GCGS Research Fellows

Congratulations to our 2009-2010 Research Fellows on successful completion of their fellowships! 

Their honoraria are generously funded through the Corporation for National and Community Service through our GCGS Learn and Serve Grant.  The fellows and their projects are listed below.

GCGS Research Fellows:  Visit the GCGS Research Wiki regularly and update us on your progress: http://greatcitiesresearch.pbwiki.com/

Beth Nagy, Xavier University

Instruments for Assessing Faculty Development in Engagement

An extensive evaluation process will be implemented as part of the Academy for Community-Engaged Faculty pilot program with the goal of improving the practice of engaged scholarship at Xavier University and establishing a model for best practices in faculty development for community-engaged learning, particularly as it relates to curriculum. One phase of the evaluation will focus on the Academy’s success in meeting faculty and institutional objectives around the teaching component of engaged scholarship.  In keeping with the community-engaged philosophy, the methodology to be used will be participatory action research, which will incorporate the faculty participants of the first Academy in the design of the assessment instrument. The new instrument will be used to assess the effectiveness of the Academy on an annual basis. Another phase of the evaluation, also using participatory research methods, will assess the community’s receptiveness to working with the faculty.

Dr. Sudershan Pasupuleti, University of Toledo

Multi-Dimensional Study of the Partnerships of Great Cities Great Service Consortium

Abstract: The project that I designed at the University of Toledo is based on the “Mutual Empowerment Model” which is consistent with the conceptual framework of YouthLEAD project which involves a collaborative effort between urban community youth and college students. This is an area for qualitative and quantitative assessment. Unless in-depth investigation is undertaken into the project outcomes in broader sense the consortium may appear simple. For example, the project objectives we proposed (at the University of Toledo) seek to promote collaboration on equal-footing. The community youth and college students partner for mutually rewarding learning and empowerment through the experience of problem-solving. The problem exploration and solving is designed by both groups as equal partners. The approach shuns the ideas of needy, dependent, and powerlessness in mutual empowerment (Rigor, 1993; Gore, 1993). Mutual empowerment model creates social trust networks and collaboration and use strengths of each group to work on mutually beneficial issues. Collaborating groups devise the ways to address the issues concerning them and the community (Lawson, 1998).

Kate Collins, Bowling Green State University

Abstract: Social Justice Ally Development through YouthLEAD

I intend to investigate the potential for integrating curriculum related to fostering the growth of the social justice ally into the university service-learning (SL) classroom. Specifically, service-learning classrooms where the YouthLEAD model is being employed and the college students largely identify as agents of dominant social identity groups participating in service-learning collaborations where the youth participants from the partnering community are largely target group members. While this is certainly not the case for every service-learning course, I do believe it is true for many of the SL courses offered by my home institution, Bowling Green State University, as well as many other universities throughout the Midwest and the United States. That being the case, I’m hoping this investigation can lead to breaking new ground in the area of social justice curriculum integration in service-learning classrooms – especially those that are implementing the YouthLEAD model.

Dr. Jane Rosser & Dr. Patrick Vrooman, Bowling Green State University

Abstract: Youth Leadership Advocates: Building Best Practice in Service-Learning Partnerships with Youth

The partners in this research and assessment project are interested in what strategies are most effective in assisting adults (in community and campus settings) to become advocates for the Youth LEAD approach to community based work, service-learning, and campus community partnerships. This builds on an ongoing collaboration between BGSU and a The Community Partnership, and the work of BGSU faculty engaged in the Great Cities Great Service Consortium and service-learning partnerships which address the needs of underserved youth. assisting adults (in community and campus settings) to become advocates for the Youth LEAD approach to community based work, service-learning, and campus community partnerships, thereby making a contribution to our understanding of best practice in this area. The coalition partners – BGSU’s Office of Service-Learning, BGSU’s Partnerships for Community Action, and the Coalition for Youth Enrichment (CYE), a committee of the Lucas County Community Prevention Partnership Inc. known as “The Community Partnership,” have been working together for the last 18 months in a collaboration to create trainings for youth and their adult advocates on service-learning models and the Youth LEAD approach. Initially we collaborated on two service-learning trainings for youth in the northwest Ohio region (fall 07 & spring 08), and in June 2008 we worked to introduce a service-learning focus as part of CAPA City, a regional biannual youth leadership conference. In fall 2008, the coalition will convene a gathering of practitioners, academics, students, and community leaders to participate in a Youth LEAD Advocate Service-Learning Seminar at BGSU, designed to increase the cross-pollination of experience and knowledge, in the hopes of generating even more mutually-beneficial collaborations and contribute to our understanding of best practice. The focus is to build a group of advocates in the community and on-campus who are committed to youth voice. This forum will assist advocates to work together to build relationships and expertise as a foundation for the creation of revised and new partnerships that address the needs of youth in our community WITH youth as true and co-equal partners. and research activities into future practice and partnerships.

For more information on the GCGS Research Fellows Program, contact Jen Gilbride-Brown, Ph.D., Senior Program Director: Faculty & Campus Development, Ohio Campus Compact.

occjen@alink.com or 740-587-8572