources Leadership Intensive 2-Day Training, Louisville
o Mediation Seminar, polarity Inc., Louisville
o Project Sunshine student organization advisor
o Attended Idea Festival

Gerome
o Serve as advisor to UofL Dance Marathon, Student United Way, STAND, SGA,
Engage Lead Serve Board
o Writing his doctoral dissertation with goal to complete spring 2012
o Attended Dance Marathon National Conference with several students
o Attended Idea Festival

Toni
o Attended four workshops through IT on plone training

Natasha
o Presented at SACSA and CPAK as well as at Student Affairs divisional meeting
about i2a SLO project
o Presented on panel and poster at UofL i2a Institute
8. Assessment Initiatives
Based on the government figures for hourly rate value of community service
($21.36/hour), the service projects we sponsored equal $233,550.24.
Number of Community Service Events:
47
Number of Student Participants:
864
Number of Faculty/Staff:
37
Number of Hours Served:
10934
9. Top Goals for the Department/Program








Develop a sustainable administrative system for NSE, Bonner Leaders and
America Reads.
Better utilize “office media” to further mission, goals and impact (website, list
serve, facebook, twitter, etc.)
Improve CELS on line – office flickr account, office blog, integrate into programs
and use for assessment as well as marketing
Remember to take pictures and video at events
Professional development events – innovative ideas, better ways to implement
my talents/skills, progression of leadership
o Work on civility symposium idea
o Gulf South Summit conference planning
Increase face to face relationships - Regular meetings with ELSB directors Semesterly meetings with sites
Enhance the student experience
o Work with Elijah to create sustainable student position – Media Director
o Create at least one video for our office
o Student awards
o Recognition of students’ success
Enhance strategic planning and assessment
o Develop strategic planning skills
o Develop assessment question(s) and methods to evaluate and use the
results

Programming
o Institute of Advanced Leadership / Connectors project
o ISLP Trinidad and Tobago
o SOUL
 Community Service Fair
 MLK Day
 Angel Tree
o Leadership Quest
o LLCs
o Community Foundation and Philanthropy
o How Can We Best Serve conference
o Welcome Weekend SOUL
o Bonner Leaders
o America Reads
o National Student Exchange
o Freshmen LEAD
o ASB – India
o ASB – Black Mtn.
o Engage Lead Serve Board
 ULDM
 Relay for Life
 Student United Way
 STAND
 Best Buddies
o Bridge Builders Scholarship
o The Kids Center Interns – Cards for Kids
o Friend of Louniversity camps
o Office Assistant Training
o Civic Literacy and SGA voting
o Develop UnBoard of directors for ELS
10. Issues and Challenges for the Department


Issue – not being able to charge alternative break payments to student accounts at
the last minute and there being no reasonable solution available other than
collecting cash or checks – We need to use an on line payment system for our
programs!!
Challenge – Space for our students to gather, collaborate, meet, and create. FWS
not being well prepared to function effectively and work collaboratively.
Department Review Follow up
Engage Lead Serve Office
June 22, 2011
Service Learning Program
In the fall of 2007 the Service-Learning program was asked to perform a program review using
the CAS standards. The program coordinator was given the choice of employing a consultant or
performing a self-assessment. Since the budget could not afford to hire a consultant, the self
assessment was decided upon. The review process would utilize the standards outlined by the
Council on the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education for Service-Learning Programs.
This was the first CAS review ever completed by the Service-Learning program since its
inception in 1997. The intent of the review was to gain informed perspectives on the strengths
and weaknesses of the program and to plan for improvements.
Recommended Actions and Accomplishments
1. Determine the appropriate staffing level for the S-L Program at UofL. Comparative
information from other institutions with similar student participation rate and programs
ought to be gathered. Investigate staffing models at other institutions (benchmarks, as well
as institutions with strong S-L programs). – Transitioned from Graduate Assistant to
Departmental Assistant (30 hour full time staff) to assist with the administrative
requirements of the position. Additionally, funding was secured to hire an AmeriCorps
VISTA to assist in expansion and development of sustainable programs.
2. Develop more formal training for FWS office staff; define roles and responsibilities of staff
and students. Create written guidelines and assessment strategies. – Policy and procedure
manual created in 2010 for tutors and site staff. Additionally, the Bonner Leader manual
was expanded. Alternative Break annual records and ASB resources have been organized
in binders and stored in the office.
3. Updated website in order to keep up with increased technology usage to find program
information. This may increase student participation in programs. Staff needs appropriate
training or needs to work with department IT staff or media personnel. – DA went to
multiple Plone training sessions during S11 to begin work on updating website over the
coming academic year. Blackboard has been incorporated to Bonner Leader program for
improved communication. Bonner Program Wiki has increased our access to resources
for our students and most of the required administrative work is offered electronically.
America Reads timesheets and application materials as well as ASB materials are on line.
Other improvements: web forms for SOUL registration, increased use of social media
including facebook and listservs.
4. Develop written guidelines that address inclusion of students with disabilities in the S-L
program with the assistance of the DRC. Find resources that address these issues and
include in the S-L resource library. – Met with Cathy Patus, DRC Director, and following
that meeting a statement was added to all CELS programs letting students with special
needs know the process to request accommodations. All SOULs where transportation is
provided includes having handicap accessible transportation.
Leadership Program
From report by Dr. Corey Seemiller, University of Arizona May 2009
After researching the programs, being in the office, and meeting and talking with
various partners, collaborators, students, and faculty/staff, it appears that the CELS staff and
those I interacted with care deeply about students and offering meaningful experiences for
them. The 3 CELS staff seemed very open to new ideas and really have the best interest of the
students in mind. It appears that students enjoy interacting with the CELS staff and crave more
interaction with the staff.
Recommended Actions and Accomplishments
1. Adopt one or more leadership models to use as a framework for your leadership initiatives
(LEAD, conference, class, etc.). Plan all of your outlines for programs using this framework
as if you were developing lesson plans for a class. The learning and development should be
cumulative. The Bonner 5 Es are a great example of a framework. – Bonner 5 Es, Relational
Leadership and Strengths philosophy all guide the various programs facilitated by the
office. As new programs are developed leadership models/theoretical frameworks are
considered to determine the core concept/outcome for the program.
2. Engage in developing learning outcomes as one of the first orders of business so that all
programs have measurable outcomes. You will want to integrate learning outcomes from
the critical thinking model, but add others that reflect learning not related to critical
thinking. Develop specific language for a particular outcome, and if another program has
that same outcome, use the exact language. Develop and use common assessment
questions for all programs. Then, you can benchmark your programs against each other. –
in 2010 through the assistance of an i2a SUN grant, we had a GA work on revising as well
as writing SLOs for our department and numerous programs.
3. Find something to tie your programs together-a common experience, common language,
shared theory, branding, etc. so they feel appropriately placed in CELS. – Strengths and our
brand of engaging with your passion are our two core connectors for all programs.
4. Address the lack of student involvement in developing and running their own programs.
Having the sophomore directors for Freshman LEAD is a great model to draw from. Perhaps
students can write curriculum, coordinate events, and oversee other students’ experiences.
I believe all programs could have more students running various aspects of them. This could
assist in staffing, allow for more heads to solve problems and develop ideas, create student
ownership in their own experience, as well as set up a structure that allows peers to mentor
peers (which some argue is more effective). These roles may be TA positions for the
leadership classes, cohort leaders for LEAD, one or more SOUL coordinators, speaker series
coordinator, coordinator of America Reads, etc.; any position that would be useful in
working with each program. – in 2010, the first cohort of the Engage Lead Serve Board
took office and began in earnest our efforts to create more student-driven and student –
led programs.
5. Brand your office and your programs. Capitalize on Engage.Lead.Serve. Buy the domain
name and reroute it to your office website. Also, I would recommend putting
Engage.Lead.Serve under every logo for every program you offer. – Gerome created the
face of our brand in 2009 and we have been utilizing Engage. Lead. Serve. on all our
materials. We set goals each year to expand more on what we are doing to get the word
out about our office.
6. Utilize staff to develop and coordinate programs that serve a much larger and wider
constituency. I am not recommending eliminating already existing programs, but these may
be able to be run by students thus freeing up professional staff time to do higher level
leadership development and service learning work. –Engage Lead Serve Board
7. It was mentioned that SOUL may begin to be a monthly program. I would highly
recommend moving in this direction. –monthly SOULs were scheduled beginning fall 2009
and have been held each semester since
8. I would recommend developing a bi-weekly leadership speaker series. Outreach to upper
class students capitalizing on the diverse array of speakers from various fields that may be
good for them to interact with as they think about transitioning out of UofL.– collaborated
with Athletics to get an NCAA grant to hold the Cards Lead Lecture series in 09-10.