Community Partner Workshop

1. Community Partner Workshop Friday, June 25, 12-1:30 p.m. Center for Civic Engagement 1301 E. Madison, Brownsville, TX 78575 (956) 882-4300

2. Presented by: Dr. Kathy Bussert-Webb, Director Center for Civic Engagement

3. Agenda • Welcome and thank you • UTB/TSC Community Partner Survey (electronic or paper survey) • Introductions • What is the CCE and how can it help? (handout: reservation form) • Volunteerism, Community Service, and Service Learning • Best Practices (handouts: MOUs, student-agency agreements, student evaluations of agencies) • Suggestions • Meet with Partners

4. What is the CCE and how can it help? The CCE is under Academic Affairs at UTB/TSC. It’s mission is to create an engaged campus that connects faculty, staff, students (with an emphasis on first year students), and external partners in ways that help revitalize our community.

5. What is the CCE and how can it help? • We provide the Cueto building to community agencies for meetings and events; please see the handout for the reservation form. • We connect faculty, students, and staff to service learning opportunities in the community.

6. Volunteerism Volunteerism is what takes place when an individual or group donates their time to help others. “ … The primary emphasis is on the service being provided and the primary intended beneficiary is clearly the service recipient” (Furco, 2009).

7. Volunteerism Volunteerism is not for a grade or extra credit, nor is it part of court payment. A non-violent offender who agrees to pay off her/his traffic fine by serving at a non-profit agency is not a volunteer. S/he is paying society back for breaking the law. Volunteerism is not SL. An example of volunteerism would be donating one’s time, with no compensation, to sell nachos for a UTB/TSC Student Organization.

8. Community Service • Community service is what someone does to benefit society or the environment. • “Some people who provide community service are not doing it of their own free will” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service#Conditions_of_participation They are required to do it … • as part of citizen requirements (as in Germany and Israel), • in lieu of court sanctions, • to meet class or graduation requirements, • or to receive compensation.

9. Community Service For the Municipal Court Community Service Project (MCCS), the Center for Civic Engagement matches defendants (who mostly have traffic tickets) with agencies to pay off their fines. We try to match the defendants’ interests with the agencies’ needs. If you are not part of this program, but would like to be, please contact: Estela Martinez, Administrative Assistant, Center for Civic Engagement, 882-4300, estela.martinez15@utb.edu

10. Service Learning Curricular SL is any intentional, active work (required or extra credit) that students do to meet community needs, explicitly or directly tied to course content. Having students reflect, in class discussions or through written work, about how their experience connects to course goals, is vital.

11. Best Practices If a student is coming as part of a course requirement (e.g., service learning or SL), the agency contact must give her/him meaningful work that connects to the course or student organization and that benefits the student and agency. Agencies should avoid having students do grunt work or menial labor (stacking shelves, sorting clothes, data entry, etc.) Since SL is more meaningful with constant, direct contact with clients, these things should be avoided.

12. Best Practices Which ones are best practices for service learning? • A student in an education class tutors adults or children. • A student in a sociology class mops the floor. • A student in a business class sorts clothes. • A student in a biology class helps to plant a garden.

13. Best Practices The UTB/TSC staff or faculty should: • establish contact with the agency or organization in advance to determine mutually beneficial service plans. • explain the course goals and ask the agency how and when they want volunteers, and • explain when the project should be turned in by students (when the service stops). • After initial contact by the professor or UTB/TSC staff member, students may contact the agency to introduce themselves and to set up regular volunteer days/times.

14. Best Practices • Student-agency agreements are good ideas to avoid problems later; please see the handout. • Students and agencies can provide evaluations for agencies to assess the students’ performance, dependability, and attendance; please see the handout. • Students can evaluate the agencies, also; please see the handout.

15. Best Practices The professor or UTB/TSC staff member should : • ask students on a regular basis how the service learning project is going. If students report they are engaging in menial labor or that there are problems, professors or UTB/TSC staff should call the agency to get the agency’s perspective. One UTB/TSC student complained that the agency only put him to mop, but on further questioning the professor found out the student was not coming to the agency during tutorial times. • contact the agency to see how the service learning project is going, from their perspective, and • try to be present as much as possible during the service. Bussert-Webb (2010) found that teaching a class at the site where the service takes place makes the SL more powerful.

16. Best Practices Is this a best practice? • The agency receives UTB/TSC students to plant a garden, but the agency contact wasn’t made aware of this before the students showed up. Also, the agency doesn’t have an outside water outlet.

17. Best Practices Students should: • bring the agency a criminal background clearance if they are working with children, • bring the agency a letter of introduction from the professor stating what the student should do, as well as the professor’s contact info., and • sign in and out at the agency.

18. Best Practices Some agencies and schools require their own background checks; the professor or UTB/TSC staff member should ascertain these. The agency should contact the professor or UTB/TSC staff member if there are any problems with the students.

19. Best Practices • An instructor’s or UTB/TSC department’s long-term relationship with the agency builds trust and rapport, and increases the effectiveness of the project.

20. Best Practices: What is an MOU and why would people create one? • A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is between two entities that agree to collaborate on a long-term venture. • The purpose is to create clear roles and expectations to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments in the future. • On December 3, 2009, BISD and the CCE signed a significantly revised MOU for civic engagement and Kids Voting. This MOU institutionalized dates for regular Kids Voting events. http://utb.edu/newsinfo/pages/2009_12_3MOUSigning.aspx

21. Best Practices: What does an MOU contain? • Purpose • Dates and names • General provisions • Specific responsibilities of each entity • Amendment provision: • This MOU may be amended at any time in writing and by mutual consent of the parties.  On this, this ____ day of _________, 2009, the undersigned parties bind themselves to the faithful adherence to and full implementation of the provisions in this Memorandum of Understanding. •  Signature lines, names, and titles

22. Wrap-up and Survey • Suggestions • Meet with community partners • Please complete the partner survey at one of the available computers, if you haven’t done so already.

23. Thank you! We’d like to thank these local businesses that support community engagement. These businesses donated lunch for the Community Partner workshop. E. De la Garza 634 E. Fronton Brownsville, Texas 78520

24. References • Bussert-Webb, K. (2010). Gardening, tutoring, and service by and for Latinos: La Esperanza. Educational Research and Perspectives. Furco, A. (2009). Service learning: A balanced approach to experiential education. Florida Compact. Retrieved on November 13, 2009, from: http://kea.uovs.ac.za/faculties/documents/14/Service-Learning_Resources/Articles/-Furco_1996_A_Balanced_Approach.pdf Wikipedia. (2010). Community service. No publication address: Wikipedia. Retrieved on June 14, 2010, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service#Conditions_of_participation