Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship

Hannah Brenkert-Smith Part of Team Receiving the 2024 Governor’s Pathfinding Partnerships Award

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:06:25 +0000

Hannah Brenkert-Smith Part of Team Receiving the 2024 Governor’s Pathfinding Partnerships Award Arielle Wiedenbeck Fri, 10/18/2024 - 15:06

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Research Professor Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Institute of Behavioral Science, is a member of the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team that will receive the Pathfinding Partnerships Award through the 2024 Governor’s Awards for High Impact Research on Nov. 20.

The award honors research that engages four or more distinct research entities in Colorado whose results leverage the resources and strengths among partnering organizations—and demonstrate the power of collaboration. Brenkert-Smith received a Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship Grant to support WiRē’s work in Chaffee and Lake Counties.

WiRē collaborates with local wildfire education practitioners to develop evidence-based community wildfire education programs at the invitation of local communities. Social science and community-engagement practices make it possible to tailor information for communities.

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Jota Samper Receives Award for Excellence in Engaged С��Ƶship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:01:06 +0000

Jota Samper Receives Award for Excellence in Engaged С��Ƶship Arielle Wiedenbeck Fri, 10/18/2024 - 15:01

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Professor Jota Samper, Program in Environmental Design, is the 2024 recipient of the Excellence in Faculty Community Engagement Award from the Engagement С��Ƶship Consortium (ESC). This national award is one of the most prestigious of its kind.

Samper’s research concentrates on sustainable urban growth, focusing on the intersection between urban informality and violent conflict. CU С��Ƶ’s Office for Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship nominated Samper for 15 years of connecting his scholarship and study abroad programs (at CU С��Ƶ, Duke University, Emerson College and MIT) with multiple unplanned settlements near Medellin, Colombia. Violence prompted Medellin residents to flee and set up informal dwellings outside the city limits.

Settlements in the region face issues such as landslides and access to potable water, healthcare, public spaces and education. Samper’s Colombian Displaced Communities: Planning and Urban Design Seminar students collaborate with residents to create community development plans and infrastructure designs and help build physical interventions. Communities decide which ideas make it to the building phase. Examples include a rain collection system, paving roads, reconditioning a community kitchen that serves more than 200 youth, and building sewers and potable water lines.

The seventh to win the faculty award nationally and the first from CU С��Ƶ, Samper joined other Awards for Excellence in Engaged С��Ƶship recipients in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 10 at the annual ESC conference.

The grant selection committee for public and community-engaged scholarship has funded Samper’s work eight times since 2018.

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Jota Samper receives his award

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Faces of Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:31:42 +0000

Faces of Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 09/28/2023 - 13:31

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Professor Leah Sprain, Communication, College of Media, Communication and Information

Associate Professor Leah Sprain’s work embraces the idea that the communication discipline is a practical discipline and that community partnerships are key components to doing scholarship well. She also believes partnerships with communities outside the university can be high-impact ways for professors to get satisfaction from their work. For these reasons—and more—it makes perfect sense that Sprain is embarking on her second year as a fellow in the Higher Education and Democracy Initiative.

Tell us about being a Higher Education and Democracy Fellow.

I was born and raised in Colorado. Much of my sense of the Western Slope was shaped by opportunities to recreate there. So, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to learn different nuances about a part of the state that I was familiar with in only one sense of the word, to have a sense of the things important to community life and changing dynamics.

I’ve also appreciated the structure of the fellows program because it enables developing relationships, trying things out to see what works and taking time to establish real trust.

What’s an example of a public and community-engaged project you have going, and how is it advancing your scholarly work?

On the Western Slope, the League of Women Voters—Mesa County wanted to ask better questions at their candidate forums. I was able to study past meetings (through transcripts) and provide recommendations based on the types of situations encountered. For example: How do you get people to speak beyond their talking points? How do you ask challenging questions that do not seem to have a partisan bias? When follow-up questions are not part of the format, how do you ask questions that help audiences recognize when a candidate evades the question?

This is part of what’s exciting about community-based work. I’m considering questions like “What counts as a non-partisan question in an age when democracy is under threat?” because the League was asking. It’s connected to bigger stakes and sparks research ideas.

Why is public and community-engaged scholarship important for CU С��Ƶ?

CU has an important place in the public’s imagination in CO, but sometimes it’s about things we don’t want to be known for. I want us to be seen as a public resource—to students and people of the state. The university is an entertaining place for sports, music and theater, but there are also dynamic relationships of research, thinking, inquiry and knowledge that the university represents and is connecting to the needs of the people of CO.

We face so many interconnected crises, and I want CU С��Ƶ to be part of how we respond and move forward.

What would you say to fellow faculty members about incorporating public and community-engaged scholarship into their activities?

I have many colleagues who see their classrooms as important places where they’re working out the type of world they want to be in. Yes, students are a vital part of that, but creating projects that can be capacity-building for everyone, and the way community members can amplify scholarly instincts and connect scholars to the people already doing the work, is valuable. We’re [scholars] investing in big systems and institutions, but engaging with the people inside them helps us understand practical limitations and opportunities.

Like many professions, faculty memberscan feel like we’re asked to do too much with too few resources. Public partnerships can feel like extra. The only way we get out of that trap is to talk about and model synergies between public and community-engaged scholarship and reward so it won’t feel just like extra. I’m excited to be part of a program that supports the work and shows that it’s valued. And, that allows for professional satisfaction.

The CU С��Ƶ Office for Outreach and Engagement facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and scholars who seek to advance their work in community settings. Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship highlights the stories of CU С��Ƶ faculty, staff, students and public partners conducting the work and what they’re accomplishing together. See more Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship stories and learn about what the Office for Outreach and Engagement offers.

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С��Ƶs and Leaders from CU Campuses Gather to Discuss University’s Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:37:42 +0000

С��Ƶs and Leaders from CU Campuses Gather to Discuss University’s Public and Community-Engaged С��Ƶship Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 08/30/2023 - 15:37

Gretchen Minekime

Whether it’s addressing workforce development needs, providing data on air and water quality, or supporting future physicians with placements at regional health education centers, the University of Colorado actively partners with communities to address the issues facing our state.

In recent years, the Board of Regents and President Saliman have made strengthening connections around Colorado a top CU System priority. Against this backdrop, representatives from all four campuses gathered last April to discuss the University of Colorado’s public and community-engaged scholarship efforts. The С��Ƶ campus’s Office for Outreach and Engagement organized and hosted the April gathering. The presidents of two influential national organizations with a focus on public and community-engaged scholarship (Engagement С��Ƶship Consortium [ESC] and Campus Compact) supported the summit, providing opening remarks and facilitation services; ESC also provided fiscal sponsorship through a grant.

Building partnerships with communities and harnessing the University of Colorado’s academic resources to address public issues has been an institutional priority since at least 1912 when leaders created University Extension to reach beyond the campus. A quote from the department’s first director, Loran D. Osborn, rings as true today as it did then.

“Only a fortunate few have the privilege of being in residence at the University of Colorado…Its expert resources are too valuable an asset to the state to be thus limited. They should be at the disposal of individuals who cannot come within the college walls, and communities which are seeking information and guidance in solution of the complex problems of modern life.”

Extension efforts eventually grew into the University of Colorado system, which was established in the early 1970s. Over the years, each of the system’s four campuses has built a reputation based on its unique attributes. By no means is the reach of each campus limited to its immediate geographic area, nor can any of the campuses alone address the complex needs facing Colorado communities. Participants who attended the April 21 summit shared their perspectives about potential gains from more coordination and related obstacles. They explored issues pertaining to communications, financial and human resources, data, and approaches with community partnerships.

Those gathered included campus-level administrators of research and faculty development, several chairs, deans, and program directors, and a small number of faculty and staff practitioners. Together, the group explored ways that coordinated and collaborative efforts would reduce redundancies and increase efficiencies, while increasing opportunities for more profound community impact and authentically building the university’s standing with diverse constituencies throughout Colorado.

They also identified challenges related to decentralization, inadequate resources, messaging and political will. Many participants emphasized, however, that an aligned approach would not need to be at odds with each campus’s distinct characteristics and offerings. Instead, leveraging the best from each campus in a more coordinated approach to partnering with the residents of Colorado could reinforce the unique character of each while achieving greater collective impact.

“A major part of the mission of CU is to serve the State of Colorado. Community-engaged scholarship is an important way that we do that,” said Lynn Vidler, professor and dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Colorado Springs. “The summit facilitated connections between faculty at the different campuses who are engaged in this work and highlighted for CU System leaders the impact they are making. I was truly inspired by the mission-focused work everyone is doing.”

Participants’ exploratory efforts regarding a more coordinated approach to public and community-engaged scholarship will complement the CU system Office of Outreach and Engagement’s work, especially the group known as the Strategic Colorado Outreach and Engagement (SCOrE) team convened by Vice President Tony Salazar. SCOrE is the coordinating body for the university’s outreach activities and comprises representatives from all four campuses.

According to Salazar, “The incredible service that CU provides to Colorado communities has been and will continue to be driven by the work of the faculty, staff and students on our campuses. At System, we seek to help coordinate and publicize engagement statewide for even greater impact.”

In response to one proposal that emerged from April 21 summit participants, System will be covering membership costs for all four campuses to join Campus Compact for one year. A leading national organization supporting public engagement in higher education since its creation in 1985, Campus Compact membership will unlock access to a number of opportunities and resources. The organization’s national conference will be held in Denver April 7-10, 2024.

More than one hundred years after Osborn encouraged the University of Colorado to extend its resources beyond campus borders, the problems of modern life continue to increase in complexity. The university can still play a unique and transformational role. As Colorado’s first and largest university system, it is the University of Colorado’s responsibility to offer its best to the residents and communities of this state.

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Empowering Native American Communities: Kayla Toledo’s Journey with RCWS Ignacio

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 21:48:18 +0000

Empowering Native American Communities: Kayla Toledo’s Journey with RCWS Ignacio Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 07/06/2023 - 15:48

Kayla Toledo, a member of the Jemez Indian Tribe located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been caring for children her whole life. Since the age of 12, Kayla has played a huge role in raising her family's children and caring for the “little ones” during the summer, some as young as six months old. With six siblings and countless cousins, Kayla has worked long hours contributing to their upbringing. Her story is one of many for people in her community, as childcare options are sparse. That’s why Kayla was first inspired to create change in the Native American childcare space and pioneer an initiative to bring daycare centers to Native American families where they can learn and be educated on their culture.

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Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Professor Shelly L. Miller

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 22:11:09 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Professor Shelly L. Miller Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 04/26/2023 - 16:11

Gretchen Minekime

Professor Shelly L. Miller, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science

Professor Shelly L. Miller is a problem solver and an air pollution engineer. She finds reward and value when solving issues with immediate benefits, such as improved public health. Doing her work through a community partnership model is a match made in heaven.

How did you start working in public and community-engaged scholarship, and what motivates you to prioritize it?

My interest came about in the early 2000s when I joined CU Denver colleagues to work in Commerce City on a HUD-funded project. That was my first community-engaged work. We went into 100 homes to set up monitoring stations, created questionnaires and interviewed community members. My CU Denver colleagues were experienced in a public setting, whereas I had previously only been in the lab.

Afterward, I started working more with citizen scientists and community members because, to make an impact, I need to work in communities to determine their number one concern and how we can address it. I’m dedicated to problem solving for urban air pollution because I care about people’s health, and air pollution increases illness and death. I need to engage in order to help.

What have you learned about this model of working?

I appreciate multi-disciplinary teams, and I like that environment. Currently, I’m working with a sociologist and computer scientist, and I’m the environment person. It’s a great team because the social science team is incredibly skilled in working with communities. It takes time and extra asks, and participants want and deserve something in return. Previously, I worked with a geographer who can really work with large data sets and geographical differences between communities and those influences on working with communities.

I’ve also learned that I have to be comfortable with variability in data collection. I have to be able to say I can’t answer some of the technical questions because I'm working with citizen scientists in less controlled environments.

I see two things over and over again when visiting communities. Few people realize they should use a carbon monoxide detector at home. The second thing is that people don’t have ducted stove hoods, or they don’t use them. No matter the type of stove, we should always vent when cooking. Cooking foods release volatile compounds and airborne particles. If your vent isn’t ducted, open your windows or move an air cleaner into your kitchen. Air pollutants move around the house rapidly.

What current projects are you involved in?

The project I mentioned before, with my sociology and computer science colleagues, is an NSF project called Social Justice and Environmental Air Quality (SJEQ-D). We’re working in Denver communities next to an I-70 construction project to see how the construction has affected air quality and health. We hope to conduct the same study in other locations such as Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

Two years ago, the Office for Outreach and Engagement funded a project about pesticide exposure. I don’t have much expertise in this area, but my colleague had wristband samplers. We found interesting results in the City of С��Ƶ, and the city has funded us to repeat the study this spring.

I’m advising two projects out of California related to exposures from wildfires. With one, we ran into issues for lower-income communities who often don’t have AC, so they use open windows. In response, my colleagues are developing a swamp cooler with air filtration abilities. The other project is assessing elder communities and whether wildfire exposure increases aging markers and health issues.

Why is public and community-engaged scholarship important for CU С��Ƶ?

It’s one of my favorite parts of CU С��Ƶ. What else are we here for? We’re here to develop future leaders, community members and engineers, but at the same time, we also need to actively support our communities right now.

Training an engineer is four years of education, but along the way, they can engage in helping communities. And at CU, we do this across all disciplines. It makes Colorado a better place and connects CU to our citizens in a grounded way. They meet us and can see the institution’s value.

What would you say to fellow faculty members about incorporating public and community-engaged scholarship?

I guess I would say that you won't know how great it is or if you’ll enjoy it until you’ve tried it. The barrier isn’t that high. The outreach program is welcoming of kinds of ideas and funds lots of work. I encourage people just to try it. They might find it incredibly rewarding.

Read about PhD student Aniya Khalili, one of Miller’s mentees, and the projects underway in their lab.

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Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Brenda Aguirre-Ortega

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 23:32:50 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship: Brenda Aguirre-Ortega Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 02/22/2023 - 16:32

Gretchen Minekime

What do a chemical engineer, a singer-songwriter, a translator and a math teacher have in common?

Brenda Aguirre-Ortega, PhD student in the School of Education (STEM) and Engaged Arts and Humanities С��Ƶ

Aguirre-Ortega uses her impressive combination of interests and experiences to co-construct and co-facilitate a music production workshop for 4^th and 5^th graders to learn about music composition and math—one subject through the other.

She is February’s Face of Community-Engaged С��Ƶship.

How did community-engaged scholarship become part of your academic path?

When I started my PhD, I had the thought that I wanted to study and become an expert in math education to make a meaningful contribution to my community. My advisor sent me the Engaged Arts and Humanities Graduate Student С��Ƶs (EAH) application, and it resonated with me. At first, I only knew that I wanted to create a project in a school and that it would have something to do with music production. The idea became more tangible when I started sharing it with the EAH cohort. We were all beginning projects, and we helped each other develop ideas. At the same time, I was learning in my classes about the role of culture as a mediator of educational practices that are sensitive to inclusion and diversity. I decided to incorporate music, math, Spanish, and cultural practices into my project, and then I got connected to С��Ƶ Valley School District’s Columbine Elementary School.

What plan developed from the ideating?

When I reached out to the principal and vice principal of Columbine with my idea of a music production workshop for Latinx students, they asked me to offer it in Spanish. They emphasized the importance of providing an after-school program in Spanish. They connected me with the school’s Family Outreach Coordinator, and she identified 10 4^th and 5^thgraders interested in music and songwriting. At CU С��Ƶ, we made a team with two undergraduates and one graduate student with whom we developed the curriculum and had sessions to plan lessons.

In the fall of 2022, we started the after-school program and met once per week for eight weeks. We learned to use Soundtrap, a recording app from Google. We also learned about music production, lyric writing, MIDI keyboards, improvisation, sampling, artwork to represent the songs, and more. Most students wrote one song and some multiple songs. Everything culminated in a final presentation of their work and our group song. Parents and siblings came, and the children had the opportunity to share their music production journey, sources of inspiration and overall process.

That first iteration of the workshop didn’t have a lot of direct connections to math. The second iteration (taking place April-May 2023) will have more, and by the third iteration, I intend to have explicit math problems incorporated using Soundtrap.

For the second iteration, there are five undergrads learning to use Soundtrap and co-planning lessons. am. Two are education majors; one is a music education major, another is an international business major, and the fifth has a minor in Spanish and a major in physiology. All identify as Latinx and are heritage Spanish speakers. During our first meeting, they shared their goals of connecting with children through music. I believe it is important to share spaces with people that make us feel represented, and I think that the elementary students see themselves reflected in the undergraduate facilitators. .

What influence has the work had on you professionally and personally?

The project is helping me develop new identities (e.g., leader, community-engaged practitioner), and I am building my confidence and skills.

I want to be a teacher educator. Having the opportunity to work closely with the undergraduate instructors—developing learning spaces for them and then moving our work together to a different learning space for the elementary students—is allowing me to develop tools.

One of my biggest goals to emerge is that I want to do research within the workshop and with the participating undergraduates. We all meet regularly to prepare and rehearse for the elementary school sessions. So, research potentially about the collaborative process of building curriculum that draws on cultural practices and the facilitation of spaces that are culturally sustaining. I would like to do research that is participatory, ethical and inclusive. This project has given me a start learning how to do those things.

This is the first time I’ve led a music project with children. During the fall series, I felt like I was learning new ways of structuring a space where students have guidelines but also the freedom to explore and have agency over their learning. Learning from children in such a space has been rewarding. The things they say, their wise words, the way they are—I’m just so grateful to see them express themselves.

On a personal level, I find the school beautiful. There’s kids’ work on the walls, a big playground and a soccer field. The front desk people and the teachers are all bilingual, and they speak with us in Spanish. I identify as Latina, which is not an identification I need in my native Ecuador, but here I need it. Although the words Latina and Latinx are used to include people from or with roots in Latin America, I am aware that my experience in the U.S. is different from the experiences of the undergraduate students and the elementary students, as they have a transnational identity that I don’t.

What’s been your biggest lesson?

It is possible to work collectively towards a goal and to co-create and co-facilitate. I don’t need to do it all. Just how powerful groups of people working together can be. I wasn’t used to group work. It can be messy, but it’s OK.

Applications are being accepted through March 8 for the 2023-24 Engaged Arts and Humanities Graduate Student С��Ƶs. Learn more.

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Join the Journey to Inclusive Cultures Workshop

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 23:49:16 +0000

Join the Journey to Inclusive Cultures Workshop Arielle Wiedenbeck Mon, 01/23/2023 - 16:49

Gretchen Minekime

Encountering differences with other people is a part of daily life. How we relate to one another when navigating our differences either builds or erodes trust and affects the quality of our work.

“CU С��Ƶ is an R1 flagship university. We have a responsibility to ensure our work contributes to the public good,” said Anthony Siracusa, senior director of inclusive culture and initiatives. “Everyone’s scholarship (research, teaching or creative work) has implications for people, no matter the discipline. So, how do we grapple with those implications? And, with community-engaged work, knowing how to operationalize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles—how to navigate differences skillfully—is part of our professional responsibility.”

To that end, Siracusa and Montez Butts, director of inclusive culture and outreach, will facilitate a three-part Journey to Inclusive Culture (JIC) Workshop Series, especially for outreach and engagement professionals.

“Members of CU С��Ƶ’s Outreach and Engagement Professionals Network (OEPN) answered in our survey that they want and need this type of skills-building training. The Inclusive Culture Team is a great ongoing resource for CU С��Ƶ’s community-engaged scholars and outreach and engagement practitioners. I hope faculty and staff members will prioritize this workshop,” said Katie Kleinhesselink, community program manager with the Office for Outreach and Engagement.

Butts describes the series’ curriculum as foundational.

“I think DEI work can be very complex with a host of individuals from different backgrounds. This can be exciting or intimidating or daunting. The JIC series intends to challenge people in a safe space and a brave space. Anthony and I invite people to share, push and grow. We want to provide resources and tools to help people get started.”

Siracusa and Butts view DEI skill-building as a mindfulness practice that requires daily attention. Mistakes are inevitable for everyone—no matter a person’s background, level of privilege, consciousness about personal biases or years committed to creating more diverse, inclusive and equitable systems.

“Everyone in the modern U.S. has a cultural context and group identities with historical tendrils. So, when scholars think about engaging with external communities, we have to know about these histories and their contemporary valances. Why? Because we must build trust to do our work. Depending on who we are, we have different levels of work to establish that trust. Any of us might say something that creates a barrier for someone else or causes someone to feel like they don’t belong. The workshop can help individuals identify what we don’t know about ourselves and help groups practice collaboration and a willingness to give and receive feedback,” said Siracusa.

Workshop participants will be asked to self-reflect during the first two sessions to understand their personal privileges, biases and roles within a larger context. Participants will explore how they impact one another and the structures and systems of which we are all a part. During the third session, participants will practice techniques for establishing partnerships and projects possessing open feedback cultures.

“Community-based work always encounters the need to build relationships. It involves encountering differences, whether from a marginalized or privileged background. Colleges and universities, despite efforts, continue to be engines of inequality. People who work at CU С��Ƶ will encounter differences with external communities,” said Siracusa. “No matter your background, you need to be prepared to navigate differences, and that is DEI work.

“And,” added Butts, “we need to be able to help individuals be prepared to work across differences and deal with conflict.”

Siracusa and Butts stress that it’s not about having all the answers but about recognizing that we all live in the same system, have something at stake and carry a responsibility to impact that system positively.

“We won’t get into the political during the workshop, but there is a divisive human experience in this country,” said Butts. “DEI work has always been around in some shape or form. So, I say, if not you, then who? If not now, then when? If you can’t see yourself in the struggle, it’s time to start. This workshop can create a space for us to work together. It can motivate people, and it can reinspire people.”

If you are a faculty or staff member involved in community-engaged scholarship or other outreach and engagement work, please see here to learn more about the upcoming Journey to Inclusive Culture Workshop hosted by the Office for Outreach and Engagement.

Any unit on campus may request a Journey to Inclusive Culture workshop through the Inclusive Culture Team (inclusiveculture@colorado.edu).

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CU Science Discovery Receives Statewide Recognition for Excellence

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:48:05 +0000

CU Science Discovery Receives Statewide Recognition for Excellence Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 11/15/2022 - 11:48

Gretchen Minekime

CU Science Discovery recently received two statewide awards in recognition of its efforts and achievements in STEM and environmental education.

This month the Forests and Fire Field Course received a 2022 Innovative Environmental Education Program Award from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. The course was provided in partnership with Cal-Wood Education Center and financially supported by CU С��Ƶ’s Office for Outreach and Engagement and Nature Kids Lafayette. It also serves as a great example of how one project can actually support a network of work.

The program offered CU scientists opportunities to engage with teens, an audience they don’t usually reach with their science. CU Earth Lab Research Scientist Mike Koontz led a field session for the 2021 course using drones to capture imagery of Cal-Wood’s burned forest. He later incorporated the program into a recently funded NSF grant which will support the course for several more years. This summer, Katherine Lininger, assistant professor of geography, guided participants in collecting data from a fire-impacted stream as part of her NSF Broader Impacts activities, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography Tom Veblen and Professor Sarah Hart from CSU conducted a session about tree rings and the effect a tree’s age has on the likelihood of being killed in a fire.

“These are excellent examples of how the Office for Outreach and Engagement’s seed funding is often leveraged to acquire resources to sustain programs and involve more faculty members, students and community partners. CU Science Discovery is a campus leader in connecting our faculty’s diverse expertise with opportunities for public impact,” said David Meens, director for the Office for Outreach and Engagement.

This past summer the Office for Outreach and Engagement connected CU Science Discovery and the Eureka! McConnell Science Museum in Grand Junction. The organizations were co-awarded an $800,000 ESSER Expanded Learning Opportunities grant from the Colorado Department of Education, designed to address K-12 students’ social and academic learning loss in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eureka! has been providing STEM enrichment to Western Slope communities for thirty years and is based on the Colorado Mesa University campus, along with a satellite location of CU С��Ƶ’s College of Engineering. The grant will allow CU Science Discovery and Eureka! to collaborate and coordinate best practices in STEM curriculum design, training and instruction to deliver a variety of STEM learning opportunities for students most adversely impacted by the pandemic. The latest advancements in technology, math, engineering and science will be available to participating K-12 students because of this cooperation between two of Colorado’s leading universities.

“The ESSER grant will enable us to provide extensive out-of-school-time STEM programming for hundreds of students, both locally and on the western slope over the next two years,” said Stacey Forsyth, director of CU Science Discovery. “We’re excited to collaborate with our new partners at the EUREKA! Science Museum and to provide CU С��Ƶ students, including those based in Grand Junction, with real-world experience in STEM outreach.”

Tim Ogino, CU Science Discovery’s manager of school and teacher programs, is overseeing the grant’s activities within С��Ƶ Valley School District and Adams 12 Five Star Schools. An after-school math program is already underway at four Family Resource Schools in С��Ƶ. Thirteen CU undergraduates representing a mix of majors and one graduate student are working in teams and leading eight-week programs intended to foster positive associations with math for K-5 students.

“The CU students are role models and mentors for these children and have been extra creative about engaging and teaching them. The elementary students are definitely impressed by the college students. CU С��Ƶ’s value proposition comes down to its people and research. My dream is to have lots and lots of CU students involved with Science Discovery and more faculty thought partners. We only get better because of the people working with us,” said Ogino.

Collaboration with CU faculty, students and an array of community partners enables CU Science Discovery to reach communities that otherwise might not have access to these types of experiences.

“We are actively working to improve our impact with underserved populations,” said Ogino, “and we welcome the participation of other campus partners who are interested in helping us expand these efforts.”For more information about participating in future and current CU Science Discovery programming throughout Colorado, or for assistance meeting NSF broader impacts requirements, visit CU Science Discovery’s website or contact Stacey Forsyth.

CU Science Discovery recently received two statewide awards in recognition of its efforts and achievements in STEM and environmental education.

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Rafael Salgado, executive director of Cal-Wood, and Stacey Forsyth.

Introducing Scott Battle, Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:27:59 +0000

Introducing Scott Battle, Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 11/15/2022 - 11:27 Gretchen Minekime

On Nov. 1, Scott Battle was appointed CU С��Ƶ’s dean of Continuing Education and vice provost for Outreach and Engagement and Summer Session. Battle strongly supports the university’s long-standing commitment to serving Colorado communities and the world through public and community-engaged scholarship. He recently sat down with Office for Outreach and Engagement staff to share his perspective on the mutually beneficial work that CU С��Ƶ faculty and staff members conduct in partnership with communities external to the university.

What value do you place on outreach and engagement work?

An important part of CU С��Ƶ’s core mission is to further the public good, and the work of the Office for Outreach and Engagement is a critical part of this effort. Here at CU С��Ƶ, we define outreach and engagement as “the ways faculty, staff, and students collaborate with external groups in mutually beneficial partnerships that are grounded in scholarship and consistent with our role and mission as a comprehensive, public research university.” Reflecting on the various components of this definition, one can see why such exciting and meaningful outcomes arise from this work.

Community-engaged scholarship connects us to our mission and history–and fosters innovation that enhances lives and knowledge. However, this type of work is about outcomes and the process. Working together to address issues means partners must build trust, respect and effective lines of communication in order to work together over time. Easier said than done, but some of the best lessons come from the process. Publicly-engaged work requires curiosity imbued with flexibility.

Why is the Office for Outreach and Engagement in the Division of Continuing Education?

The unit that eventually became Continuing Education began in 1912; the Department of University Extension, as it was called, was established to make CU (only the С��Ƶ campus existed at that time) accessible to people around Colorado. So, outreach and engagement was an institutional priority as early as 1912, eventually leading to significant expansion of the university’s reach. I’m proud that Continuing Education holds so much of the university’s history and has stewarded how we serve all the citizens of our state–whether through community-engaged research, educating students at various stages of their lives, or innovating the delivery of online education. Our division is an essential bridge to the public and what they seek from higher education. Continuing Education is proud to be the home of the Office for Outreach and Engagement, which through our support, along with that of the Offices of the Chancellor and the Provost, helps make this kind of work possible for our faculty, staff and students.

What can the Office for Outreach and Engagement offer campus?

The Office for Outreach and Engagement offers a wide range of support for community-engaged scholarship and outreach activities, including funding for projects, professional development workshops, and fellowships for faculty members, graduate students and staff members. The communications staff is there to help you tell your story, whether or not the office funds your outreach and engagement work. There’s also a website dedicated to listing CU С��Ƶ’s outreach and engagement projects and events. It’s a great database that shares collaborations (currently over 200 ) between our campus and local, state, national and global partners. This office is about supporting connections that have the potential to enhance and advance a wide range of community-based work. I encourage everyone to visit the website and contact one of the staff today. Sometimes I think this office and its services might be among the best-kept secrets on campus. Given the importance of its work, I hope we can change that.

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