1.a. Does the institution have a definition, standard components, and a process for identifying service learning courses?
Discuss how your institution defines service learning, the standard components for designation, and the process for identifying service learning courses.
The University of Central Oklahoma defines service learning as a course-based, credit-bearing activity in which students participate in service projects that meet identified community needs and in which they reflect on their participation in these activities in order to gain a better understanding of course content as well as an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. As a form of pedagogy, service learning balances the value of the service provided with the value of the learning experiences of the students who are performing the service. These learning experiences, which offer students firsthand experience of economic, social, cultural, educational, environmental and political issues directly relevant to course content, are measured through reflective activities designed to fulfill specific learning objectives.
The University of Central Oklahoma has created specific courses such as English 1143 (Composition and Community Service) and English 1243
(Composition, Community and Research) to promote the integration of service learning into the General Education curriculum. In addition, the university’s Volunteer and Service Learning Center is currently working with several academic departments to develop course-based capstone service learning projects that will promote civic engagement by instilling a commitment to public service within discipline-specific communities of practice. The Volunteer and Service Learning Center and the Department of Biology, for example, have developed service learning options for capstone students in partnership with the Oklahoma Blood Institute, area secondary schools, and the City of Edmond’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Faculty members are encouraged to work with the Volunteer and Service Learning Center to integrate service learning components into their courses.
1.b. If you do have a process for designating service learning courses, how many designated, for-credit service learning courses were offered in the most recent academic year?
What percentage of total courses offered at the institution?
The University of Central Oklahoma, as noted in item 1.a., above, does not have a standard process for designating service learning courses, although designated courses such as English 1143 (Composition and Community Service) and
English 1243 (Composition, Community and Research) have been created specifically to promote the integration of service learning into the General
Education curriculum. The university has analyzed course syllabi to identify courses and sections in which community engagement activities, including service learning projects, take place. This review of syllabi revealed that 29.2%
of courses (30.8% in Fall 2012 and 26.8% in Spring 2013) include community engagement activities. This syllabus review also revealed that 93.9% of
interdisciplinary classes and 49.2% of classes offered in the university’s College of Fine Arts and Design include community engagement activities such as service learning projects. In other areas of the university, the percentage of classes that incorporate community engagement activities such service learning projects ranged from 7.0% in the College of Mathematics and Science to 35.5%
in the College of Education and Professional Studies. These figures represent an increase in the frequency and distribution of community engagement and service learning activities within the curriculum. The university expects the number of classes incorporating community engagement activities such as service learning projects to continue to increase as departments and programs across campus fulfill a university-wide mandate by implementing capstone courses, which focus on the application of discipline-based competencies in service to the wider community.
The university’s Center for Excellence in Transformative Teaching and Learning, in cooperation with the Volunteer and Service Learning Center, has created a variety of new professional development programs to assist faculty members in engaging students effectively with community partners and in creating
transformative learning experiences that involve community engagement activities. In addition, the university is currently developing a Student Transformative Learning Record that will track students’ participation in
community engagement activities including service learning in for-credit classes as well as in a range of co-curricular activities including student organizations, campus activities and events, athletic programs, and paid student employment.
The implementation of this record will support this growing emphasis on service learning by providing a more accurate means of measuring of the scope of
community engagement activities including service learning. The implementation of this record will also encourage faculty members, student organization
advisors, coaches and student affairs professionals to seek out new service learning opportunities to support students in their efforts to achieve certifications in the areas of service learning and civic engagement.
1.c. How many departments are represented by those courses?
What percentage of total departments at the institution?
The University of Central Oklahoma, through the analysis of syllabi described in item 1.b., above, has identified community engagement activities including
service learning on a college-by-college rather than a department-by-department basis. Because of the smaller size of many of the university’s academic
departments and the comparatively small size of the university’s academic colleges, each of which consists of between four and eight academic
departments, this college-by-college analysis provides a useful overview of the distribution of community engagement activities including service learning across the curriculum as a whole.
The analysis of syllabi from the 2012-13 academic year revealed that 93.9% of interdisciplinary courses, 49.2% of courses in the College of Fine Arts and Design, 35.5% of courses in the College of Education and Professional Studies, 12.3% of courses in the College of Business, 10.6% of courses in the College of Liberal Arts, and 7.0% of classes in the College of Mathematics and Science included community engagement activities such as service learning projects.
Within the College of Mathematics and Science, for example, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics’ SCHOLAR project provides service learning
opportunities to statistics majors, who analyze data provided by businesses in the community as a complimentary service and provide summary reports to the customer at the end of the project. The Department of Accounting, in the College of Business, engages students in service to the wider community through the popular and highly effective Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and students in the Department of Nursing, in the College of Mathematics and Science, present seminars on oral and bodily hygiene to the residents of public housing complexes, while dietetics students make presentations on healthy afterschool snacks. The College of Education and Professional Studies, in turn, places the university’s human and intellectual resources at the service of the wider community by partnering with the Oklahoma City Public School District to sponsor the Urban Teacher Preparation Academy (UTPA), an intensive program that prepares aspiring teachers for service in inner-city schools.
1.d. How many faculty taught service learning courses in the most recent academic year?
What percentage of faculty at the institution?
In preparation for this application, the University of Central Oklahoma conducted an institutional survey of community engagement, which elicited responses from 228 faculty members. 57% of these respondents indicated that they incorporate community engagement activities such as service learning into their classes.
As described in item 1.b., above, the university has analyzed course syllabi in order to determine levels of community engagement including service learning projects and initiatives. The analysis of syllabi for the 2012-13 academic year revealed that 93.9% of interdisciplinary classes, 49.2% of classes in the College of Fine Arts and Design, 35.5% of classes in the College of Education and Professional Studies, 12.3% of classes in the College of Business, 10.6% of
classes in the College of Liberal Arts, and 7.0% of classes in the College of Mathematics and Science include community engagement activities such as service learning projects. In some cases, the same faculty member served as the instructor of record for more than one class that included community engagement activities such as service learning projects.
1.e. How many students participated in service learning courses in the most recent academic year?
What percentage of students at the institution?
The university is currently developing a Student Transformative Learning Record, discussed in item 1.b., above. This record will allow faculty members, student organization advisors, coaches, student affairs professionals, and community partners to record students’ participation in service learning projects, as well as in other transformative learning experiences, and to assess the quality of each student’s performance in these activities. This data, which will be stored in the student’s electronic Student Transformative Learning Record portfolio, will provide accurate and comprehensive documentation of students’ participation in community engagement activities including service learning projects in for-credit courses as well as in co-curricular activities.
As noted in item 1.d, above, the university conducted an institutional survey of community engagement in preparation for this application, and 228 of the
university’s 434 full-time faculty members responded to this survey. 129 of these respondents indicated that they incorporate community engagement activities such as service learning into their classes. Given an average class size of twenty students and taking into account both low-enrollment field studies and practicum courses and the university’s extremely limited number of larger lecture classes, this response rate indicates that at least 2,580 students participated in community engagement activities including service learning projects during the past academic year
The university’s recent analysis of syllabi revealed that 690 courses, or
approximately 29.2% of all courses offered during the 2012-13 academic year, incorporated community engagement activities such as service learning projects.
Given an average enrollment of twenty students per class, this analysis of syllabi suggests that 13,800 students engaged in community engagement activities in their for-credit classes, although some of these students, especially in the College of Fine Arts and Design and in the College of Education and Professional Studies, may have been enrolled in more than one class that included community engagement activities, thus diminishing the total rate of participation as a percentage of the student body as a whole.
1.f. Describe how data provided in 1. b-e above are gathered, by whom, with what frequency, and to what end.
As indicated in items 1.a. through 1.e., above, the University of Central
Oklahoma, in preparation for this application, conducted a campus-wide faculty survey focusing on community engagement. The university also analyzed syllabi in order to identify courses that incorporate community engagement activities, including service learning projects and initiatives. The responses provided in items 1.a. through 1.e. are based on the data obtained from this survey and analysis of syllabi.
The survey of community engagement, which was conducted in December of 2013 and which will be repeated on at least an annual basis, queried faculty members about the role of service learning and other community engagement in classes and in course-related activities including field studies, student teaching, and research projects with community partners. Of the university’s 434 full-time faculty members, 228 completed this survey, and 129 of those respondents indicated that they include community engagement activities such as service learning projects in their classes.
The university’s Office of Institutional Assessment coordinates these and all of the university’s other assessment activities. This office, staffed by an executive director and two research analysts, provides technological, planning and analytic support to academic departments and support units; collects assessment data from across campus; and provides detailed reports to the university’s executive leadership and to the university’s governing boards, the Regents of the Regional University System of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. By facilitating the collection, reporting and interpretation of
assessment data, the Office of Institutional Assessment facilitates the university’s strategic planning and continuous improvement activities in every area, including those related to service learning and civic engagement.
The collection and analysis of data related to community engagement guides the university as a whole, as well as its academic colleges and departments, in the development of new initiatives, including the creation of capstone courses in which students apply discipline knowledge in service to the wider community.
2.a. Are there institutional (campus-wide) learning outcomes for students’
curricular engagement with community?
Please provide specific examples of institutional (campus-wide) learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community.
The University of Central Oklahoma in 2007 adopted a new set of six standard General Education learning outcomes for all undergraduate students. Three of
these outcomes address students’ curricular engagement with wider communities on the local, regional and global levels.
These outcomes, for example, require faculty members "to provide students with an understanding of the universality of the human experience and the common goals and needs that drive that experience through multicultural and global perspectives” and “to develop an understanding of the cumulative human experience from historical, cultural, and scientific perspectives.” The university achieves these objectives by providing students with transformative learning experiences in the areas of global and cultural competency; through active
engagement inside and outside of the classroom with international students, who make up approximately 10% of the student body; through coursework that fosters an understanding of other cultures and traditions; and through academic study abroad experiences.
These activities challenge students to integrate their identities as members of their home communities and as global citizens who interact productively with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. The university assesses its success in fulfilling these objectives by analyzing data gathered through student focus group discussions, through local and national surveys including the
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and through the review of written work submitted by students in General Education courses. The
university’s Global Competency Certification program facilitates efforts to track and assess students’ participation in curricular programs that promote awareness of and participation in the global community.
The university’s first-year orientation course, which approximately 65% of incoming students complete during their first year of enrollment, and its healthy life skills class, which is a required component of the General Education
curriculum, promote engagement with the local community by affording students the opportunity to participate in service learning projects. The General Education curriculum’s required cultural analysis courses offer a range of music, theater and art options, as well as courses in women’s studies and comparative politics, that promote active community engagement as they explore the complex and fruitful interaction between the university and the communities that it serves.
The university’s academic programs in the fine and performing arts also promote direct engagement with the community by partnering with the City of Edmond and local arts associations to help students develop an appreciation for the arts and their impact on our communities. Campus-based initiatives such as the Oklahoma Center for Arts Education, which reaches 15,000 individuals each year, likewise encourage productive curricular collaboration between the university and the communities that it serves.
2.b. Are institutional (campus-wide) learning outcomes for students’
curricular engagement with community systematically assessed?
Describe the strategy and mechanism assuring systematic assessment of institutional (campus-wide) learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community:
Over the course of the past two decades, the University of Central Oklahoma has developed a purposeful and systematic culture of assessment and continuous improvement that has led to significant innovations in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities. The university employs a multi-level approach to assessment in order to gauge the effectiveness of its efforts to help students learn.
The university assesses its success in achieving outcomes related to students’
curricular engagement with the wider community by analyzing data gathered through student focus group discussions, through local and national surveys including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and through the review of written work submitted by students in General Education courses.
Analyses of assessment data are conducted by the individual programs and departments in which specific community-focused learning experiences take place and are reported on an annual basis to the university’s Office of
Institutional Assessment using a common reporting format in order to facilitate the systematic review of students’ progress across the curriculum in achieving stated learning outcomes.
The university is currently developing a Student Transformative Learning Record, discussed in item 1.b., above, that will record each student’s participation in service learning projects both in for-credit courses and in co-curricular activities including student organizations, campus activities and events, athletic programs, and paid employment on campus. The data provided in Student Transformative Learning Record ePortfolios will provide the university with another valuable source of information about the extent and quality of students’ engagement with the community through both curricular and co-curricular programs.
2.c. If yes, describe how the assessment data related to institutional
(campus-wide) learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community are used.
Academic departments and programs at the University of Central Oklahoma engage in the systematic review of assessment data gathered through student focus group discussions, local and national surveys including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and the evaluation, guided by standard rubrics, of students’ written coursework. Based on the results of this review, programs, specific initiatives, assignments, and projects are revised and new programs and
initiatives are created and coursework is revised in order to address documented deficiencies and to develop new areas of student competency.
Through its ongoing assessment and continuous improvement processes, the university has been able to identify areas of need and to implement new
community-focused curricular initiatives such as the Urban Teacher Preparation Academy, which expands students’ knowledge of the communities that the university serves while fostering civic engagement within the Oklahoma City community. Working in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Public School District, this innovative program engages junior and senior education majors in yearlong clinical teaching experiences at inner-city primary and secondary schools and provides ongoing professional development programs for inner-city public school teachers and administrators.
Reports from national surveys including the National Survey of Student
Engagement (NSSE) and Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) are shared with academic and student affairs leadership, who use these data to enhance student learning experiences by improving existing programs and developing new programs. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data, for example, have consistently demonstrated a need for more community- based projects. In 2012, this survey revealed that 16% of the university’s first- year students participated on a frequent basis in service-learning or community- based projects, while 48% of first-year students never participated in service- learning or community-based projects. In response to these findings, the university has embedded a service learning project in every section of the
healthy life skills class that all students are required to take as part of the General Education curriculum. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data from 2012 also revealed that 42% of senior students have participated in a
practicum, internship, field experience, co-op or clinical assignment in which they applied discipline knowledge in a community setting. The development of
capstone experiences for every major will ensure that all graduating seniors have the opportunity to engage in service learning projects within their fields of study.
3.a. Are there departmental or disciplinary learning outcomes for students’
curricular engagement with community?
Provide specific examples of departmental or disciplinary learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community.
A review of syllabi from the 2012-13 academic year revealed that 93.9% of interdisciplinary classes, 49.2% of classes in the university’s College of Fine Arts and Design, 35.5% of classes in the College of Education and Professional Studies, 12.3% of classes in the College of Business, 10.6% of classes in the College of Liberal Arts, and 7.0% of classes in the College of Mathematics and Science included learning outcomes related to students’ curricular engagement
with the community. The number and range of classes that incorporate community engagement activities demonstrates the centrality of community engagement to the academic goals of disciplines in every area of the curriculum.
The university’s Engineering Physics program, for example, expects students to
“understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental and societal context.” In order to achieve this outcome, the Department of Engineering and Physics provides students with experiential learning opportunities that directly involve community partners including area schools and businesses.
The College of Education and Professional Studies, in turn, emphasizes responsible citizenship and community engagement and expects students to acquire and apply critical thinking skills within the context of a community environment, while the College of Business requires students to “engage in transformative learning experiences in areas of leadership, service learning and community service, or global competency.” To assist students in obtaining these experiences, the College of Business sponsors the Small Business Development Center, through which students provide consulting services to businesses in the metropolitan Oklahoma City area.
Learning outcomes for capstone experiences in major programs in all five of the university’s academic colleges call upon students to apply their discipline
knowledge in projects that serve the wider community. The Volunteer and Service Learning Center and the Department of Biology, for example, have developed service learning options for capstone students in partnership with the Oklahoma Blood Institute, area secondary schools, and the City of Edmond’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
3.b. Are departmental or disciplinary learning outcomes for students’
curricular engagement with community systematically assessed?
Describe the strategy and mechanism assuring systematic assessment of departmental or disciplinary learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community
The University of Central Oklahoma’s purposeful and systematic culture of assessment extends to the departmental level, as academic programs and
departments participate in an annual cycle of intensive and reflective assessment activities that serve as the cornerstone for college- and university-level
assessment processes.
Academic departments assess their success in achieving outcomes related to students’ curricular engagement with the wider community by analyzing data gathered from a variety of sources including student surveys and focus group
discussions; the review of student assignments and portfolios, guided by
departmental rubrics; and reports from internal and external internship, practicum and field placement supervisors. All departmental assessment plans include measures of student achievement in each of six areas of transformative learning, one of which is service learning and civic engagement.
Academic departments in the College of Business, for instance, review assessment data during a day-long assessment retreat. This faculty-driven assessment process ensures that graduates of the college will meet established learning and performance goals that derive from the college’s mission “to enrich the intellectual and economic vitality of our stakeholders through teaching that is supported by scholarly activity and service.” Faculty members in the College of Mathematics and Science’s Department of Engineering and Physics also hold an annual day-long retreat to review assessment data on learning outcomes,
including those related to service learning and civic engagement.
Analyses of assessment data conducted by the individual programs and departments in which specific community-focused learning experiences take place are reported on an annual basis to the university’s Office of Institutional Assessment using a common reporting format, which facilitates the systematic review of students’ progress across the curriculum in achieving community- focused learning outcomes.
The Student Transformative Learning Record described in item 1.b., above, will make a valuable contribution to department-level assessment by tracking the extent and quality of students’ engagement with the community through course- specific service learning projects, practicum and field placement experiences, and department- or discipline-specific student organizations and activities.
3.c. If yes, describe how assessment data related to departmental or disciplinary learning outcomes for students’ curricular engagement with community are used.
Individual academic departments at the University of Central Oklahoma utilize data related to student learning, including data related to community engagement as an element of student learning, in accordance with discipline-specific
conventions and college-level continuous improvement guidelines.
Within the College of Education and Professional Studies, for example, teacher- candidates maintain Teacher Candidate ePortfolios, which include an edited collection of documents that demonstrate the candidate’s professional growth and that document his or her reflections on the progress he or she has
demonstrated in coursework and field experiences. These ePortfolios allow the college to document individual student learning and to assess candidates’
progress in achieving departmental program goals, developing relevant
Oklahoma competencies, meeting national standards, and engaging positively with the wider community during field placement and student teaching
experiences.
The community engagement survey that the university conducted in December of 2013, in preparation for this application, revealed that faculty members at the department level employ a variety of mechanisms including agency feedback, student reflections, examinations, and papers to assess service learning and civic engagement experiences.
Data gathered through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) are also available to departments for use in discipline-specific assessments of civic engagement and service learning. In 2003, a university-wide action team articulated a set of standard procedures for analyzing and responding to the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and other nationally normed surveys that provide the longitudinal or peer comparisons necessary to contextualize local assessment data at the department, college and university levels.
4.a. Is community engagement integrated into the following curricular (for- credit) activities? Please select all that apply:
Student Research: National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results reveal that 16% of senior majors have conducted research with faculty member, and several academic departments systematically engage students in
community-focused collaborative research projects with faculty members. The university’s community engagement survey, for example, provided data on collaborative projects in the College of Business that engage students in
research in the community and focus attention on the community needs that this research addresses. The university’s Learning and Behavior Clinic likewise allows students to obtain practical experience and to conduct graduate-level research while providing clinical services to the wider community.
Student Leadership: The University of Central Oklahoma’s interdisciplinary minor program in Leadership includes in its curriculum several classes with community service requirements. Students in one of the minor program’s Theories of Leadership classes, for example, are required to serve the wider community through organizations in their fields of professional interest. During this service experience, students evaluate and analyze the leadership of these community organizations and reflect in writing on the application of leadership theories and concepts at their service site as a means of synthesizing class content and examples of leadership in action in the wider community.
Internships/Co-ops: National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data from 2012 indicate that 42% of University of Central Oklahoma students have
participated in some form of practicum, internship, field experience, co-op, or clinical assignment by the end of their senior year. Some of these activities, including student teaching assignments and clinical experiences for students in the Department of Nursing, are required, while others are optional but
encouraged in order to help realize learning outcomes in the areas of service learning and civic engagement. Each of these experiences engages students directly with the wider community.
Study Abroad: 9% of students at the University of Central Oklahoma participate in a study abroad experience; students who do not elect to study abroad have numerous opportunities while on campus to interact with international students, who comprise approximately 10% of the university’s student body. The cross- cultural exchanges that take place both during study abroad experiences and on the university’s Edmond campus foster an understanding of other cultures and traditions and encourage students to reflect on their place as members of a global as well as of a local or regional community. Within the past two years, the university has sponsored leadership study tours during which students have engaged in weeks of service and have studied leadership skills in cross-cultural settings in Peru and in South Africa.
4.b. Has community engagement been integrated with curriculum on an institution-wide level in any of the following structures? Please select all that apply.
Graduate Studies: Many of the University of Central Oklahoma’s graduate programs require a thesis or culminating research project in which the student engages in sustained collaboration with a community partner or identifies and addresses a community need. In the Department of Psychology, for example, graduate students work with local family service programs, applying and enriching their discipline-specific knowledge through direct service with a community-based agency. Graduate students in the College of Education and Professional Studies, in turn, engage in practicum experiences that may include direct service as literacy coaches in public schools throughout the metropolitan Oklahoma City area.
General Education Courses: Specific General Education courses such as English 1143 (Composition and Community Service) and English 1243 (Composition, Community and Research) promote the integration of service learning into the General Education curriculum, and all Health 1112 (Healthy Life Skills) classes now incorporate required service learning projects. Service learning projects undertaken in these classes range from working with local food pantries and agencies to conducting a healthy living fair open to members of the university and the metropolitan Oklahoma City communities.
Capstone (Senior-level Project) / In the Majors: Capstone experiences in
major programs in all five of the university’s academic colleges frequently call upon students to apply their discipline-specific knowledge in projects that serve the wider community. The Volunteer and Service Learning Center and the Department of Biology, for example, have developed service learning options for capstone students in partnership with the Oklahoma Blood Institute, area
secondary schools, and the City of Edmond’s Department of Parks and
Recreation. Forensic Science students, too, regularly partner with state agencies and assist in the investigation of real-life cases.
First-Year Sequence: The University of Central Oklahoma’s first-year
orientation class, in which approximately 65% of new first-year students enroll, includes a mandatory service-learning project. Students in this class are either assigned or required to choose a service learning project that will connect them immediately and directly to the wider community. The university has made this service learning project an essential element in this first-year orientation class in order to underscore the importance of service learning and civic engagement as constitutive elements of its mission as a metropolitan university.
In Minors: The University of Central Oklahoma offers sixty-three minor
programs, including eight interdisciplinary minors, and many of these programs engage students in community services. The Community Health minor, for example, includes a class in Community Intervention that allows students to create meaningful relationships with partners in the metropolitan Oklahoma City community. The interdisciplinary Leadership minor, in turn, includes in its curriculum several classes with community service requirements, and it
encourages students to synthesize class content and examples of leadership in the wider community.
5. Are there examples of faculty scholarship associated with their curricular engagement achievements (research studies, conference presentations, pedagogy workshops, publications, etc.)?
Provide a minimum of five examples of faculty scholarship from as many different disciplines as possible.
Numerous faculty members at the University of Central Oklahoma contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning by conducting research and engaging in scholarly activity that focuses on service learning and community engagement as transformative learning practices. The following examples illustrate the range and breadth of the scholarly work associated with faculty members’ curricular engagement achievements at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Dr. Christy Vincent of the Department of Mass Communication recently
presented her research on service learning for commuter students at the 2014 Campus Compact Oklahoma conference. In this research, Dr. Vincent draws
upon her work with Mass Communication students who perform service learning activities at the university’s on-campus food pantry.
Dr. Janelle Grellner of the Department of Psychology and Dr. Patti Loughlin of the Department of History and Geography led a multidisciplinary team that included community partners and student-scholars to create the Oklahoma Civic Health Index, a project that analyzes and reports on Oklahoma’s civic health.
This project, which exemplifies the university’s commitment to constructive engagement with the wider community, provides evidence-based analyses that inform educational and public policy decisions.
Professor Amy Johnson of the Department of Design discussed the role that design education plays in catalyzing social change in a paper presented at the 2103 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Design Conference in
Minneapolis. In her paper, Professor Johnson explored the role of student- initiated and student-executed community service projects in fostering civic engagement in service to wider community.
Dr. William Caire of the Department of Biology has published numerous articles on his research, many of them related to cooperative community engagement projects at the university’s Selman Living Laboratory, which he formerly directed and which affords students the opportunity to engage in hands-on field research in collaboration with researchers from other institutions, governmental
organizations, non-profit entities, and members of the wider community.
Dr. Tracy Morris and Dr. Cynthia Murray of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics have created Project SCHOLAR (Statistical Consulting Help for
Organizational Leaders and Academic Researchers), a student-staffed statistical consulting group that provides statistical consulting services to industry and non- profit organizations in the metropolitan Oklahoma City community. Project SCHOLAR meets a pressing need for statistical consulting services within the wider community while allowing students to acquire experience with real-world clients and statistical applications.
