Elon University has been named one of five recipients of the Washington Center’s inaugural Higher Education Civic Engagement Award, a new honor given by the national nonprofit organization in recognition of a commitment to service-learning and civic engagement on campus.
Elon staff will be joined in October by representatives from Wartburg College, Villanova University, Cabrini College and Tennessee State University at the Center’s Academic Awards Luncheon at the National Press Club. Presidents of the five institutions will be recognized that evening at the Washington Center’s Gala 2009: In Service to the Nation. Bob Schieffer of CBS News and host of “Face the Nation” will host the event.
Sixty-seven total nominations were received from across the United States.
“What finally set the five winners apart in a very strong field was the strategic thoughtfulness and comprehensiveness of their approach,” said Joseph Johnston, a senior vice president of The Washington Center. “Each of them has made a strong commitment to put civic engagement at the center of what they do. And each of them is delivering on it in very impressive ways.”
Johnston said that nominations specified the challenges that were addressed, the kinds of work the efforts entailed, the type and breadth of support for them on campus, the impacts they have had on campus and off, and why they may be a model to other institutions.
Elon cited several programs in its nomination letter:
Academic service-learning: During the 2007-2008 academic year, 25 faculty members taught 35 service-learning courses across a range of academic disciplines. Community partners receive regular training and development and are considered field faculty for our students. Elon University prides itself on maintaining lasting relationships with agencies and organizations that accept Academic Service-Learning students.
Social Entrepreneurship Scholars Program: Students in this program work intensively with the local community providing service, researching issues, and developing new initiatives to address community needs. Launched in Fall 2009 the first student cohort is focusing on the health needs of local Alamance County children through their work with Head Start and Positive Attitude Youth Center. The SES Program at Elon is the first of its type in the county in that it is interdisciplinary, linking service-learning and social entrepreneurship education.
Kernodle Center for Service Learning: The center educates students through curricular and co-curricular experiences; creates and supports collaborative and sustainable relationships between faculty, staff, students and community partners; encourages personal responsibility and a deeper understanding of societal issues; fosters creative solutions to social concerns and identified community needs; and builds student leadership, and faculty and staff engagement.
Elon Academy: A three-year college-access program for low-income local high school students who demonstrate academic promise and have little or no family history of college, the Elon Academy serves 79 scholars and their families and has been highly successful in raising student aspirations, providing pathways to college, and supporting students and families who are typically underrepresented on college campuses.
Elon University Poll: Recognized as the “poll of record in North Carolina,” Elon conducts frequent regional and statewide telephone surveys on issues of importance to North Carolinians and other southern states. Results are shared with media, citizens and public officials to facilitate informed public policy making.
Project Pericles: Periclean Scholars take a series of courses culminating in a class project on local or global social change. Projects are designed and carried out by a cohort of approximately 33 students from each year’s class. A $5,000 endowment gift ensures that Periclean Scholars projects are sustained.
“What is unique about Elon is the remarkable commitment of faculty, staff, and students to civic engagement and their efforts to work together to provide experiences that connect student life with academic programs,” said Deborah Long, a professor of education and coordinator of civic engagement at the university.
A non-profit educational organization in the nation’s capital, The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars provides college students and recent graduates an internship-centered semester or summer term in the nation’s capital and selected cities abroad. It seeks to provide a transformative work and learning experience that fosters not only professional accomplishment but also leadership and civic engagement.