Several individual and group outreach efforts in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been recognized by the University of Illinois for advancing solutions to matters of public importance.
Recipients in the college and elsewhere on campus received the 2016 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagements, presented by Interim Chancellor Barbara J. Wilson, also Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Pradeep K. Khanna, the associate chancellor for corporate and international relations, at the I Hotel and Conference Center.
Each faculty member or academic professional receives $1,500 and a permanent $1,500 salary increase. The team award includes $5,000 to the sponsoring unit to support or enhance the project honored. Students receive $1,500 to be used for professional development or other educational activities.
Those honored included:
Annie Abbott, a professor of Spanish and the director of undergraduate studies for the department of Spanish and Portuguese, exemplifies passion and service through her long commitment to immersive Spanish education. She leads by example and encourages her students to engage in service-learning opportunities. Abbott’s innovative work in the local nonprofit and business communities is highly regarded, and she is known for reaching broader audiences through social media and technology.
Abbott transformed the department of Spanish and Portuguese by introducing its first community service-learning course, “Spanish in the Community.” In its first semester, students worked with The Refugee Center in Urbana and bolstered their capabilities to serve Latino immigrants in Champaign-Urbana. Within two years, that course grew to 80 students a semester, partnering with a dozen community agencies. In 2006, she created another community service-learning course, focusing on social entrepreneurship and culturally appropriate nonprofit programs, which continues to this day.
As a former student said, “Dr. Abbott has created a network of care for students and community members that extends beyond the university sphere…she challenges student perspectives and empowers immigrant and Latino communities in Champaign County.”
Part of extending the university sphere includes Abbott’s early adoption of social media, which allows her to publicize her own expertise in Spanish education, as well as offer nuanced perspectives on important topics from increasing enrollment in university humanities programs to entrepreneurship in immigrant communities.
She earned her BA in psychology from the U. of I. and continued her education with an MA and a PhD from the university, both in Spanish.
Max Colon, a College of LAS Lincoln Scholar and undergraduate student in psychology and Spanish, has long been a campus and community leader in the fight against food insecurity. As the director of Illini Fighting Hunger, Colon is personally dedicated to making a positive and necessary difference in the lives of the Champaign-Urbana community.
Colon came to understand the gravity of food insecurity after participating in a large-scale food-packaging event his first weekend on campus. After that, he joined Illini Fighting Hunger and began making an immediate impact. He has been a versatile and vital component of the group, serving at various times as its equipment manager, webmaster, president and, finally, its director.
Illini Fighting Hunger is a registered student organization. The organization’s reach extends beyond campus and has strong, well-established community ties, largely because of Colon’s leadership. He helped form collaborations and alliances with many community organizations including Wesley Food Pantry and Illinois 4-H. Additionally, his leadership has helped the group achieve impressive milestones, including more than 1.5 million meals packaged and nearly 22,000 service hours for more than 12,000 volunteers.
In addition to his duties as Illini Fighting Hunger’s director, Colon is an exemplary undergraduate student; he has served as a residence hall adviser and programming adviser for University Housing; he has won numerous awards for his scholarship and service. Most recently, Colon spearheaded the 2016 Community and Campus Day of Service on April 9, when more than 1,900 volunteers packaged 149,000 meals.
Lyndsay Shand, a doctoral student, is an exemplary example of what happens when campus knowledge and expertise crosses into the community. A student leader within the department of statistics, Shand has a passion for statistics and a desire to spark that passion in others. Shand is known as the person who has turned the phrase “I hate statistics” on its ear and is responsible for the resurgence of the organization Statistics in the Community, also known as Stat-Com.
Shand arrived on campus in August 2012 and immediately sought to make an impact. After much research, she decided to lead the charge to re-establish Stat-Com, a pro bono statistical consulting organization comprising undergraduate and graduate students that works with educational institutions, nonprofits and local small businesses to provide robust data solutions and connects the U. of I. to the community.
As its leader, Shand was responsible for recruiting Stat-Com’s first members and establishing its initial client base. Since Stat-Com’s reintroduction, Shand has been the driving force behind its growth and that of its membership, as she also has been an adviser, trainer and mentor within the organization.
Because of Shand’s leadership, Stat-Com has produced quality work and forged lasting partnerships with a variety of agencies and groups including the Urbana Police Department, the Girl Scouts of America, YWCA, Circle of Friends Adult Daycare and Eastern Illinois Foodbank, as well as the Community Learning Lab and various academic units on campus.
“(Stat-Com’s) ingenuity in mining, clarifying and interpreting data related to a poverty assessment of HIV households in Nairobi slums helped fuel a program that provides solar lamps to homes who previously spent 17 percent of their income on hazardous kerosene lights,” said Annette Donnelly, the president of Walking With Angels, a global charitable organization working with vulnerable populations in Africa.
STUDENT FELLOWS
The Chancellor’s Public Engagement Student Fellows program aims to enable students to develop, implement and evaluate community-based projects in collaboration with external partners with the support of small grants from the Office of Public Engagement.
The 2016-17 student fellows and their projects include:
Empowering Women Through Green Energy Opportunities
Student: Reahman Afshar, chemical engineering
Sponsor: Ying Diao, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
Chemical engineering and engineering physics sophomore Reahman Afshar is working with Saha Global to empower women in rural communities to solve the need for clean electricity through profitable social enterprises. Saha Global has launched 84 clean-water businesses and 20 solar-electricity businesses, serving more than 40,000 people. Afshar will travel to Ghana with the twofold goal of creating value for developing communities and working against climate change. This grant will cover the startup materials necessary for the founding of community businesses.
Growing Prairies and Growing Minds at Orpheum
Student: Alexander Hazel, entomology
Sponsor: Lawrence Hanks, professor of entomology
The Entomology Graduate Student Association is working with the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum to foster science learning for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. By creating a butterfly garden at the museum, the association will combat the lack of environmental science education, the lack of exposure to nature and misinformation. Funding will be used to purchase plants and necessary construction materials to create a space for self-guided discovery and an appreciation for nature in a playful environment.
LINC Bioswale
Student: Xiaodan Wang, molecular and cellular biology and psychology
Sponsor: Valeri Werpetinski, co-director, Learning in Community, College of Engineering
Working with the Children’s Outreach and Vocational Education Alliance, this Learning in Community project will tackle soil erosion and stormwater damage in Kapeeka, Uganda. COVE focuses on providing children with social services, education and vocational training to break the cycle of poverty. Unfortunately, COVE’s campus has been damaged by rainfall and soil erosion. The LINC team will use this grant to travel to Kapeeka and implement a bioswale in order to help COVE further its mission of helping children.
Summer Illinois Math Camp
Student: Melinda Lanius, mathematics
Sponsor: Jeremy Tyson, professor of mathematics
The Summer Illinois Mathematics Camp started in 2015 to introduce high school students to higher-level mathematics, facilitate proficiency and encourage enthusiasm for the subject. This year, the team will expand the camp to middle school students during this weeklong session. The camp will admit 50 total high school and middle school students and will employ undergraduate Merit scholars as teaching assistants. This grant will help to create a vibrant community of mathematics students from middle school to graduate school.
YOUThink Politics
Students: Thomas Dowling, political science and history; Lisa McGovern, history
Sponsor: Kathryn Elizabeth Clark, academic advisor, political science
YOUThink Politics aims to teach young people the skills necessary to be active in the political process and to give them a voice in their local community. To achieve this, 150 high school students will be invited to a nonpartisan and educational political engagement workshop. This workshop will be staffed by university students, including College of Liberal Arts and Sciences sophomore Thomas Dowling and College of Education junior Lisa McGovern, politicians, and campus staff members to teach attendees about local resources and the political process as a whole. Funding will support materials to educate high school students about politics and to encourage a more politically engaged youth.
Other award winners around campus included the Education Justice Project (including Hugh Bishop, visiting lecturer in linguistics); Katherine Magerko, an MD-PhD student in the Human and Community Development Program; CU Make 2016, a student fellows project from Joseph Lund in the College of Engineering; and Illinois Re-entry Guide, another student fellows project from Brooke Ann Garren in the School of Social Work.
