CSU-Pueblo named to President’s Higher Education
Community Service Honor Roll
PUEBLO
– Colorado State University-Pueblo has been named to the 2013 President’s
Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest honor a college or
university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning,
and civic engagement.
“CSU-Pueblo has a long history of service-learning and
believes strongly in preparing our graduates to be active leaders and
participants in an ever changing world,” said President Lesley DiMare. “We’re
honored to receive this prestigious award – and owe much of it to the students
and faculty themselves. They’re the energy driving our commitment, and they’re
the ones who make it all happen.”
Based on the number of hours
reported in CSU-Pueblo’s application, the dollar value of service hours that
CSU-Pueblo students gave back in the community through volunteering,
service-learning, federal work study, internships, and community-based research
totaled more than $11 million. From July 2011-June 2012, more than 2,600
students contributed in excess of 512,000 community service hours through a
variety of projects.
“The
University continues to gather data on the breadth and depth of partnerships
between CSU-Pueblo and the community,” said Jennifer Mullen, chief of staff for
the University. “In fact, every one of the University’s majors has a
service-learning option.”
Mullen
said the information being collected is proving to be so significant that
service learning and community engagement partnerships are being incorporated
into recruitment and marketing plans in order to confirm the value that
CSU-Pueblo places on learning that engages the student through impactful
service to the community.
In
its application, CSU-Pueblo cited three major projects:
Annual Southern Colorado
Health Fair: The project involves all
levels of nursing students and full/part-time faculty/staff. It also
incorporates community/university collaboration that benefits the health of the
community. Supervised for the last 18 years by Ruth
DePalma, Undergraduate Nursing Program Coordinator, this comprehensive
health fair provides more than 25 screenings and 25 interactive educational
centers. Collaboration occurs with many agencies including St Mary Corwin
Medical Center, Parkview Medical Center, National MS Society, American Red
Cross, American Cancer Society, Arthritis Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation,
Ovarian Cancer Alliance, Scleroderma Foundation, Hepatitis C Connection,
Gerontological Society, Prostate
Conditions
Educational Council, Pueblo Area Agency on Aging, Pueblo City-County Health
Department, Hospice, Child Health Plan/Step-Up, Southern Colorado Aids Project,
Eating Disorder Center, Pueblo TBI Alliance, Susan G. Komen for the Cure,
Pueblo Health Challenge, Colorado Beef Council and Talking Book Library.
“9Health Fair has
been a tremendous opportunity for students to demonstrate leadership and
community collaboration as they coordinate and implement this event, which
encourages local citizens to take charge of their own health,” said Dr. Donna
Wofford, associate dean of nursing.
Exposure
to Lead & Child Health Risks in Pueblo, CO: Understanding Aspects of
Potential Genetic Disparities: The
objective of this research is to investigate the potential health risks in
Pueblo’s children from lead exposure and aims to determine if children living
in areas with high lead levels have higher blood lead levels compared with
children in other parts of town and determine the differential genetic
polymorphisms of lead metabolism. This phase of research was done during fall
2011- summer 2012 and is ongoing. To date, 163 children have been sampled for
blood lead content. Saliva samples were also collected from the participants
for study. The project team consists of a Biology faculty member, graduate
student, and staff. The results of this project will have substantial impact on
the community and the grad student’s research. This study is embedded
into/embraced by the community with involvement from the Health Department,
City Council, Pueblo CARES, EPA, and Head Start.
“Our lead study is 100% community focused, and
we are conducting this research to inform the Pueblo community and to ensure
the health of the children living here,” said Biology Professor Dr. Moussa
Diawara. “The partnerships we have developed through this study have been
extremely beneficial, and we hope to continue to partner with local
organizations.”
Bessemer
Historical Society - Multi-disciplinary partnership: The Bessemer Historical Society (BHS) operates the
Steelworks Museum and Colorado Fuel and Iron Company Archives in Pueblo. The
steel/mining industries are important in the history of Pueblo/surrounding
area. Students in multiple disciplines are involved in BHS year round as
volunteers/interns/work-study/researchers. Projects include: physical
re-housing of collections, basic arrangement/description, digital content
processing/management, research inquiries. Students serve as gift shop
attendants, education programming assistants/cataloging technicians for the 3D
museum collections. BHS staff has taught grad/undergrad courses focusing on
archives methodology/processing, public history, and museum studies. Two
faculty members from history/Chicano studies have conducted extensive research
within the collection and published it, which helps promote the work of BHS.
One faculty member is the Scholar in Residence at BHS, supporting research and
publication for BHS.
“The opportunity to partner with the Bessemer
Historical Society was enriching for undergraduate and graduate students,” said
Artist in Residence Dr. Fawn Amber Montoya. “The historical significance of BHS
to the community of Southern Colorado and to the nation has allowed for
CSU-Pueblo students to come to have an appreciation and respect for Pueblo’s
diverse community and has allowed students from the region to connect to their
own working class history in an academic setting.”
More information about the
CSU-Pueblo community service efforts can be found by calling Shanna Farmer, Community-Based Research Coordinator, Regional
Access to Graduate Education (RAGE), 719-549-2691 or Shanna.Farmer@colostate-pueblo.edu
More information on
eligibility and the full list of Honor Roll awardees, can be found at nationalservice.gov.
The President's
Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll honors the nation’s leading
higher education institutions and their students, faculty and staff for their
commitment to bettering their communities through service. These are
institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve
meaningful outcomes in their communities.
The
Corporation
for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that
engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps,
AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and other programs, and leads President
Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.