Office of Community Engagement – Page 19 – Collaborating for community impact

IUPUI students joined get out the vote efforts

Posted on November 14, 2018 by tfrancis

Latino Student Association members prepare to make calls to remind others to get out and vote.

In 2018, IUPUI was ranked among the best colleges in the nation for student voting. In the same year, IUPUI received a Bronze rating from the All IN Campus Democracy Challenge. For a group of IUPUI students, civic engagement goes beyond Election Day.

Twenty IUPUI Latino Student Association (LSA) members joined local community members to take part in a nonpartisan phone bank on November 3, 2018. The phone bank was hosted by the organization, ACT Indiana. Participating organizations included community churches and religious organizations. The students who attended shared why they were asking others to get out and vote.

LSA members said that reminding others, especially their peers, to vote was important because during the last election there was a low millennial voter turnout. They hoped that this would continue to change. The Census showed 23 percent of young adults aged 18-34 voted in 2014.

IUPUI staff member Mariana Lopez-Owens also joined the effort. She was motivated to help others know their rights to vote given the expanded voting locations offered during this year’s mid-term election. Mariana shared, “I volunteered to encourage eligible voters to vote because it’s their right and responsibility.”

“There was so much at stake in the 2018 Midterm elections both for current and future generations, and eligible voters have the power to do something about it,” Mariana said.

Cindy Gil, Director of Latino Affairs with the IUPUI Office of Community Engagement, said that seeing so many IUPUI students involved with get out the vote efforts, as well as voting, are both positive indicators of an engaged student community.

“Our students demonstrate through their involvement that they have a deep desire to help create positive change for all families and communities. Seeing our students make calls to remind others to get out and vote, reminded me that if you want to go far, go together. Clearly, our IUPUI student volunteers hope that with the support of others throughout the state, we can all go farther.”

IUPUI project wins state, national awards

Posted on November 9, 2018 by anposick

An application designed by a team of IUPUI researchers is winning state and nationwide honors and could help reduce the costs of healthcare, while helping patients lead healthier lives.

The app, called Uppstroms, was developed by a team led by Joshua Vest, director for the Center for Health Policy at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI and Founding Dean Paul Halverson.

Photo of Joshua Vest — Joshua Vest, IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health

Joshua and his colleagues, Nir Menachemi, Shaun Grannis and Suranga Kasthurirathne, developed a series of algorithms that take into account multiple factors, including environmental, social and behavioral factors, and combine them with clinical data to identify what services patients might need.

With that information, care providers can refer patients to the wraparound services that will help them most, such as for behavioral health, dietician or financial counseling services.

The app has been in use for about a year in Eskenazi Health clinics, and has already shown in preliminary results that it increases referrals for services.

At the same time, a new research paper from Eskenazi Health and the Fairbanks School of Public Health shows that wraparound services can save potentially millions in hospitalization costs. Wraparound services were associated with a reduction in the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits, saving hospitals money, according to the paper.

Uppstroms won the first BioCrossroads Inject Tech Challenge, and also recently won the Pitch IT competition at the American Medical Informatics Association 2018 conference.

For Joshua, the awards are validation for what he and his colleagues are doing, because others view their work as important.

His hope is that the technology will continue to be used by more healthcare providers, helping improve the health of people and entire populations.

Social and environmental factors have a significant impact on people’s health, and issues such as transportation and access to healthy food complicate the delivery of care, Joshua said.

“Addressing those factors will be helpful for all involved,” he said.

Joshua and his colleagues disclosed the Uppstroms innovation to the Indiana University Innovation and Commercialization Office (IU ICO), which protects, markets and licenses intellectual property developed at Indiana University so it can be commercialized by industry. IU ICO seeks partners to license and commercialize the technology.

Twitter, Facebook part of curriculum for senior citizens, students

Posted on October 26, 2018 by anposick

Leaning over laptops, tablets and Smartphones, terms like tweeting, hashtags and likes are defined and explained.

The lessons are geared toward a group of senior citizens who want to learn the new technology so prominent in society. But at the same time, a group of IUPUI students are learning about how to work in their future career field.

The IT class, taught by Professor Sally Catlin, offers a weekly program for senior citizens at Heritage Place on how to use different types of technology. The class is easily one of the most popular at the center, where officials have asked if more sessions can be offered.

“I honestly would not ever want this program to go away. It is essential. It is a staple to our program here,” Heritage Place Program Manager Gretchen Meitzler said.

Topics covered recently include Twitter, Facebook, new features on Apple watches geared toward senior citizens and Facebook Messenger.

Residents who attend range in age from 55 to 95, and often are very educated people who just want to learn more about technology they never grew up with, Catlin said.

“Seniors want to have some of these skills, and be able to be involved in conversations about modern technology,” Catlin said.

The class started three years ago, and is consistently full. Catlin is looking at offering other classes and programs that could benefit residents, too, she said.

Teaching the class also allows Catlin’s students to learn more about their field and working with the public.

“The IUPUI students get a lot out of it too, it’s intergenerational. These seniors went to school when schools were segregated,” Catlin said.

Students work one-on-one with senior citizens, reminding them how to log in or troubleshooting any problems they are facing. They also teach segments to the whole group, focusing on specific programs or apps, such as Uber, Twitter or grocery delivery sites.

They also learn more about the residents’ lives, like when they are asked to help them share photos of their family on social media sites.

The students have to remember to be patient, since most people don’t have the technological knowledge and skills they do, and they have to pay attention to the terms they are using, avoiding the IT language they get used to using with their classmates, students said.

The experience is something they can’t get in their classes, IUPUI senior Dalton Puckett said.

“It’s good to talk to people who are different from you. They don’t have as much experience, and it helps me understand more,” Puckett said.

Program offering more options to help buy, fix homes

Posted on October 19, 2018 by anposick

After decades of renting, Anita Hedrick never thought she would have the chance to own a home.

She simply didn’t think she could afford it. But that changed when she found out about a program between the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership®(INHP) and IUPUI, where Hedrick works.

Under the IUPUI Anchor Housing program, qualified employees can get financial assistance to buy a home on the Near West side, within a target geography the campus selected. Employees who already own a home within the targeted area can get financial help to fix it up.

Funding for the program is first-come, first-served. Potential program participants qualify based on income and other eligibility restrictions; and potential homebuyers must participate in pre-purchase homeownership advising and a homebuyer education class, offered by INHP.

So far, the IUPUI Anchor Housing program has helped five staff members buy a home or repair their home. The goal is to provide even more employees with an opportunity to become or remain a homeowner close to where they work while funding is still available, said Trevor Meeks, vice president of single family lending for INHP.

As the program moves into its second year, INHP and IUPUI have found a way to provide employees with additional opportunities to find affordable home purchase options, such as expanding the target geography, and offering incentives to help employees own their home faster with a fixed-rate, 20-year mortgage loan option through INHP, Meeks said.

For Hedrick, the down payment assistance she received from IUPUI and INHP helped her to buy her very first home in Haughville, just minutes away from campus where she has worked for 11 years.

“It is my own. I just love it,” Hedrick said.

Hedrick just celebrated her one-year anniversary in her home, and said being there still feels like a dream come true.

“It’s so nice to be able to say ‘my home.’ I did not think I would be able to do that,” Hedrick said.

The Anchor Housing program, part of the Indy Chamber’s Anchor Revitalization Initiative, seeks to help employees live closer to where they work, support Marion County neighborhoods, and allow the 14 local employers currently participating in the program to use it as a recruitment and retention tool, Meeks said.

Hedrick said she learned about the program when her supervisor, Terisa Branson, told her about it. Branson, who signed up for the program the first day, recommended a house for Hedrick.

For Branson, the biggest challenge she faced was finding a home located within IUPUI’s selected geography. After months of looking, she found a home just down the street from where she had been renting. And while the house was a bit too small for her, its previous owner agreed to add a bathroom and additional room on the back of the house.

“Those other houses just weren’t meant for me,” she said.

The program was a blessing, Branson said. Not only did she get help for a down payment, but she also learned a lot about the finances of buying a house during the program’s required homebuying class, and how home closings work.

“I could not afford to do it without doing it this way,” she said.

And now, she has a home of her own, something that is all hers, she said.

“Before, I was living in someone else’s home, taking care of someone else’s home, and this is mine,” Branson said.

For more information, to review IUPUI’s selected geography and to register for the Anchor Housing program, visit https://www.inhp.org/anchorhousing/iupui.

IU Southeast reached 200+ middle and high school students through free workshops and discussions

Posted on October 19, 2018 by tfrancis

IU Indiana Kids program

Teachers, principals and parents know the looks they get when they talk to their teens about college or other serious topics.

But when IU Southeast has tried those same discussions with college students, they have found the teens are suddenly listening, program coordinator Emily Seay said.

The information is no different from what teachers or parents talk about with their kids, but students are more likely to listen when college students are involved, she said.

Now, she and her team are booked every Friday for the next two months with plans to visit classes and schools in their area.

They used social media posts, visits to local schools, donut-themed events, workshops and discussions to reach more than 200 middle and high school students in 2018 as part of the IU Indiana Kids program.

Emily, a former high school teacher, used her own personal connections and visited more than a dozen schools to build the Indiana Kids program in her area in southern Indiana.

Their programs have different focuses for different age groups, with high schoolers learning about how to apply for college, getting financial aid and choosing a career path in their Donuts for Degrees sessions, and Emily hopes to keep those going, getting more in-depth as students get closer to college.

IU Southeast student mentors, IU Indiana Kids program

For middle school students, the Donuts and Discussion program is a bit different, since those students are not as close to college age. One local school had asked Emily and her student mentors to talk to kids about bullying, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. At the end of the first session, students were asked to write two sentences, saying something nice about a classmate and those were very impactful to students.

More than 50 students participated in the bullying-focused Donuts and Discussion event in September, and nearly 50 more have participated in two college and career readiness workshops hosted in August and September.

Future events are filling up with individual classes, and in some cases, entire grades. Their goal is to continue and grow the workshops, while also looking to build the Indiana Kids tutoring program by referring students to the service when they participate in other activities.

The IU Indiana Kids program, launched from the IUPUI campus, is a collaboration between Serve Indiana and seven Indiana University campuses (IUPUI, IU Bloomington, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast) providing free tutoring, mentoring, college and career resources to students in grades six through twelve.

IU Northwest builds relationships with schools in the Gary area

Posted on October 19, 2018 by tfrancis

IU Indiana Kids program

Over the last year, mentors and staff at IU Northwest have grown a relationship with a student transitioning from high school to college.

And that is exactly what the IU Indiana Kids program seeks to recreate.

Program coordinator James Wallace first met the student as a high school senior last year. The student has now enrolled in IU Northwest after going through a summer program his office offers to prepare students for the academic writing, English, communication and math skills needed for college.

The student has remained connected to his office, having bi-weekly meetings with an academic advisor, who connects her with any programs on campus that could help her be successful.

“We need to duplicate that. We’ve done it once, and now it needs to happen again and again,” James said.

James hopes to be able to build that relationship with more students, and continues to try to build the campus’ Indiana Kids program through emails, presentations and face-to-face meetings.

James and his six mentors are hitting the pavement to connect with multiple schools, especially charter schools, which can be a challenge since there is no one central office as there are for public school districts.

James connected with the IU School of Education at his campus to present at meetings they were hosting to attract people to their master’s degree program. During those meetings with local school officials, James was able to present information about the Indiana Kids program to multiple schools at one time, and then follow up to grow the connections made.

In August, IU Northwest’s Indiana Kids program hosted a workshop with 31 high school students from 21^st Century Charter School enrolled in their dual credit program. They shared information about financial aid and other processes students would need to prepare for college, and promoted the Indiana Kids program.

From that event, 10 students – or about one-third of those who attended – signed up for the Indiana Kids program.

IU South Bend had success in summer ’18 and is partnering with South Bend Cubs Foundation

Posted on October 19, 2018 by tfrancis

IU Indiana Kids program

A connection through baseball is helping grow a program meant for teens at IU South Bend.

The IU Indiana Kids program is starting a new partnership with the South Bend Cubs Foundation and is recruiting the help of the IU South Bend baseball team to start an after-school program for students, especially ones who play on travel baseball teams.

Their plan is to offer tutoring, mentoring and other baseball-themed activities at the South Bend Cubs field one night per week beginning this fall.

Building relationships is challenging, but is key to growing the program, program coordinator Ginny Heidemann said.

The campus partnered with South Bend Community Schools to have tutors embedded in the district’s summer school program. For three weeks, six tutors went to work with a teacher they were assigned to, offering help to middle school students in summer school, but also working to build relationships with those students.

And that effort has paid off, with 45 students signing up for tutoring through the Indiana Kids program.

Ginny pointed to one connection as a key success, where a student initially started with tutoring, but made a strong connection with a tutor that has now turned into a mentorship, with the student and mentor meeting regularly and building that relationship.

IUPUI Community Engagement staff recognized for adult continuing education programs

Posted on October 16, 2018 by tfrancis

By Inside IUPUI, Sept. 27, 2018

(Left to right) Myron Duff, Jr., Dr. Khaula Murtadha, Denys Pittman

Three IUPUI Office of Community Engagement staff members received awards for their involvement in the area of adult and continuing education at the 2018 Indiana Council for Continuing Education (ICCE) annual conference on September 20, 2018.

Khaula Murtadha received the Leadership Award

Khaula Murtadha, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for the Office of Community Engagement, received the Leadership Award in recognition of her hard work and forward-thinking leadership in the face of many academic, organizational and societal changes. Robin Cunningham, treasurer of ICCE, said, “Dr. Murtadha has been involved with ICCE for many years and is an integral part of the advisory board and past president of the organization.”

“Khaula is a champion of urban education and has worked tirelessly to create collaborative programs with Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS),” said the nomination letter. From 2001 to 2007 Khaula served as Executive Associate Dean of the IU School of Education at IUPUI. She also previously served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Lifelong Learning at IUPUI. In 2008, Khaula received the Madam C. J. Walker Outstanding Woman of the Year Award for her commitment to IUPUI and the Indianapolis community.

“Khaula’s research focuses on affecting change through collaborative leadership in urban schools,” the nomination letter said. “She also studies community engagement, ethical responsibilities of universities, and the role of African American women administrators in urban school reform.”

“Overall, Khaula has been extremely influential at promoting the needs of adults who are attending the university as their experiences are unique to traditional aged students,” the letter said. “She has also championed the cause for IUPUI to serve as an anchor institution to the surrounding community as it is mutually beneficial for both.”

“Not only is Dr. Murtadha a great leader, she is also a great mentor,” according to the nomination letter. “Countless students, faculty, staff, and community members schedule time to meet with her to glean from her reservoir of knowledge as a tenured faculty, senior college administrator, and social justice advocate in the greater Indianapolis area.”

“Khaula is an inspiration and an icon in the field of Adult Education as well as a remarkable woman leader,” the nomination letter adds.

Myron Duff, Jr. received the Award for Community Engagement and Partnerships

Myron Duff, Jr., director of workforce readiness and program development, received the Award for Community Engagement and Partnerships in recognition of his hard work in community engagement and leadership in the IUPUI Community Learning Network as well as the Office of Community Engagement.

“For more than 10 years Myron has been known for his leadership in advancing the goals of adult learning,” said the nomination letter. Myron previously served as advisor for the IUPUI Community Learning Network for adult learners working towards a bachelor’s degree through the IUPUI General Studies program.

“He was a team leader with outstanding skills and empathy for adults who may have taken many years to obtain the treasure of a 4-year degree,” his nomination letter said.

In his current role, Myron “is responding to the need for adults in our community to continue their education, leading workforce readiness programs and lifelong learning initiatives,” according to his nomination letter. Workforce Readiness Programs offer culturally responsive, results-focused workforce programs in partnership with community organizations. These programs support the unemployed and the underemployed in their move to living-wage career opportunities.

Myron also serves as the IUPUI Office of Community Engagement liaison to the Near West neighborhood in Indianapolis, attending and supporting community meetings where the stakeholders develop Quality of Life Plans and goals, while also being attentive to partnership cultivation as well as equity of opportunity, according to the nomination letter.

“With a commitment to using data and research, Myron has demonstrated a vision for change and influenced our Office of Community Engagement staff so that we have now begun to learn from the community and not assume we at the university already know what the community needs and wants as we build partnerships,” the letter said.

“Myron Duff is a leader for community engagement and partnership development. He is attuned to the peoples’ needs and desires.”

Denys Pittman received the Award for Staff Support

Denys Pittman, Workforce Readiness Program assistant, received the Award for Staff Support in recognition of exemplary work in support of IUPUI workforce readiness programs. Denys coordinates courses, supports community partnerships, maintains the online course catalogue, and assists with student enrollment.

According to her nomination letter, “In addition to performing her job at an exemplary level, Denys demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to the university community, the general public, and the workforce readiness programs that we offer.”

“Denys takes it upon herself to provide exceptional support and service to workforce readiness instructors and students,” the letter said. “Denys displays patience with the student population and stakeholders and always thinks ahead, while being aware of timelines and providing suggestions that are timely for the mission of the office, according to her nomination letter. Denys is helpful, caring, resourceful, and often goes above and beyond her duties.”

“Her quick wit, attention to detail, and loyalty to the students, staff, and University have endeared Denys to her colleagues. She is a true champion for continuing education and community engagement,” the nomination letter added.

The Indiana Council for Continuing Education is a professional organization that represents continuing education efforts at institutions of higher education and other organizations that promote adult learning in the state of Indiana. It is the only state-focused continuing education organization in Indiana.