Published Article: Voices of Partnerships within the Critical Service-Learning Framework

Congratulations to the Whitely Community Council’s Ken Hudson and Frank Scott, as well as Ball State Associate Professor Kiesha Warren-Gordon (Criminal Justice) for their recently published article in the Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education! “Voices of Partnership within the Critical Service-Learning Framework” discusses how community partners can be involved in all states of the critical service learning process, including course planning and collaborative research.

ABSTRACT:

Over the course of the past three decades, service learning has become a major component in higher education. Heretofore, however, there has been no published research that focuses on the community partner or that assesses the role of the community partner within the community-service-learning (CSL) model. This paper fills that gap by focusing on the community partner relationship as delineated by Mitchell (2008), the community partner’s position in CSL, and the authentic relationships between the community partner, class, and instructor. Specifically, we address the following question: How do community partners articulate their voices within the CSL framework? This paper argues that community partners may articulate their own voices and concerns through the use of autoethnography, as well as through involvement in all stages of the CSL process, including course-planning and subsequent collaborative scholarship.

READ MORE!

Office of Community Engagement’s 18-19 Annual Report

Office of Community Engagement Report Cover

OCE Annual Report 18-19 linked imageCurious about what the Ball State Office of Community Engagement was up to last year? HINT: they were busy! They’ve shared their 2018-2019 Annual Report on ISSU. Check it out!

Our 2018-2019 activities have largely focused in four areas:

  1. Deepening Ball State’s involvement in city, county, and regional initiatives;
  2. Strengthening the culture of community engagement across the university;
  3. Connecting to networks of community-engaged institutions across the nation; and
  4. Celebrating campus and community successes.

A PDF version is available for download at on Box.

Neighborhood IDEA Conference Call for Proposals

~ NOW ACCEPTING PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS! ~

Photo of Heather Williams presenting at the 2019 IDEA conferenceFor the last four years 130 citizens have gathered each March for the Neighborhood IDEA Conference.

The Muncie Action Plan, Shafer Leadership Academy and The Office of Community Engagement at Ball State University are partnering once again to support the development of neighborhood leaders.

Do you have an idea you would like to share at the conference or a topic you want to see discussed?

The fifth annual Neighborhood IDEA Conference is scheduled for March 7, 2020 at Ivy Tech’s recently renovated downtown Fisher Building. Over 100 of Muncie’s most active local leaders will gather to listen, learn and meet like-minded individuals to share ideas and best practices.

We are taking submissions through December 6, 2019

Submit a proposal!

VIDEO: 2018 Muncie Neighborhood’s Pool Party

Muncie Neighborhood’s 2nd Annual Pool Party at Tuhey Pool was a blast!  Families and neighbors from all over the community came together for a free night of fun celebrating Muncie’s neighborhoods with popsicles, hot dogs, BINGO, yard games, swimming, and friends!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iD-DivYjTU&list=UUrJ1UVXdC6omYgez8uRToMA&index=1

Whitely Community Food Pantry Wins National Award at the NUSA Conference

On Friday, May 25th at the 43rd annual NUSA conference in Birmingham, Alabama, the Whitely Community Food Pantry was named the 2018 Grand Prize winner of the Neighborhood of the Year (NOTY) Award. The food pantry was also awarded first place in the Social Revitalization category of the NOTY. Whitely was recognized for creating a sustainable food pantry, strong partnerships, an educational resource on nutrition, and future-focused projects to combat hunger in the community.

Seeing that over 38% of Whitely Neighborhood residents are living below the poverty level, the food pantry has made it their mission to “resolve the serious problem of food insecurity in our area.” With the 2017 closing of Marsh Grocery, the neighborhood has become a “food dessert” that is lacking quality nourishment for residents and their families.

Whitely has formed partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana to obtain food at a low cost and with Purdue Extension for nutritional information about cooking healthy foods. The food pantry served on average 100 households or 200 individuals each month (nearly 8% of the entire Whitely population) in 2017 alone.

The Whitely Community Food Pantry is held from 4-6 pm the third Thursday of the month at Harvest Christian Fellowship, 1010 E. Centennial. It is open to anyone in the Whitely area or Whitely Community Council members. The food pantry is actively seeking volunteers and financial support. To become a volunteer please contact Jay Zimmerman at pantryprojectwhitely@gmail.com or Mary Dollison at 288-1892. You can also support the pantry through their GoFundMe campaign.