In addition to re-designing our monthly e-newsletter, The Connection, we recently launched our new and dramatically re-designed website.  We hope you find it easier to navigate, more visually interesting and chock full of rich content.  Be sure to check out our news/events page  our monthly Great Things! feature and our VISTA pages. In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out additional new website features, new content in our Members Only section and offering new  e-engagement tools to our members! Stay tuned!  In the meantime, here’s a quick summary of some of the features of our recently expanded online presence:  We recently launched our own YouTube channel and added a number of new videos, including this short video featuring highlights from our VISTA Summer Associate program. Ohio Campus Compact VISTA Summer Associates And don’t miss our YouTube video feed which features service-learning videos from some of our member campuses! We’ve uploaded dozens of VISTA impact reports, documents and powerpoint presentations.  If you missed one of our campus presentations or reports, you won’t want to miss our Slideshare page! Delicious is a social bookmarking site where we collect and curate the best service-related information from around the world and around the web.  ...
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Student-led organization looking to create new campus chapters Nourish is a student movement to address global poverty through social entrepreneurship located on 24 U.S. college campuses.  Nourish International currently has chapters at the Ohio State University and Miami University and is currently  accepting applications to expand onto other campuses. Nourish Chapters raise money on campus during the school year to fund international development projects. This past summer, UNC-Chapel Hill students invested in diversified land plots for rural communities in Honduras.  By planting various fruit trees, the students helped the farmers increase soil fertility so that communities would have access to a more nutritious variety of crops. Students also held computer literacy workshops to share skills in typing, accessing the Internet, and how to use the keyboard and mouse. Until April 11th, Nourish will accept applications for its Chapter Founders Program. Nourish seeks to eradicate poverty by empowering communities and engaging students. Nourish was founded in 2003 as the UNC student group “Hunger Lunch.” Since incorporating as a 501c(3) nonprofit in 2006, Nourish has grown into a national organization, engaging hundreds of students at 24 universities across the United States. You can learn where we already work at nourish.org/students. Nourish, seeks impact on two...
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Our roundup of new ideas, research & innovations related to campus community service Martha Stewart may have “Good Things,” but Ohio Campus Compact has “Great Things” –our monthly roundup of great service-themed news and information from our member campuses, on the web and around the world. Great Story:   Abby Honnaker, an Ohio Campus Compact VISTA at the University of Mount Union was recently featured on The Dynamo website.  Learn more about how she’s making a difference. Great Idea:  University of Cincinnati Blue Ash will be holding a Service-Learning Student Expo to exhibit their students’ service-learning community work on April 19th 2012. Great honors:  State and national service award opportunities! Don’t forget to nominate the service superstars on your campus and in your community for a state or national service award! Great upcoming events:  Opportunity Nation at Otterbein University:  Women & the New American Dream  March 9 &10.   On March 14th, the International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education will kick-off with pre-conference training on Service-Learning in Cleveland.  This is a great opportunity for faculty to get an introduction to service-learning.   Service-Learning Research Workshop with Patti Clayton at Walsh University May 8 & 9   Great opportunities to publish &...
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The Call for Proposals is now open for the 13th Annual Meeting of the National Outreach Scholarship Conference (NOSC).  NOSC’s goal is to work collaboratively to build strong university-community partnerships anchored in the rigor of scholarship and designed to help build community capacity. They are seeking proposals for three tracks: The Voice of the Faculty and Staff, The Voice of the Student, and The Voice of the Community Partner. This year’s event is hosted by The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on September 30 – October 3, 2012. To learn more about the conference, please visit  http://www.nosc2012.ua.edu/proposals.html Proposal Deadline is April 11,...
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The International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) has issued a Call for Proposals for their Annual Conference to be held in Baltimore from September 23-25, 2012. The conference theme is Connected Knowing. Proposals will be accepted until March 30, 2012. For more information please visit IARSLCE’s website...
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2nd Annual Intercultural Horizons Conference October 4-5, 2012 SUNY Global Center 116 East 55th Street New York, NY Call for Proposals Submission Deadline: March 31, 2012 The State University of New York at Geneseo, Siena Italian Studies, and the Associazione Culturale Ulisse at the International Center for Intercultural Exchange are seeking proposals for Intercultural Horizons 2012: Intercultural Strategies in Civic Engagement, a conference dedicated to exchanging ideas, practices, and experiences in the development of intercultural competence. This conference is intended to engage educators and experts from a variety of perspectives in examining the challenges and achievements of civic engagement in a global context, and the evolving definitions of civic engagement in service learning and general education, with an emphasis on turning theory into practice. We welcome proposals from those interested or involved in intercultural education or exchange, from faculty and administrators to coordinators and counselors, as well as those active in the fields of service learning, language instruction, intercultural or cross-cultural communication, and international education. Conference Structure The conference will include plenary sessions with invited speakers as well as concurrent panel sessions. We will consider proposals for panels or for individual presentations. If an individual presentation is accepted, it will...
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Call for Proposals for a Small Working Conference:   “To Learn and to Serve: Critical Service-Learning Initiatives and Community Engagements”   The Ohio State University October 18, 2012 (Evening: Tentatively Scheduled Opening/Community Gathering) October 19, 2012 (All-Day: Presentations/Workshops) October 20, 2012 (Half-Day: Poster Sessions, Presentations, Closing Session) Submission Deadline:  May 7, 2012 Overview & Invitation: This conference will bring together students, teachers, teacher educators, researchers, school and university administrators, and community members and organizations to explore intersections of service-learning initiatives and community engagements across K-16 settings. Service-learning—traditionally defined as a multifaceted approach to integrating classroom instruction and academic research with meaningful community service—has the potential to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, impact educational policy, and strengthen partnerships within schools, universities, and communities. Long recognized as an effective strategy for inspiring student learning, engagement, and activism as well as increasing civic participation, service-learning has been credited with raising high school graduation rates, motivating students to go to and complete college, and encouraging civic participation. However, some continue to view service-learning as volunteer work or community service that does not impact teaching, learning, research, and policy decisions within schools and universities, and across local, national, and global communities. Thus, the unfair disassociation of service-learning from...
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The OCC staff and current OCC VISTA, Coral Breuer, will host a VISTA dinner on February 16th at 6:45 at Jimmy V’s Grill & Pub Grandview location in Columbus. The dinner is in conjunction with the third VISTA workshop of the 2011-12 service year. The 2-day workshop will be hosted at Summit United Methodist Church and will focus on finding strengths and future plans of VISTAs. OCC’s Kirsten Fox, and Sally Leber from Ohio Wesleyan University will both present at the workshop. If you are a VISTA alum and would like to join the current OCC VISTAs for dinner and superb conversation, please contact Coral at...
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Ohio Campus Compact encourages our member campuses to consider submitting papers to one or more of the following Journals: PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagement.  PRISM is a new journal devoted to promoting a culture of engagement between the university and region through the creation, application, and integration of knowledge. It is multi-disciplinary and includes research articles, case studies and applied research articles, and reflections across the full range of disciplinary perspectives. The journal is currently accepting paper submissions.  More information about PRISM & submission requirements Interdisciplinary Humanities The Fall 2012 issue of the journal Interdisciplinary Humanities will be a special issue on service-learning in the humanities. The editors welcome submissions of articles, essays, and reflective pieces on service-learning from various points of view: students, faculty, agency mentors, and higher-education and non-profit community administration and staff. Documents may focus on studies, theory, practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and school-community partnerships as they apply to service-learning. The co-editors for this special issue are Isabel Baca (University of Texas-El Paso) and Joana Owens (Jacksonville University). More Information on Interdisciplinary Humanities: Interdisciplinary Humanities is a refereed scholarly journal, published three times a year by the Humanities Education and Research Association (HERA). The journal accepts articles that...
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Report calls for major new effort to end civic recession A new report calls for a reinvigoration of civic learning in higher education, particularly as it connects to democratic engagement and collaborative problem-solving. The report,  A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, implores the nation to reinvest in and reclaim higher education’s civic mission.  Commissioned by the Department of Education and released at a high profile White House event earlier this month, the report documents the nation’s anemic civic health and includes recommendations for action that address campus culture, general education, and civic inquiry as part of major and career fields as well as hands-on civic problem solving across differences.  The publication was developed with input from a series of national roundtables involving leaders from all parts of the higher education and civic renewal communities, including Campus Compact. The Association of American Colleges & Universities describes the report as one that “pushes back against a prevailing national dialogue that limits the mission of higher education to workforce preparation and training while marginalizing disciplines basic to democracy.” AAC&U dedicated a large portion of their recent annual meeting to exploring...
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