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New center expands community engagement opportunities
Basil Safi, right, executive director of the Office of Engagement Initiatives, will be executive director of the new public engagement center. Krista Saleet, left, director of Public Service Center, will be deputy executive director.
June 3, 2021 — Cornell is launching a new center this summer dedicated to advancing community-engaged learning and public service across the university. Combining the Public Service Center (PSC) and the Office of Engagement Initiatives (OEI), the center will open new pathways for Cornellians to embrace the university’s land-grant mission to improve lives in New York state, across the nation and around the world.
The center will be endowed in part through a gift from Einhorn Collaborative, the foundation led by David M. Einhorn ’91, a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees. The foundation aims to help people build stronger relationships, embrace differences and rediscover their shared humanity, toward a goal of developing solutions to complex and urgent challenges.
New engaged course supports NYS rural schools
August 18, 2021 — Rural schools in New York State face a perpetual need for funding, but few resources to apply for grants. Since larger suburban and urban schools have more resources to secure competitive funds, rural schools fall further behind.
Now, a new course at Cornell, in partnership with the Rural Schools Association of New York State, will connect rural school districts with undergraduate and graduate students to level the playing field.
The engaged learning course “Show Me the Money: Rural Communities, Rural School Funding in New York, and How to Write a Grant Proposal” aims to help schools identify critical funding needs and then seek grant funds to support programming in under-resourced schools.
The development of the course was supported through our Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program.
Helping shorebirds, refugees through summer work
Emma Harte ’22
August 16, 2021 — Emma Harte ’22 spent a lot of time at the beach this summer, protecting and studying piping plovers and common terns. Aisha Conte ’23 did research to support two projects — a legal effort to force government action to stop the pollution of water in Ghana caused by illegal mining and a guide to help women refugees in South Africa to become effective leaders in their communities.
Both students received Serve in Place Fund grants from the Office of Engagement Initiatives (now the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement) to support their work. The fund supports students working on community-based research activities or community-engaged learning projects in their home areas or remotely.
Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.
Students’ project expands mental health information in NJ
August 10, 2021 — Eric Kohut ’22 enjoyed his work at a daycare center near his hometown of Union City, N.J. during the summer after his freshman year, but he noticed that families faced many barriers to accessing mental health care for their children. Many parents didn’t know of any bilingual mental health providers and, for other families, mental health issues still carried a stigma.
When Kohut returned to campus for his sophomore year, he began researching health disparities for members of the Latinx communities there, as well as test scores and other socioeconomic factors that were affecting the area. He contacted faculty member Pilar Parra, found a student partner, Erika Gonzalez ‘22, and collaborated with a community organization to launch a website, Hudson Origin.
They received a summer Serve in Place Fund Grant from us to support their work.
Margulies receives Levy faculty engagement award
Joe Margulies ’82
June 9, 2021 — Joseph Margulies ’82, professor of the practice of law in Cornell Law School and professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences, has won the 2021 George D. Levy Engaged Teaching and Research Award for his work to break down barriers for previously incarcerated people in Tompkins County, New York.
Given by OEI, the Levy award recognizes a faculty member whose collaborative efforts within the community have resulted in exemplary and sustained community-engaged projects. Margulies was honored for his long-term partnership with Ultimate Reentry Opportunity (URO), which is a project of Cornell Cooperative Extension – Tompkins County.
Blog showcases community-engaged learning and social change
June 7, 2021 — All across Cornell, students, faculty and staff are collaborating with community partners on issues that matter to them. This semester, they’ve shared these impactful community-engaged learning experiences and meaningful relationships via The Ripple Effect blog.
Managed by the Office of Engagement Initiatives, The Ripple Effect gives readers an opportunity to go behind the scenes of community-engaged learning to understand not just the programs and projects, but also the motivations, inspirations, challenges and triumphs that accompany the work.