The Collaboration Corner

One of our exciting new endeavors - coming to your ears soon - is Against the Grain: Sowing Seeds of Change, a weekly CCG podcast featuring the stories and successes of the collaborative, our students, and those we support. Our series is broken down into four types:

• Wingate Movers and Shakers: Learn how various 'movers and shakers' around Wingate University are working to improve the lives of our students, faculty, and staff through their amazing inward-facing projects.
• Students Speak: Hear from our students about their experiences working within the CCG and the university to make change and develop their exciting passions!
• The Nuts and Bolts of the CCG: Learn about our work within the CCG and the various roles that our CCG members fill within our organization. We work with the 'power of WE' to better the lives of Eastern Union County residents - on Wingate's campus and beyond.
• Community Partner Portraits: These outward-facing episodes give glimpses into the lives of our community partners; see what amazing work they do every day and the ways we at the CCG - and Wingate University - can help!

Want to join in the fun? Contact Recruitment Coordinator Dr. Lacey J. Ritter at ccg@wingate.edu to discuss your ideas for an episode!

Be on the lookout for our first episode, coming soon!

With over 11% of Union County residents reporting Hispanic origins, students Brandy Fuentes-Delgado, Douglas Peralta, and Axel Velasquez knew it was important to make the COVID-19 Emergency Food Resources Map more accessible to users across the state. These students, working with NC VISTA Sarah Busby and Erin Hostetler, Program Coordinator at Energy and Environment Innovation Foundation, set to work translating Rivendell Farms of the Carolinas' map into Spanish.

Both maps (shown below) allow users to search for resources by location, as well as for specific food resources, such as boxed foods or free lunches for children. Map data come from various community partners, compiled by Rivendell Farms of the Carolinas in partnership with Karen Karp & Partners, working toward racial equity in food, agriculture, and health.

You are also able to see "How You Can Help" on each map by finding locations to donate food, finances, volunteer your time, or help in other ways.

• Check out the new Spanish version of the map here: https://cltfoodmap.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=4a1f9d7ab4a24aa69fc590794feda153
• For the English version, head to: https://cltfoodmap.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=0c839281a7fb4e269c1ea5196fc36ab2

Learn more about students like Axel, Brandy, and Douglas who work with the CCG at "Spreading Seeds of Change" - our forever-growing list of wonderful student workers! https://www.smore.com/zv6js

In the Collaborative for the Common Good (CCG), we are looking for energetic, innovative, and collaborative faculty and staff to work using the ‘power of we’ to improve lives in Eastern Union County.

Each semester, we will be offering three (3) apprenticeships for faculty/staff/administrators looking to incorporate the participatory process (service learning and community engagement) into a course, internship, or special project to foster knowledge democracy on and off campus. This can a new build or a project you have already started! All selected Apprentices will be eligible for stipends in both semesters ($400 per semester) and we hope that they will feel free to use other amenities of the CCG (iPads for focus groups; podcast equipment; books; beautiful shared workspaces; co-creative space for collaboration; etc…)

The major goal of a CCG service learning course or community engaged project is for students to build evidence-based solutions to real-world problems involving the triple bottom line: social, economic, and ecological well-being. Thus, apprenticeship courses/projects should ideally focus on:

1. Building students' knowledge about a particular content area

2. Engaging students in learning from and with our local communities

3. Bringing student awareness to the interplay between today and the future (an intergenerational approach)

What we learn in the classroom or in our work on campus is often generalizable, but the communities we work with are unique--and so are you! We have created this apprenticeship for faculty who are interested in contributing to the common good in unique ways while promoting their own personal and professional development. The apprenticeship will run for two consecutive semesters which will include the following activities:

• Semester 1: Planning

• Throughout the first semester, apprentices will participate in five (5) workshops led by CCG Coordinators focusing on Service Learning and High-Impact Practices; Community Engagement; Professional Development; Sustainability in Higher Education, and other related topics.

• Apprentices will build partnerships with community members to implement courses/projects in the following semester

• Apprentices will make sure that students and community stakeholders are part of planning the projects themselves and not just the implementation of the project

• All aspects must be completed to the satisfaction of the CCG Executive Board to be eligible for the semester stipend ($400)

• Semester 2: Implementation

• Apprentices will use CCG assessments to gauge the impact of service learning courses/projects/internships at the start and end of each semester and report on those outcomes

• Apprentices are able create their own assessment measures as well

• Apprentices will write at least one white paper (papers to be shared with the general public, university, and community partners) in collaboration with their students by the end of the semester

• All aspects of implementation must be completed to the satisfaction of the CCG Executive Board to be eligible for the semester stipend ($400)

To be considered for Apprenticeship status in the CCG, the project must meet the CCG Service Learning and Community Engagement Guidelines. Faculty and staff are expected to involve students and community partners in their entire process, making sure to assess and evaluate their experiences - and projects - throughout the process. More detailed expectations for apprentices are as follows:

• Submit a CCG Apprenticeship Application and Proposal. The application can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeZpVWZudTF2HkdmVmoHZ8vRQEndpoIOR42vqM2lasmxiiZw/viewform?usp=sf_link

• In the application you will be asked to attach the following:

• A current CV or resume

• An Apprenticeship Proposal, found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nMQmgHltYZ5WFWYa4T2T8BHMuUuoKIlouIa7R5fovck/edit?usp=sharing

The selection of CCG Apprentices will be made by the CCG Executive Board (CCG Director and Coordinators) in consultation with the Office of the Provost and CCG Advisory Board. Candidates will receive written notification of the outcome of their applications at least two (2) weeks in advance of the start of the semester. Candidates not selected are encouraged to reapply in future semesters as well as become involved with other CCG opportunities.

Should you have questions regarding the application or process, please contact us at ccg@wingate.edu

Dr. Candace Lapan, Service Learning and Community Engagement Coordinator and Psychology Assistant Professor, spent her Spring 2020 semester planning and implementing a service learning course in Adulthood and Aging at Wingate University. Spearheading the CCG's push for more service learning in the classroom, Lapan is a pro when it comes to transforming the classroom into such a space. For true service learning to take place, Lapan emphasizes the "intention to benefit the provider and the recipient of the service equally, as well as to ensure equal focus on both the service being provided and the learning that is occurring."

How do we make our classrooms true centers for service learning? That depends! There are three components of service learning that, when combined, provide maximum benefits for all stakeholders:

• Academic integrity: Service must be clearly related to course content and provide an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge that they have learned in the course.
• Student ownership: Students must have a voice in selecting, planing, and implementing their service learning projects.
• Apprentice citizenship: Students must work on authentic community issues driven by community partner collaborations in which students learn with and from community members.

To prepare for her service learning course, Lapan, in collaboration with the CCG, held a senior partner luncheon (see image, below left) to identify potential community partners and learn more about senior needs. Then, it was time to each students; "in application, the 'learning' actually comes before the 'service' component of the course. Students must first become experts in the course content so that they could then apply it in creating their projects."

While students learned about older adults and their life experiences in the classroom (see image, below right), they volunteered with senior organizations around the university to learn about real-life needs they were able to translate into course project proposals. Though COVID-19 prevented her students from implementing their projects, Lapan's students finalized their plans for use in future semesters--and what plans they are! Learn about a few of them here:

• Decade Trivia - Students planned an interactive team trivia night with questions from various decades for the Ellen Fitzgerald Senior Center.
• Senior Prom - Another student group planned a prom for Monroe Rehabilitation that would provide the chance to dance; include a photo booth with props; even end with selecting a prom king and queen! (see image, below center)
• Recreate a Memory - Students visiting Brookdale Assisted Living planned to hold an event in which resident would paint/draw/sculpt a significant memory and share it with the group.
• Tech 101 - Students learned from their SL work that seniors wanted to learn more about technology. One group planned to implement a series of events with the Council on Aging to teach older adults about technology and test their knowledge via fun Jeopardy-style games.
• Reading Buddies - Student working with Monroe Rehabilitation planned to bring a group of elementary students to visit residents and read books together that they had created.

Although students were not able to implement their projects, they did spend valuable time helping seniors prior to the pandemic. Other benefits for Lapan's SL course included:

• Significantly higher final course grades and assessments
• High feelings of concern for seniors tied to increased thoughts and feelings about older adults
• Higher skills related to teamwork and problem solving
• Higher class engagement - more interest in the class and course content

What's next? In the future, Dr. Lapan plans to "engage many faculty in developing and implementing other SL courses, which will be assessed like the current course. This will allow [Lapan and the CCG] to assess the broader impact of this teaching practice, including student retention over time as well as economic, social, and ecological improvements to Eastern Union County."

Learn more about service learning, the course, and Dr. Candace Lapan's work on the CCG website or by contacting her at c.lapan@wingate.edu

Unsure of how to start your own project? Want to join in on an already-running project? Reach out to us at the following link to complete our CCG Interest Form: https://forms.gle/7aqxTzqrhmEDr8Rp7

Want to learn more or join the CCG? There are various ways to get in touch with us - we would love to hear from you!

Email: ccg@wingate.edu
Website: https://www.wingate.edu/around-campus/common-good
Location: 102 West Wilson Street, Wingate, NC, USA
Phone: 7042338067
Facebook: facebook.com/CCGWingate
Twitter: @CCGWingate