Kristin M.

Unzicker, MPH, CHES

ASPH Student Services Workshop
November 6, 2010

WHAT ROLE DOES SERVICE

PLAY IN STUDENT SERVICES?

COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING AS A

MODEL TO EXAMINE THE STUDENT
EXPERIENCE AND THE SERVICES WE CAN
PROVIDE

POINTS OF DISCUSSION
Growing Trend of Service Learning
Working Definitions
Case Study: RSPH Emory
Community Engaged Learning throughout the
duration of the student experience
What does service look like on our campuses?
Best Practices and Next Steps

GROWING TRENDS OF SERVICE LEARNING

From Direct Experience to Field of Study

1980s

no literature, little interest

Corporation for National and Community Service
(est. 1993); first publications in 1990s
Focus on definitions
Pedagogy, curriculum and academic component
Enhancing quality, design, practice
Partnerships and Institutionalization
Engaged campus

WHAT IS SERVICE LEARNING?

Service Learning
Community Engaged Learning
Engagement
Partnerships
Stakeholders

SERVICE LEARNING
COMMUNITY SERVICE
VOLUNTEERING

FIELD EDUCATION
INTERNSHIP

Because service learning affects every aspect of

campus operations, very few initiatives have the
same potential to bring professed values and
practice so thoroughly into alignment
(Campus Compact, 2003)

Public Health is just as much about social justice as

it is about health and wellness.
Ongoing partnerships with the community
transform academic engagement from responsible
action to moral obligation

COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING AT RSPH

Community Component in Courses
Student Organizations and Individual Student
Involvement
Rollins-teer Day at Orientation
Masters International Program
Enhancing the Infrastructure for
Institutionalizing Community Engaged Learning

(OUCP, Univ Strategic Plan)

COMMUNITY BASED LEARNING

Global Field Experiences
Community Component in Courses

ROLLINS-TEER
DAY OF SERVICE

Class Examples

Objectives

MASTERS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

1st Semester

2nd Semester

3rd Semester

4th Semester

Community
Integration
and Analysis

Continued
integration,
discussion and
planning

Critical thinking ,
analysis of plan
and actions

Preparation for
departure, transition
and sustainability

PACA,
Community
Needs
Assessment,
Role of
Volunteer in
Development,
etc.

Freire
methodology,
Monitoring &
Evaluation, etc.

Round table
discussions with
local experts on
sustainability
and community
development,
etc.

Discussions on
integrating
academic principles
with PC
methodology, etc.

IMPACT OF MI PROGRAM
Peace Corps Fellows
Leadership, Classroom and Group Facilitation,
Curriculum Development, Ongoing Service
Masters International Students
Meaningful community experience, appreciation
for service learning and reflection, overcoming
difficulties, preparation for Peace Corps and
Community
Consistent and committed long-term volunteers,
collaborative project/deliverable that meets needs

CONNECTIONS TO PUBLIC HEALTH:

COMMUNITIES
Long-term partnerships reduce community
service burden
Communities gain skilled help with achieving their
goals
Communities gain (for free):

Relevant health curricula

Needs assessment and evaluation reports
Data on organizational work
Agents of change, inside and outside of the community

CONNECTIONS TO PUBLIC HEALTH: STUDENTS

Students gain experience in hands-on public
health practice
Students gain public health skills in:

Developing

curriculum
Performing a needs assessment or evaluation
Facilitating Freirean methods for transformation
Participatory research and analysis
Data collection (surveys, interviews, focus groups)
Health communication

WHY PRACTICE REFLECTION AND REFLEXIVITY?

Facilitates intellectual growth and critical thinking
Helps reframe and readdress situations
Examines connections between partners
Provides the opportunity to offer support and
recognition
Develops recognition of themselves as change
agents within the community
Facilitates acknowledgment of community needs
Empowers students and communities to recognize
their strengths and skills

COMMON THREAD THAT WEAVES

THROUGH STUDENT EXPERIENCE

BRIDGE FROM RHETORIC TO ACTION

Recruitment Admissions Orientation Enrollment Students - Alumni

CONTINUUM OF SERVICE

RECRUITMENT

Public Health Interest

Anthropology,

psychology, behavior, sociology,

science, research, infectious diseases, policy,
education, culture, socio-contextual determinants
of health
Other things that bring prospective students?

ADMISSIONS
Who is applying to our programs?
What do they want to do?

Who are the students that are selected as top

candidates?
How are students selecting their top schools?

ORIENTATION ENROLLMENT
Who is [depositing] or choosing to enroll in our
programs?
What are the interests/motivations?

How do we prepare students for success?

What activities link students from prospective

students to enrolled students?

CURRENT STUDENTS
Programs of Study, Experience, Research,
Internships, Culminating Experiences
Extra-curricular Activities, Student
Organizations, Student Programs
Leadership

What role does service play in these programs?

LEADERSHIP

What are the characteristics that set aside the

students at our universities as leaders?

What role does service play in these

distinctions?

What did they do? What were their motivations? Why is this something you
are proud of? Is there a connection to service? What does that look like?

DESCRIBE A STUDENT/GROUP/PROGRAM YOU

ARE MOST PROUD OF AT YOUR UNIVERSITY

ALUMNI PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE

Linked to goals, competencies, leadership

* Best of what we have to offer! *

Feeling of connectedness to university/program

UNIVERSITY INFRASTRUCTURE
What structures exist at your university for
supporting service learning? (For impeding?)
What aspects of the institution
mission/strategic plan connect to service
learning or community engaged learning?

What does SERVICE look like at your

university?

PARTNERSHIPS

What partnerships exist for your university with

the local community?

What partnerships could be cultivated? Who

lives nearby? What are the greatest disparities?

How could we facilitate reciprocal relationships

in community engagement?

COMMUNITY is what connects us all with

different goals, ideas, motivations, interests,
experience together to achieve our mission

SERVICE is the link to community

Therefore, we connect with each other through

service.