2021: Kelly Bohrer

During Women’s History Month, the Women’s Center coordinates, as an experiential learning opportunity for students, an annual exhibit highlighting the contributions women have made at the University of Dayton. The 2021 theme, Leading with Character and Resilience, captures what it means to work in the midst of a pandemic, social and political unrest and economic uncertainty. Each honoree displayed resilience, drive, character and tenacity and created inspiring ways to move forward.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/women_of_ud/1048/thumbnail.jp

Track 1: Dichotomies in a STEM Course: How They Might Be Working Against Your Inclusive Strategies

Presentation took place May 13, 2021; presentations will be made available via WarpWire to members of the University of Dayton community in early June

Pilot Assessment Plan: Intercultural and Global Learning

During the 2019-2020 academic year, this project team reviewed tools for intercultural and global learning and assessment. Our objective was to consider opportunities to support student growth and development and assess student learning at the program and/or institutional levels. We looked at some instruments we currently use, along with several others. In addition, we reviewed several content platforms that support student learning. While each had its pros and cons, we identified three tools for a pilot: Assessment - The Global Engagement Survey Content platform - Solidarity Modules Content platform - Global Competency Certificate Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about the pilot and the tools being used

Calling All Students? Enrollment in Community-Engaged Learning Courses at a Marianist University

‘Community’ is a pervasive concept at the University of Dayton, a Catholic, Marianist institution in Dayton, Ohio. As such, it was unknown how students who enrolled in community engaged learning (CEL) courses were different from their peers in demographic characteristics, previous experiential learning, and views of community engagement. Findings can inform CEL recruitment as well as evaluation of CEL outcomes, especially at institutions with a similar values orientation. This mixed-methods study indicates that among four semesters of students in three selected CEL courses, few differences were found with students in non-CEL control groups. One significant difference found was in racial identity: fewer students with non-White racial identities enrolled in CEL courses than control groups. These findings illustrate the need for diversity and inclusion strategies to be applied to student recruitment for CEL courses

Transforming Gender Norms in Rural Mali by Opening Spaces for Action

Communities in the Tommoguiné Region of Mali are actively pursuing development despite economic challenges, insecurity, and isolation from many opportunities. Historically, the marginalization of women and girls has held back some of these efforts and denied certain rights to some of the population. Currently, a transformation of norms surrounding women’s roles in public life and of practices harmful to women and girls is taking place, inspired by a Women’s Literacy, Leadership, and Enterprise program generated through a transnational collaboration between local communities, a Malian linguistic association, and The Tandana Foundation, a Dayton-based non-profit organization. Instead of reinscribing colonial dynamics, this partnership opens spaces for action that enable communities to change norms and practices on their own terms. Women who have participated in this program are making their voices heard in local decision-making fora in ways that were not accepted before, disrupting economic exploitation by exercising new literacy and numeracy skills, and leading transformations of marginalizing practices, such as early, forced marriage. By focusing on opening spaces for action, rather than attempting to fabricate social reality to fit a preconceived vision, this program avoids the dangers inherent in approaching human affairs as if they could be made, as mainstream development has so often done. It embodies an alternative approach that allows the opportunities of action--expressiveness, the remedy of forgiveness, allowance of the unexpected, inclusiveness, flourishing of human relationships, and emergence of meaning—to enable genuine and durable changes. This form of transnational collaboration offers an example of educational, economic, civic, and cultural engagement that supports locally-led transformations that increase inclusion and expand opportunities. In this panel discussion, two Malian practitioners will share their experiences supporting transformations at the grassroots level, an American practitioner-scholar will connect philosophical insights with concrete practices, and a Mexican simultaneous interpreter will facilitate immediate bilingual comprehension

Entrepreneurially Minded Learning in the Unit Operations Laboratory through Community Engagement in a Blended Teaching Environment

Online and blended learning opportunities in Chemical Engineering curriculum emerged due to COVID-19. After eight weeks of in-person Unit Operations Laboratory sessions, a remote-learning open-ended final project was assigned to student teams. The assignment involved aspects related to entrepreneurial-minded learning (EML) and community-based learning (CBL). Results show correlations between self-directed learning and the EML framework. Continuous support and involvement of a community partner correlate to students\u27

Partnerships for the Common Good: Building Community Capacities to Address Health and Well-being

The University of Dayton (UD), as a fellow Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement Institution, strives to build reciprocal community partnerships that advance the capacity of community partners, builds on community assets, creates shared visions for the future, and engages faculty, staff, and students from multiple disciplines at the university. Two such partnerships have been co-created by community partners and UD to address health and well-being issues, specifically around health inequities and social determinants of health. In the first health and well-being partnership, the director of ReachOut Montgomery County teaches a course for university pre-med students, which include the students volunteering and practicing their professional skills in an interprofessional educational environment at the health clinic. The students also engage with Good Neighbor House, a nonprofit offering medical and dental services to those experiencing poverty. To build the nonprofits' capacity to work with students, UD's Fitz Center for Leadership in Community began a community partner intern program. The "Health and Well-being partner intern," as it is now called, trains and manages volunteers, acts as a TA in the class with the director of ReachOut, and offers more advanced capacity building services for the partners. The second partnership, which is now also a part of the first, led to and sustains Dayton Children's Hospital "Family Resource Connection," a social needs screening program to connect patient families with community resources. With the professional guidance of Health Leads, Dayton Children's Hospital and both the pre-med program and Fitz Center for Leadership in Community (at UD) co-created this program to address the social determinants of health disparities in Dayton. The partnership has grown to include internship opportunities, growing the services offered by the "Family Resource Connection," and the engagement of other faculty and staff for teaching and research. This presentation will describe the partnership development, including the challenges and assets of the partners, the initial engagement activities between the partners and the university, the creation of a shared vision, the development of important social capital, best practices for collaboration (must-haves and benefits), and information on best practices for engaging faculty, staff, students, and community members. The presenters include the director of Community Engaged Learning and the director of the pre-med program at the University of Dayton, along with two key community partners: the director of ReachOut Montgomery County and the director of the Center of Child Health and Wellness at Children's Hospital. The four presenters were the key partners in building the larger partnerships, are adept with asset mapping and creating shared visions, teach at the university level, and are active in civic organizations.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Kelly Bohrer, Director, Community Engaged Learning and Scholarship, University of Dayton, Fitz Center for Leadership in Community, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Kathleen Scheltens, Director, Pre-Med Program, University of Dayton; Sharon Sherlock, Executive Director, ReachOut Montgomery County, ReachOut; Jessica Saunders, Director, Center of Child Health and Wellness, Dayton Children's Hospital.As a fellow Carnegie Engaged Institution, the University of Dayton builds and sustains reciprocal partnerships to build on assets and address public challenges. The presenters will highlight the important processes and connections for successful engagement and collaboration to co-create partnerships around local health issues. The partnerships described are between the University of Dayton, local health clinics, and Dayton Children's Hospital. The co-created partnerships embrace all as co-learners and co-educators, and work to build the partners' capacity to address health inequities and social determinants of health. The partnerships also engage students, faculty, and staff in key aspects of addressing health and well-being issues, building professional skills for students, and encouraging all members to challenge the status quo of health disparities

Educating for Practical Wisdom: An Ideal and a Journey

This working paper details the work of the Habits of Inquiry and Reflection Practical Wisdom Fellows. It offers an understanding of the term, discusses opportunities for growing in practical wisdom, and connects it to learning across campus