OLSL News
Service-Learning Faculty Research Awards
Professor Roy Schwartzman, far left; Professor Spoma Jovanovic, middle; Mr. Armond Towns, Graduate Student.
Dr. Spoma Jovanovic, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, won the 2007 Ray Camp Award at the Carolinas Communication Association convention held September 28th through 29th in Boone, NC. Her paper, "Discovering and Appreciating Our Low-Income Neighbors through Newspaper Readership and News Conversations: A Service-Learning Research Program," was selected as the top competitive paper. The paper was co-authored by Dan DeGooyer and David Reno (previously of the News & Record). The annual endowed award carries a cash prize and honors the best research work presented at the convention.
Research by Dr. Roy Schwartzman, Professor of Communication Studies, was selected as the top competitive paper in the Applied Learning in Communication Division at the National Communication Association (NCA) convention. His paper, "Service Learning Pathologies, Prognoses, and Prescriptions," will be presented at the annual NCA convention in Chicago, November 14th through 18th. Founded in 1914, the National Communication Association is the oldest and largest academic association in the field of communication studies.
UNCG Honored for Service
Service is more than a motto at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where students performed more than 18,000 hours of community service last year.As a result of its commitment to service, UNCG has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The honor was announced at the Campus Compact 20th-anniversary celebration Oct. 17 in Chicago.
Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,000 college and university presidents dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service-learning. UNCG is a charter member of North Carolina Campus Compact, and Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan serves on its Executive Board.“Combining academic studies with civic engagement brings to life UNCG’s longstanding commitment to service,” said Dr. Cathy Hamilton, director of the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning. “In addition to helping our community, region, state and country, this enables students to explore career options, test personal and professional goals, and witness the impact of a committed group of people working together to create a better society. The skills needed for a functioning democracy are those very skills that students are able to foster through their interactions with the complexity of community engagement.”
Among other efforts last year, UNCG students, faculty and staff raised money and collected food, clothing and books for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Five groups from UNCG traveled to the Gulf Coast to aid in recovery work. The Office of Leadership and Service-Learning is organizing another trip to New Orleans during winter break. Many of the university’s contributions to the community are made through service-learning courses. During the past academic year, 767 students enrolled in service-learning courses and through these courses completed more than 13,000 hours of service. Service has always been important on the campus. The State Normal and Industrial School, which eventually became UNCG, opened in 1892 as North Carolina’s first state-supported institution of higher education for women. Students felt a responsibility to serve their communities and adopted the motto “Service” early in the 20th century. To learn more about opportunities for service and the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning, visit http://olsl.uncg.edu.
UNCG ethics class students help orphaned teen
Spoma Jovanovic's communication ethics class discussed the case of John G., an orphaned local teenager. The UNCG students heard how the 16-year-old almost lost his one asset — a Habitat for Humanity house left to him after his adoptive father died — when the Department of Social Services failed to pay the $221 monthly mortgage from his monthly check. By and large, the class deemed those actions unethical. Thursday morning, the students countered with an action they saw as highly ethical: service. About 30 students gathered at John G.'s house on Partnership Court to rip out carpets, wipe down counters, wash grime from walls and prune shrubs to prepare the condemned structure for more extensive rehab work. Students said the outreach was a way to put the principles they learn in class into action.
"It's important to show you care about others other than yourself," said junior Wes Nemenz, 20. "It'll be exciting to see this when it's all over, to see that we helped." Or, as 20-year-old junior Cason Hunter summed it up: "This is something we were all excited to do." Lewis Pitts, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina who also helped with the clean up, said the students' assistance is huge for his client. When many foster children age out of the system, they find themselves homeless, he said."This house is a sense of security for John," Pitts said.
(Article Reprinted with permission from the Greensboro News & Record )
"UNCG ethics class students help orphaned teen"
An article published in the Greensboro News & Record on Friday, October 20, 2006 that highlights some of our faculty and students. Check it out!
NCCC Student Conference 2006
The North Carolina Campus Compact (NCCC) recently held its 2006 Student Conference at NC State University on November 10 and 11. This was the 6th annual conference, and more than 270 students attended making this our largest service-learning student conference that our great State has ever had! Students from three different states attended the conference with UNCG sending 17 students and 2 staff. Three of our own 17 gave presentations at the conference.
Taryn Njagu and Ashley Williams (both UNCG Undergrads) presented a workshop together entitled "Characteristics of a Leader." The characteristics that they presented were: self-awareness, diversity, community engagement, creative vision, effective communication, task management, relationship
development, and ethics. Following Taryn and Ashley's presentation was one entitled "Campus Community Connection: Enhancing Campus Commmunity and Government Partnerships" which was facilitated by Antron Mahoney, Christina Hollister, and Margaret Turner who are all UNCG Graduate students. During this presentation they focused on the importance of civic engagement among campuses, community agencies and governement.
Our own Amanda Lawing was the recipient of a Community Impact Student Award. She is a junior majoring in Communication Studies and Spanish with a K-12 teaching licensure. Amanda's dream job would be First Lady of the United States and her personal mottos is, "Though I cannot fly, I'm not content to crawl."
Congratulations to Amanda and all of our NCCC 2006 participants!