Resources

Spring 2011 Connector

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Congratulations! You’ve made it through another semester!  As everyone is finishing finals and leaving campus, I am sure that orientation and the first days of school seem much further behind us than just three months. I know that a lot has happened in the Indiana Campus Compact (ICC) world since then, so I’m sure the same has to be true on your campus.

The tradition of the ICC Connector each semester is to highlight and preview some things for the upcoming semester, but before we jump into looking ahead, I want to take a few minutes and make sure you haven’t missed some great resources from this past semester.

• First, with the continued support of the Lilly Endowment Inc, ICC provided new and continued funding opportunities and programs for members. Among the new programs was the regional format of our fall Networking Council meetings.
• Second, ICC launched the new Service Engagement Corps (SEC) program which included piloting the Interfaith Service Corps (IFSC) in partnership with the Interfaith Youth Corps.  In October, some of our IFSC members had the chance to travel to the White House as part of an Interfaith Leadership Institute.
• Also in October, Quick Hits for Service Learning: Successful Strategies by Award Winning Teachers, a book developed by ICC Faculty Fellows and full of over 100 models of service learning courses, was released.
• And in November, ICC hosted Service for Transformations and Transitions: Alliances between Community Colleges and 4 Year Campuses to offer campuses a chance to think about regional partnerships to better serve Indiana’s communities and students.

In addition, in October, national Campus Compact released its most recent publication, A Promising Connection: Increasing College Access and Success through Civic Engagement as part of the Presidents Leadership Summit—a two day event at Georgetown University for presidents to learn more about the intersection between our work in civic engagement and college access and success conversations.  We have sent copies of this report to all of our presidents and chancellors and I encourage you to review this document and the additional resources that are available on the webpage and use this as a catalyst for new conversations on your campus.

So, as I said, the fall was busy…but that didn’t preclude us from planning even more opportunities for professional development and networking for the spring. Our spring Networking Council meeting will take place on Friday, April 1, 2011 as part of the second day of the Service Engagement Summit (March 31-April 1, 2011). On the first day of the Service Engagement Summit, we will highlight best practices and research related to service engagement and we encourage you and your colleagues to submit a proposal to share your work.  You may want to put a bug in the ear of your department chairs, deans, and provost because we also will have targeted sessions for them on the first day of the Service Engagement Summit.

In addition to this updated and expanded professional development opportunity, we are excited to host the return of some other programs that have been developed in the past couple of years.

• We will be presenting our annual awards during the Service Engagement Summit on March 31 and we would love to consider faculty, staff, students, and community partners from your campus for one of our awards. Please submit all applications and supporting materials by January 31, 2011.
• As spring is warming up, we will be starting to plan our fall events and want to make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity for your campus to be considered as a host for one of the 2011 Regional Networking Council meetings.   All ICC members have the opportunity to review the requirements and submit an notice of intent to showcase their campus by hosting a 2011 fall Regional Networking Council Meeting by April 15, 2011.
• Also, as we plan for next fall, we are trying to gauge interest in the 2011-2012 Service Engagement Corps and Interfaith Service Corps programs that were mentioned above. In order to anticipate how much we will be expanding our program, it would be great to hear from you about your interest in either program by Friday, January 14, 2011.
• Connecting Campuses with Communities: Service Learning Institute and IUPUI Research Academy will take place May 16-20, 2011 on the IUPUI campus. Based on feedback from last year’s participants, we are introducing a “train the trainer” track to both parts of this weeklong program this year. Applications are now available and are being accepted through March 1, 2011.
• The ICC Alternative Break experience will take place in Indianapolis and will be during the week of May 22-28, 2011. 
• The Community Service Director Institute will take place on June 2 and 3, 2011. Look for more information about the program and location after the new year.

As always, you can find an updated list of important dates on our 2011 calendar. All of our grant and award deadlines are listed on here as well as information about upcoming ICC events. We encourage you to post relevant events that you would like to make others aware of on our web calendar as well. And, in addition to posting events, please share your stories and your pictures with us through the website. This is a great way to let others know about the great work your campus is involved in.

Wishing you restful break as 2010 comes to an end and a peaceful new year!

With gratitude,

Maggie Stevens

Indiana Campus Compact