TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Center for Community-Based Partnerships will hold its eighth annual Excellence in Community Engagement awards luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 18, in the Bryant Conference Center’s Sellers Auditorium.
Awards will be presented to faculty, staff, students and community partners whose research projects reflect excellence in community engagement. The ceremony will also recognize individuals for distinguished work in the field.
As a precursor to the event, a presentation of engaged research posters emphasizing community-university partnerships and successful civic engagement practices will begin at 10 a.m. in the Bryant Conference Center lobby.
Keynote speaker for the program is Dr. Katy Campbell, dean of the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta, Canada. Campbell, an active engaged scholar and member of the board of directors of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, is an expert in learning and instructional design and faculty transformation.
“We welcome Dr. Campbell to The University of Alabama,” said Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president of the Division of Community Affairs at UA. “We look forward to having our engaged scholars meet her and to learn from her university’s exceptional accomplishments in this field.”
Another highlight of the event will be the announcement of seed funds for research projects. The accepted applicants will receive amounts ranging from $2,000 to $5,000.
More than $200,000 in seed funding has been awarded since the program began in 2007; scholars have turned those initial funds into research grants totaling nearly $3 million.
“The projects and individuals we will honor on April 18 are at the heart of the mission of the Division of Community Affairs,” Pruitt said. “As we reapply for the five-year Carnegie Foundation’s Engaged Institution classification, these initiatives will comprise a large part of our application.”
UA received the Carnegie Engaged Institution recognition in 2008 and now must reapply.
Although the event is free and open to the public, attendees must preregister by contacting the Division of Community Affairs at 205/348-8376 or community.affairs@ua.edu.
Contact
Kristi Payne or Richard LeComte, UA Media Relations, 205/348-3782, rllecomte@advance.ua.edu
Source
Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president for community affairs, 205/348-8376, samory.pruitt@ua.edu