UA Council on Community-Based Partnerships Honors Top Engagement Scholars

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama Council on Community-Based Partnerships recognized its award-winning engagement scholars during a recent luncheon held on campus.

Outstanding community engagement projects by faculty, staff, students and community members were recognized at the CCBP awards event, including these recipients:

Distinguished Achievement Award – Campus

Dr. Carolyn Dahl, dean, UA College of Continuing Studies — Dahl was co-chair of the team that prepared UA’s successful application to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, resulting in UA being awarded its Community Engagement classification in January.

Distinguished Achievement Award – Community

Johnnie Aycock, president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, chair and founder, Literacy Council of West Alabama — Aycock has engaged the business, education and government communities in the literacy challenge and energized them to embrace a shared vision of a functionally literate citizenship.

Marian Loftin, community leader and volunteer — A community-based partnership pioneer, Loftin provided the energy and ingenuity to develop partnerships with her hometown of Dothan and the University, establishing a model that would be duplicated in many communities throughout the state.

Outstanding Faculty-Staff Initiated Engagement Project

Robin Behn, UA College of Arts and Sciences, The Creative Writing Club — The Creative Writing Club was formed by Professor Behn as an outreach project of the MFA in Creative Writing Program. MFA students serve as mentors to Tuscaloosa area high school students.

Dr. Laurie J. Bonnici, School of Library and Information Studies, College of Communication and Information Sciences, Project FIT 4 Retirement — This partnership between SLIS and the Tuscaloosa Public Library provides 21st century information technology literacy training to senior citizens.

Dr. Rebecca Kelly and Molly Grimes, UA Office for Academic Affairs, Strive-for-Five–A Campus Health Improvement Program — A team-based wellness program emphasizing five health challenges. Launched by UA’s Office of Health Promotion and Wellness, the program originated as a campus effort, but expanded to include community partners.

Dr. Michael W. Parker, UA School of Social Work, Building Partnerships with African-American and White Faith-Based Organizations to Promote Successful Aging — Parker led a UA interdisciplinary team in partnership with the Tuscaloosa Senior Ministry Association to foster collaboration among 10 community faith-based organizations to address gaps in services to senior adults and to promote greater use of existing resources.

Outstanding Student Initiated Engagement Effort

Engineers Without Borders, UA College of Engineering, Design and Construction of Youth Baseball Field at Kinterbish Middle School in Cuba, Ala. — Faculty leaders: Drs. Pauline Johnson and Philip Johnson; Students: Phillip Moncayo, Malcolm Abrams, David Bearden. Joseph Blackwell, Keith Blackwood, Lauren Blue, Conor Brown, David Dozier, James Elder, Bryan Fair, Robyn Gilstrap, Joseph Godwin, Josh Hamilton, Brian Hannan, Kristopher Harbin, Jennifer Hetherington, Jake Hinson, Gurunath Kampli, Agata Kargol, Ryan Maley, Nick McEwen, James McGee, Jason McGee, Rebecca Midkiff, Caleb Miles, Jameson Prater, Rakesh Salunke, Hunter Spurgeon, Andrew Steinmetz, Leslie Threlkeld and Ben Welch.

Advertising and Public Relations Literacy Team, UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, Literacy is the Edge — Faculty leader: Dr. Bruce Berger; Students: Mary Katherine Alsip, Mellie Bassett, Allison Bridges, Alex Cole, Sarah Beth Combs, Natalie Crawford, Laura Doty, Emily Eddleman, Ali Frederick, Jami Gates, Elizabeth Hard, Nathan Horne, Kara Beth Lawrence, Maeci Martin, Allison Milwood, Tyler Nance, Partick O’Rourke, Carla Pennington, Shanshan Qian, Sara Beth Ritchey, Adam Rogers and Meghan Stringer.

Remona Peterson, Community and Rural Medicine, UA College of Community Health Sciences, Rural Health Leaders Pipeline Agromedicine Program — Peterson led the agricultural medicine research project into a collaboration involving both white and African-American farmers to address mutual health issues.

Michael Wynn, UA Creative Campus, The Unbound Art Show — Under Wynn’s leadership, the Creative Campus Assembly addressed the need within the Tuscaloosa and University communities to recognize the abilities of artists affected by chronic illness or disabilities and to contribute to social services and support for persons with disabilities.

Outstanding Community Partner Initiated Engagement Effort

John Martin, Perry County Chamber of Commerce; Annette Watters and Paavo Hanninen, Alabama Entrepreneurial Research Network, UA College of Commerce and Business Administration, Perry County/AERN Partnership — AERN is a community-UA partnership that provides the resources and impetus for residents in rural counties to increase homegrown prosperity through entrepreneurship.

Tuscaloosa Housing Authority, Culture Fest 2008 — The THA provided leadership in staging Culture Fest 2008, a successful and well-attended multicultural event, hosted by McKenzie Court, UA Crossroads Community Center, Tuscaloosa Police, Fire and Transportation Departments, and Shelton State Community College.

Distinguished Special Achievement in Engagement

Dr. Hiram E. Fitzgerald, distinguished professor, Michigan State University – Recognized for his leadership of the National Outreach Scholarship Conference, his efforts to improve the mental health of families and children, and his many professional, personal and volunteer achievements.