The UVM Office of Community-Engaged Learning (CELO) has recognized two community partners of service-learning courses in the Dept. of Community Development and Applied Economics (CDAE).
Sarah Heath of the UVM Career Center was honored for serving as community partner for David Conner’s CDAE 250 (Applied Research Methods) class in Fall 2022. David’s class conducted research on UVM students’ awareness, attitudes and behaviors around career preparation and the UVM Career Center. Sarah’s thoughtful engagement with the class allowed the students to practice and apply qualitative and quantitative research methods to a real world problem and help the Career Center better serve UVM students.
Gin Ferrara of Burlington’s Media Factory received a community partner award for her collaboration with Ben Dangl’s CDAE 244: Public Communication Capstone course over three semesters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gin did an incredible job coordinating and working with the students at a time when many students and community members felt isolated. Dangl says that Gin and other Media Factory members’ work with the students was “so heartfelt, empathetic and inspiring” and that they “provided an outlet for students to feel more connected to the Vermont community, and contribute directly to the success of an important community media resource during a time of need.”
Community-engaged learning is central to UVM’s fulfillment of its land-grant mission, and provides real-world learning opportunities for students, who can directly apply coursework to meet community goals and priorities. This pedagogy is a hallmark of CDAE: by the time they graduate, over 55% of CALS seniors have taken a service-learning course (compared to roughly 45% of UVM seniors as a whole).