Community Engagement Internship
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Over the course of my time at Emporia State University, I interned for three years. For my internship I was able to work alongside Dr. Jasmine Linabary focusing on the topics of community engagement and service learning. We have defined community engagement as “the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people". Throughout my internship, I have been able to do a variety of different projects.
Community Impact Challenge
I have been the student coordinator for the grant competition called the "Community Impact Challenge" multiple times. This event "invites ESU students to work collaboratively in teams of 3-5 to identify creative and meaningful solutions to challenges facing the campus and/or greater Emporia community." For the event, I created a variety of different promotional infographics through Canva. Each time I have served as the student coordinator; it was my responsibility to select coaches, and I equipped them with the materials and skills that they needed to serve as a speaking coach for their group of finalists. I have also served as a speaking coach for three different teams, helping them develop their presentations and their public speaking skills.
Community Engagement Workshops
I co-facilitated multiple virtual workshops for faculty and staff as well as presented over community engagement and service learning topics. Topics included: an overview of community engagement and service learning, how to navigate community engagement and service learning during COVID-19, community conversations (which included members faculty and staff as well as some of our community partners), and how to integrate community engagement and service learning into a class.
Community Engagement Research
I have conducted original qualitative research with community partners about sustaining relationships with Emporia State University and the community. Through this, I conducted semi-structured interviews with a variety of community partners to learn about their relationship and previous partnership experiences with the university. After conducting the interviews, I transcribed and analyzed them for common themes. This project is currently in one of the final stages. At this time, we are further coding and analyzing all of the interviews and writing a manuscript (which we plan to have finished by the end of the semester so that we can submit it to a conference).
I have presented research on community engagement at the Kansas Service and Civic Engagement Conference as well as during Research and Creativity day at Emporia State University. Having the opportunity to present has allowed me to showcase the work that I have done as well as helped me develop my speaking skills. To watch my presentation and view my poster, please click the links below:
Presentation: Navigating Communication with Community Partners
Poster: Navigating Communication with Community Engagement Partners Poster
National Volunteer Month - Be The Change
I saw that there was a lack of volunteer opportunities for students at Emporia State University, which lead me to the idea of instituting a month of volunteer opportunities during April (National Volunteer Month). I was able to coordinate eleven different volunteer opportunities for students and collaborated with community partners to sustain the prior relationships. I was able to coordinate multiple different student organizations to co-sponsor each of the events. Below you can see photos from the events as well as the flyer I created for promotion. I ran the Instagram account for Community Hornets, where I was able to engage followers and promote events.
There was over 180 hours served and 160 items created during the Be The Change events. Overall, partnerships were created as well as sustained with both community and campus organizations. There was a substantial increase in engagement on the Community Hornets Instagram and volunteerism in the community.
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