Engaged Scholarship

Engaged Scholarship
UNC Charlotte faculty conducted a
wide range of engaged research and
participate in a diverse set
of
engaged scholarly activities. Faculty
engagement refers to scholarly,
creative, or pedagogical activities for
the broader public good. Such
activities (in the form of research,
teaching, and/ or service) develop as
collaborative interactions that respond
to short and long-term societal needs.
More importantly, engaged research
requires that local knowledge,
perspectives, and resources be
respected and valued as vital to the
production of knowledge and practical
solutions. Scholarships
produced
as a result of such collaboration
demonstrates and expands current
knowledge of the discipline, invites
peer collaboration and review, is open
to critique, and is accessible.

service on each campus that is community partners,

detailed and specific in definition students through
and scope. The UNC Tomorrow
Initiative further suggests that the
resources and used expertise of
UNC faculty should be used to
address important community
and statewide issues, as well as apply
and translate research and scholarship
more directly to broader constituencies
focused on identified needs.v

In 2012, following a proposal from

the Provost, the UNC Charlotte
Faculty Council moved to revise the
universitys tenure
and promotion
guidelines in the current Academic
Personnel Procedures Handbook to
reflect UNC Charlottes commitment to
community
engaged
scholarship,
teaching, and public service. This new
language now allows community-based
1 research conducted with local partners
The UNC Tomorrow Initiative
Main Purpose of UNC Charlotte Faculty to qualify as scholarship for
tenure and promotion purposes
Community Engagement Activities
at the institutional level. This
philosophical shift brings
Professional community-engaged
Service
practices solely out of
14%
25%
the realm of s e r v i c e , and
Public Service
allows the university to better
recognize these invaluable
30%
partnerships.
Research or community
The
document
drafted
31%
Creative
by the Faculty Employment
Activities
Status Committee
and
Teaching
presented to the Faculty
Council highlighted UNC
Source:
Charlottes
history
of
noteworthy public outreach
encourages UNC institutions to and sought to clarify what community
be leaders in developing stronger engagement means. Section VI.C of
partnerships with the community the handbook now explicitly defines
outside the institution by developing community engagement as research/
a strategic plan for scholarly public
creative activities, teaching, and service
activities that are collaboratively
undertaken by faculty members with
1

staff,

and/or

Engaged Scholarship
processes that exemplify reciprocity in
partnerships and public purposes In
revising the language regarding
community engagement, Faculty
Council was careful to protect the
high-quality standard of research
conducted by faculty, while allowing
for the consideration of community
engagement as an innovative
approach
to
scholarship
and
knowledge production. The language
is also broad enough to preserve the
academic freedom of each college to
recognize
discipline-specific
approaches

to

engagement. The Handbook now

states that although the spectrum of
engaged scholarship and activities
varies
among
disciplines,
engagement is planned and carried
out by University and community
partners, and includes:
Engaged scholarship: Scholarly
efforts to expand multifaceted
intellectual
endeavor
with
commitment to public practices and
public consequences.

Engaged activities: Artistic, critical,

scientific and humanistic work that

community

influences, enriches and improves the

lives of people in the community.
The new language draws a distinction
between community engagement that
would qualify as service and facultyinvolved research with the community
as a partner. Community Engagement
and Public Service (often referred to
as outreach) are often conflated
because both approaches may occur in
the community and include activities
that involve or serve community
entities. While the latter describes
activities that are provided to, intended
for, or done in communities, the
former describes

Community engagement can now

qualify, not only as service, but as any
of the three categories for promotion
and tenure including research and
teaching depending on the nature of
work.

activities that are undertaken with

community members in a context of
reciprocal partnership. Rather than
activity or place, the key distinction
between community engagement and
community service can be determined
by the processes and purposes that
each emphasizes.

Daniel Hurley, director of state relations

and policy analysis at the American
Association of State Colleges and
Universities (AASCU), commends
these actions taken at UNC Charlotte
stating, It makes a tremendous amount
of common sense, and reaffirms the
public mission of these public
institutions by serving regional public
needs.

Provost Joan Lorden asserts that

explicitly
including
community
engagement wording in tenure and
promotion
guidelines
articulates
the value the University places on
engagement, and makes the important
work that faculty are doing with
community partners more visible.

If deliberate and inclusive language in

UNC Charlottes tenure and promotion
policy
reflects
the
outstanding
engagement that the work faculty are
already doing, the UNC System
Community Engagement and Economic
Development Metrics are a system-wide
6

approach to capturing and analyzing and universities across the state.

and support UNCs capacity to be
information on the community
strategic, proactive, and responsive in
The areas of performance in which a faculty member is reviewed for
engagement activities of faculty, staff,
developing,
maintaining,
and
reappointment,
promotion,
and
conferral
of
permanent
tenure
are:
In
May
2012,
UNC
President
Tom
and students at colleges
celebrating
mutually
beneficial
commissioned
two
teaching, advising, curriculum and Ross
instructional
development;
community-university
connections
multi- campusactivities;
taskforces and
to
scholarly research, creative and other professional
and partnerships.
develop
concise
sets
of
indicators,
or
service to the University, the profession, the public and/or the community
metrics, that all UNC campuses
The pilot process gathered information
couldDocument,
use to assess
in
As required by Section 3.1 of the Tenure
theprogress
assessment
candidates
performance
in
onof the
community
engagement
in
community
engagement
and
the faculty members demonstrated professional competence;
research, course offerings, service3
economic
development
.
The
potential for future contribution to UNC
Charlotte;
and
learning, and outreach activities as
of
system-wide
institutional needs and resources. development
well as the number of community
indicators are the first step to
members
participating in campus
building the capacity of General
events
that
occurred
during
the 2011Community engagement refers toAdministration,
research/creative
activities,
teaching,
and
service
activiti
as well as campuses
2012
academic
year.
individually, to understand the full
scope and impact of UNCs
During the pilot phase, twenty-nine
engagement in and with the state of
faculty and staff from ten colleges and
North Carolina. Awareness of the
units on campus provided information
types of and extent of activities
on their community engagement
serves as the first step towards being
projects.
The
faculty
member
better able to convey and strengthen
reporting the project can list more than
the UNCs reputation as a
one purpose. Of the 29 projects
collaborative, inclusive, responsible,
reported, 18 projects were focused on
and
effective member of
public service, 18 projects were
North Carolina
focused on research or creative
communities, and strengthen
activities, and 15 projects were

focused on teaching. Eight projects

identified professional service as the
primary purpose. Tables 1 and 2
further categorize the primary forms
and foci of community engagement
activities and projects as reported by
faculty members, depicting a diverse
range of projects.
Of the twenty-nine UNC Charlotte
projects outlined in Metric Three of
the
UNC
System
Community
Engagement
and
Economic
Development Metrics, a majority of
the projects specifically incorporated
student engagement.
Figure
represents the nature of student
engagement in the reported projects.
Community engagement projects
provided platforms for student
involvement in research and volunteer
opportunities.
Service-Learning
Numerous studies highlight the
benefits of community engagement
and service-learning, as pedagogical
and co-curricular approaches to a
students success.
The UNC system collects data on
the number of students enrolled in
community-engaged and communitybased
courses
and
academic
learning experiences. UNC General
Administration differentiates between
community-engaged and communitybased learning.
Community-engaged learning involves
collaboration between institutions
of higher education and their larger
communities (local, regional/state,
national, global) for the mutually
beneficial exchange of knowledge and
resources in a context partnership and
reciprocity2. In contrast, community-

based learning is defined more broadly

as taking place in the community or
with a community partner.
At UNC Charlotte, community
centered coursework is required in a
number of undergraduate majors,
including
education,
nursing,
social work, sociology, gerontology,
community planning, and architecture.
Field-based learning and internships
are widespread.
According to data collected by UNC
Charlottes Office of Institutional
Research, 5,163 students (8.33% of
the student population) were enrolled
in courses offering community-based
academic learning during the 201112 academic year while 2,445 students
(3.95% of the student population)
were enrolled in community-engaged
courses during the same period.
Community service and engagement
are core elements of the 57 freshman
seminars and 16 learning communities
scheduled for 2011-12. The University
Honors Program and a number of
undergraduate programs and courses
of study have community involvement
and
public
service activities
embedded within
the curriculum.
Service-learning
is a common form
of course- based
community
engagement
for
UNC
Charlotte
students.
The
National ServiceLearning Clearing
house
defines
service-learning

learning as a teaching and learning

strategy that integrates meaningful
community service with instruction
and reflection to enrich the learning
experience, teach civic responsibility,
and strengthen communities.
In March 2011, the UNC Charlotte
Faculty
Council
unanimously
approved a new service-learning
course designation and encouraged
faculty to integrate service-learning
principles into their courses. This was
passed to both encourage faculty with
current courses to apply for servicelearning designation and also to grow
the number of new courses. The
service- learning course content may
include the following goals: i) to
discover and address needs within the
community
collaboratively
with
community partners, ii) to develop
lasting, reciprocal relationships in the
community, iii) to improve skills for
critical and comparative thinking, iv)
to promote values clarification, v) to
learn practical aspects of community
service, volunteerism, and social
change, vi) to relate community
service experiences

Source:

to career goals, and vii) to help Students completing service-learning

develop a life-long commitment to or other community organizationCriteria for Service-Learning Courses
self-reflection,
and itscontent
implications
for include
based 49ership
requirements
received of the concepts of citizenship, public or
Course
should
the scholarly
exploration
community service and social recognition on their transcripts. In
responsibility.
Prioran opportunity
to
the 2011-2012,
18 learning,
service-learning
The course
must provide
for reflection,
discovery, understanding, intellectual challeng
implementation of university-wide courses provided opportunities for
standards, A some
faculty
and students
engageactivity
in service-oriented
significant
percentage
of the to
course
should be devoted to some form of service to th
departments were unaware of service 49erships,
internships
with
learning opportunities, while others community-based
service
and
outreach
A substantial part of the course grade will involve reflection on th
offered courses with service learning organizations and public service
pedagogy, but did not realize they agencies. 49erships are open to
could be designated as service- students in all seven colleges.
learning classes. The actions of the Students
participating
in
the
Faculty Council have provided university-wide 49ership Service
enhanced recognition and interest in Learning Program have three specific
service learning curriculum.
learning objectives which they discuss
with their organizational supervisor
In 2011-12, 17 courses in 13 and career advisor on campus. These
departments or programs in five include:
colleges offered courses with a
1. to learn about the social
servicelearning
distinction.
issues and how they
are
Approximately 2,104 students were
handled
by
the
enrolled in these courses. In 2012agency/organization;
2013, 646 courses in
2. to
promote
community
41 departments carried the serviceawareness of social issues;
learning distinction; a dramatic
and,
increase in interest and visibility of
3. to learn how my skills and
service-learning courses.
abilities relate to this career.
Participating students engage in
reflection and evaluation at the
end of the semester.

Courses

2008
Applicat
ion
2,5
37
525

Faculty

194

233

38

41

Students

Departments

20122013
3,139
646

Percen
t
Chang
24.0
%
23.0
%
21.3
%
7.9
%

2012-2013 Service-Learning
Data Based on
Undergraduate FTE
# of Service% of Total
Courses
Learning
Courses

646

# of Depts.
Represented by
Service-Learning

4
1
# of Faculty

Teaching ServiceLearning Courses

233

# of Students
Participating in
Service-Learning

3,139

6.3%

% of Total
Depts.

85.0%
% of Total
Faculty

13.6%
% of Total
Students

10.3%

Source: UNC Charlotte Institutional Research

Professional Development
Across campus, there are a variety of
programs that offer support for
community-centered courses and
program development, research, and
outreach activities. The university
offers Scholarship of
Teaching
and Learning (SoTL) grants and
Chancellors Diversity Challenge Fund
grants for faculty that can be used to
design and implement community
engagement programs and courses,
the depth and breadth of professional
development options for faculty, staff,
and administrators has become more
intentionally focused on community
engagement.
Service-Learning Showcase
In Fall 2011, an interdisciplinary
group of UNC Charlotte faculty
organized the first annual servicelearning showcase on campus. The
three-hour event began with a panel of
faculty from the Colleges of Liberal
Arts & Sciences, Health and Human
Services, Education, and Computing
and Informatics discussing their
various approaches to and experiences
with
service-learning.
Audience
members asked questions about
applying for the service-

learning course designation, solicited

advice on how to overcome servicelearning challenges, and exchanged
best practices on how to develop
strong community partnerships. An
interactive poster session followed the
panel; faculty, students, and campus
groups shared information regarding
their specific service-learning projects
on campus. Another showcase is
scheduled for Spring 2014.
Center for Teaching and Learning
The UNC Charlotte Center for
Teaching and Learning (CTL) provides
pedagogical assistance for faculty.
Faculty seeking counsel on creating a
service-learning course can utilize the
CTL. The CTL also offers an online
service-learning resource library. The
universitys increased support for and
attention to service-learning courses
and course designation (see section
II.A.1.a) paved the way for a faculty
member specializing in servicelearning to serve as a CTL fellow,
beginning in 2013. In this position, the
faculty fellow has been giving
workshops and consulting on how to
incorporate service-learning into
individual courses.

Campus Compact
The Campus Compact group is
comprised of faculty and staff from a
wide variety of departments and
offices. The group meets once a month
to develop strategies that deepen
community engaged practices among
faculty, students, and staff.
Each year, a team from UNC Charlotte
attend the Civic Engagement Institute
and PACE (Pathways to Achieving
Civic
Engagement)
conferences
sponsored by North Carolina Campus
Compact. Travel funding is fully
supported. The goals of both
conferences
include
involving
university and community members in
discussions of the best practices and
theories related to community
engagement, soliciting institutional
support,
identifying
challenges,
negotiating barriers, and highlighting
research and practice on related topics.

Student-Focused Community Engagement

SPOTLIGHT: UNC Charlottes Food Security Initiatives

Stop Hunger Now
Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief agency designed to end
hunger around the globe. In April 2012, UNC Charlotte students, faculty and
staff joined the cause and campaigned to raise more than $3,000. The funding
was used to purchase and package high-protein meals with rice, soy, dehydrated
vegetables, and a flavoring mix with 23 essential vitamins and nutrients.
Through continued efforts, UNC Charlotte has provided more than 13,000
meals for crisis-burdened areas school feeding programs in Haiti, Kenya, El
Salvador, Liberia and Nicaragua.

Food Recycling Program

The Food Recycling Program was established in 1991 by University Honors
Program students. Student volunteers collect food that has been cooked, but not
yet served from campus cafeterias. Students then deliver the food to Charlottes
Urban Ministries Center and The Center for Hope Womens Shelter. In 2013-14
volunteers collected and delivered more than 2,100 pounds of food. Every year,
the program continues to gain awareness and support. UNC Charlotte also
plans to partner with Johnson and Wales to expand outreach efforts

UNC Charlotte Community Garden

In 2014, Levine Scholars Jake Emerson, Kevin Rodengen, and Chloe Rodengen
created a community garden as a platform for sustainability, education and
experimentation. They envisioned students learning about healthy eating, how
to grow food, and most importantly, how to organize sustainability programs for
campus. Produce from the garden will go to campus dining services, The Niner
Student Pantry, as well as community non-profits such as Friendship Trays. In
2015, the Community Garden will construct a solar-powered drip irrigation
system and handicap-accessible walkways.
Niner Student Pantry
Established in 2014, The Niner Student Pantry was created to provide food to
students experiencing economic hardship. The Food Lion Feeds program
sponsored the pantry, providing shelving and nonperishable items. Students,
faculty, and staff from across campus have demonstrated support for the pantry
in a number important ways including donating volunteer hours,

100
90
80
70
60
50
40

community service activities across nine

areas of human need.

Student-Focused Community
Engagement

% of 2014 graduating seniors who

engaged
in
service-learning
during their UNC Charlotte career:
Getting involved in community is an

56%

essential tenet of being a UNC

Charlotte
student.
Community
engagement comes in many forms Source: NSSE
including tutoring children at nearby
schools, building homes in lowincome areas, socializing animals at a
local animal shelter, contributing to # of community engagement
operations of volunteer departments,
hours contributed by UNC Charlotte students
and helping with civic improvement.
Through various departments, offices,
and organizations, UNC Charlotte
students
serve
in
community
engagement leadership roles.
Source: Dean of Students Office

69,592

Through its student survey, the

National
Survey
of
Student
Engagement (NSSE) annually collects
information about student participation
in programs and activities geared
towards their learning and personal
development. Although this survey
broadly assesses students overall
collegiate experience, questions are
asked
to
measure
community
engagement. In 2012 and 2014, UNC
Charlotte administered this web-based
survey to all second semester firstyear students and seniors likely to
graduate in May or August.
Information provided by the 2012 and
2014 versions of the NSSE survey
indicate positive growth. In 2007,
only 31 percent of students indicated
they had performed community
service or volunteer work during their
first year at UNC Charlotte. In 2012
that number jumped to 37 percent, and
by 2014 50 percent of first year
students
responded
that
they
participated in service-learning during
their time at UNC Charlotte. For our
graduating seniors, in 2007, 51 percent
had performed c o m m u n i t y

$ value of student volunteer hours

for 2012-2013

30
Division
of Academic Affairs
20
10
0

According to this report, student

retention and success can be attributed
to UNC
ability to immerse
2007 Charlottes
2012
2014
in
2012-2013
students
in programs and initiatives
that make them feel connected to the
university. There are several initiatives
designed to involve students in
community-engaged learning while
striving to improve student retention
and success.

NSSE data --service-learning 2014

$ 1,464,216
Source: www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time

service or volunteer work. In both

2012 and 2014, that number increased
to 56 percent. In general, community
engagement remains an integral part of
the UNC Charlotte culture, however
there is room for improvement.
The National Assessment of Service
and
Community
Engagement
(NASCE) is a web-based survey
conducted by the Siena College
Research Institute that quantitatively
measures a college or universitys
overall
level
of
community
engagement by evaluating the rate,
frequency,
and depth of student

First Year Students

Graduating Seniors

Source: NSSE data 2014

Graduate Research

Independent Study

Internship

Student Group

Field Placement (Certification)

3
Undergraduate Research
2

Volunteer

Other

0
Student Community Engagement

Among 16 Learning
Communities,

81%

incorporated community service

and

31%

incorporated service-learning as a
core element of the course.
Prospect for Success--Quality
Enhancement Plan
As a part of the universitys Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS) re-accreditation received in
2013, the UNC Charlotte Quality
Enhancement Plan (QEP), Prospect
for Success, outlines the Universitys
strategies for preparing students to
become curious, self and culturally
aware students committed to their own
academic
success.
Intentionality,
curiosity, and awareness are the
foundational elements for engaged
student learning. As noted in UNC
Charlottes Prospect for Success
handbook, students who described
themselves as being engaged were
more likely to express satisfaction,
attain greater success, and persist in
their education than peer who are
not engaged (see Krause 2007; Astin,

1984, 1985, 1993, 1999; Bruffee,

1993;
McKeachie, Pintrich, Lin, & Smith,
1986; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991,
2005; Pike, 1993; Kuh 2008). Active
and collaborative student engagement
with the curriculum can result in a
more substantial learning experience
(see Marton et al 1997).
While community engagement is not a
required element of QEP courses, it is
recognized as a high impact practice

that aids in new student success and

retention. As such, faculty development
emphasized opportunities to connect
students to real world experiences
through career center internships,
common reading involvement, and team
exercises that engage students in the
broader community. An intentional
longer-term outgrowth of these
outcomes is to have all of our students
become more civically engaged through
other academic and social outlets. By
Fall 2015, all incoming freshmen will
be involved in a Prospect course, and
some of the professional schools will be
looking at integrating civic engagement
activities during the first semester,
while others are setting the groundwork
for later sophomore or junior curricular
engagement
for
their
majors.
Preliminary common reflection essay
results of the first semester in the QEP
show significant impact of the courses
in the three major outcomes.

Source:

Learning Communities
Established in 2001, UNC Charlotte
now has 17 residential and nonresidential Learning Community
(LCs) options for new students. For
the 2012-2013 academic year, there

were a total of 16 learning

communities; 15 for first-year
students and one for transfer
students.
When
surveyed,
81percent of the 16 LCs incorporate
community engagement as an
identified characteristic of highly
effective learning communities. Not
only have Learning Communities

proven highly successful in engaging

students in the community around
them, but also in giving students a
sense of belonging to this university.
This sense of belonging has helped
students
understand
the
many
resources at our university and helped
with retention efforts.

Common Reading
The Common Reading Experience is
designed to provide a shared academic
experience to assist all first-year
students in their transition to UNC
Charlotte. This program offers unique

service
assisting
refugees
and
immigrants in the Charlotte region.
Participating

faculty were encouraged to examine

current
information
on
the
experiences of refugees and other
immigrants to the Carolinas from
community partners working to assist
in their transition.
In Fall 2013, UNC
Charlotte selected
Wine to Water by
Doc Hendley for the
Common Reading
Experience. In a true
collaborative spirit
between Academic
Affairs and Student
Affairs,
students
reading this text as
part of a course
participated in a
water
crisis
simulation
that
added to their
understanding of global water crises
while engaging them in fund raising
activities for the Wine to Water
Foundation.

opportunities
for
self-reflection,
critical thinking, student interaction,
and
understanding
of
diverse
perspectives. Adoption of the common
reading is especially encouraged in
first year seminars, first year writing,
and general education courses, though
any faculty interested in using the text
in their teaching is welcome.

Civic Minor in Urban Youth and

Communities
The civic minor in Urban Youth and
Communities prepares students to be
agents of change in the community
through civic engagement and learning
through service.

In Fall 2012, the common reading was

Warren St. Johns Outcasts United, the
story of a refugee soccer team, a
remarkable woman coach, and a small
southern town turned upside down by
the process of refugee resettlement.
That semester, students got the
opportunity to meet the author and cocurricular programs were planned to
support student engagement in the
themes of Outcasts United, including
the development of an end of semester
forum showcasing student work
related to the book and a day of

The minor is open to all majors who

seek to explore the strengths,
capabilities and issues of youth and
communities in urban settings.
The minors design and implementation
is the result of a competitive grant from
the American Association of State
Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
The interdisciplinary coursework

equips students to understand the

complex context of urban schools
and neighborhoods, the strengths
and capabilities of urban children and
the implications of public policy for
primary and secondary public
schools.
According
to
Susan
Harden,
Assistant Professor of middle,
secondary and K-12 education and
coordinator for the minor, the
program offers pre-service steachers
and their peers opportunities to have
experiences with service- learning in
urban settings and to develop a
rich understanding of the public
policy context of urban schools and

other community factors that affect

school performance, community
connections to schools and learning
outcomes for students...

neighborhood obtain sustainability,

Sims said. She is currently pursuing a
career as a high school guidance
counselor.

Jazzmin Sims graduated with the

minor in spring 2013. Sims chose it
because
she
recognized
that
community service formed a
significant part of her learning
process at UNC Charlotte.
The
minor, she said, provided the perfect
opportunity for me to go into the
community and figure out what they
need to thrive and live a satisfying
life. The most fulfilling aspect of her
experience was recognizing the
power to help an individual or a

The Urban Youth and Communities

minor draws on diverse departments
for its
coursework,
including
Africana studies, geography, history,
criminal justice, Latin American
studies, middle school and secondary
education, anthropology, sociology,
psychology communication studies,
religious studies, childhood and family
development, liberal studies and
education.

The Levine Scholars Program

The Levine Scholars Program is UNC
Charlottes most prestigious merit
scholarship
program.
It
was
established in 2009 by benefactors
Sandra and Leon Levine. Emulating
the role that the Levines have
bestowed
upon
the
Charlotte
community, key tenets to awarded
recipients are scholarship, ethical,
civic engagement and leadership.
These key tenets serve as the
foundation and the compass for Levine
Scholars as they navigate their way
through their collegiate experience.
All scholars receive access to a service
grant to implement a community
service project of their own design.

SPOTLIGHT: Dance Marathon

The first graduating class of Levine
Scholars wanted to develop a
signature
service
project
to
commemorate their legacy. Through
a careful selection process, the
Levine Scholars chose to support
Dance Marathon, a nationwide
movement involving more than 150
schools nationwide raising funds for
the Childrens Miracle Network
Hospital in their community. The
UNC Charlotte Dance Marathon
connected more than 1,000 UNC
Charlotte students in the mission
support For the Kids at Levine
Childrens Hospital.
The student leaders involved in
dance marathon devoted countless
hours
to engaging in weekly
committee
and leadership team
meetings, participating in fundraising
events on and off campus, and
leading presentations for diverse
UNC
Charlotte
student
organizations like athletic teams,
academic and extracurricular clubs,
and fraternities and sororities.
Throughout this process, students
learned invaluable leadership and life
skills while interacting
with
Childrens Hospital

patients and families.

On November 13, 2013, nearly a year
after their first planning meeting,
UNC Charlotte Dance Marathon
finally arrived. From designing the
floor plans, preparing meals and
snacks,
to
orchestrating
entertainment acts, and organizing
event logistics, these dedicated
students came to create an
unforgettable night of philanthropy
and fun for the UNC Charlotte
student body and greater Charlotte
community. Standing on-stage with
families whose children were treated
at Levine Childrens Hospital, feeling
the energy and enthusiasm of the
student dancers, and discovering that
Dance Marathon had raised more
than
$35,000.00 for the Childrens Miracle
Network Hospital was inspiring for
all who participated.
With the new Dance Marathon
leadership team already in place
for Dance Marathon 2014, Dance
Marathon will soon be welcomed as
a new NINER tradition.

Division of Student Affairs

The 21,952 service hours completed,
student athletics contributed 2,104
hours, Greek organizations contributed
9,718, and student organizations
contributed 10,130 hours (see Figure
).
In 2012-2013, UNC Charlotte students
contributed over 69,500 hours of
volunteer service to the Charlotte
region. Fraternities and sororities,
athletic teams, and many student
organizations perform community
service.
Office of Volunteer Outreach
The Office of Volunteer Outreach has
established and cultivated partnerships
with over 250 local agencies in the
Charlotte community. Some of these
partnerships have laid the foundation
for other groups on campus to build
upon. For example, since 2010, this
Office has partnered with CharlotteMecklenburg Schools to increase
academic achievement in the systems
low income Title I student populations
using volunteers. These efforts were
the precursor for the Governors
Village schools initiative.

Community
Hours
at UNC
The
Office ofService
Volunteer
Outreach
has
Charlotte
2011-2012
established
a competitive
internship
Student in
for students to lead service projects
the Charlotte community Organizations
related to
Hunger and10%
Homelessness, Youth and
46%

44%

Fraternities
and
Sororities
Athletics

Source:

Education,
Senior
Health
and
Hospitals,
Animals,
and
the
Environment. Interns are responsible
for establishing and maintaining
relationships with local non-profits,
attending bi- weekly leadership board
meetings, coordinating one service
program per month and tracking and
recording all hours. Positions become
available every Spring semester,
interviews are held, and appointments
are made by the Assistant Director for
Off- Campus and Volunteer Outreach.

Greek Organizations
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority
Life articulates four pillars serving
as the foundation for fraternities and
sororities: scholarship, leadership,
philanthropy & community service
and

brotherhood/sisterhood. The pillars

give students the strength and support
from their early years of college to
graduation. Every year, chapters spend
countless hours raising thousands of
dollars toward worthy causes. Projects
are conducted on an individual chapter
level to benefit organizations such as
the
Make-a-Wish
Foundation,
American Red Cross, and the Ronald
McDonald House. In the 2012-2013
academic year, fraternities and
sororities contributed over 9,718 hours
of service and raised over $32,200 for
local
non-profits
and
national
philanthropies. All Greek chapters are
required by the University to
participate in at least one universitywide service project per semester.
Athletics
Every student athlete is required to
complete at least two community
service hours. Since 2009, the Athletics
Department offers two departmentwide community service events each
year. For the past several years, the
Department of Athletics has held an
annual Stroll for Epilepsy Walk on
campus to raise funds for the Epilepsy
Foundation. The mission of the
Epilepsy Foundation is to stop seizures
and find a cure and overcome the
challenges created by epilepsy. The
Athletic Department, alongside the Red
Cross, sponsors a blood drive each year
in honor of those lost in the 2001
terrorist attacks.

Aside from the community service

events organized as a department, there
are several team- specific community
service events that have been
incorporated over the past five years.
The baseball and softball teams
participate as buddies in the YMCA
Miracle League each fall; the volleyball
team organizes a number of fundraising
events to support breast cancer
research;

UNC Charlottes mens and womens

tennis teams volunteer with the YMCA
during their Thanksgiving Dinner; and
our mens and womens soccer teams
volunteer with the FC Carolina
Alliance, which provides youth soccer
training and development to players of
all ages, genders and abilities.

Most recently, our football team has

helped raise funds and volunteered for
UNC Charlottes RelayforLife event.

campuses to visit and work with

Habitat affiliates across the country.

The group divided their efforts between tornado-ravaged Birmingham and the economically challenged

SPOTLIGHT: ENACTUS
Social Entrepreneurship is the
process of pursuing innovative
solutions to social problems. More
specifically, social entrepreneurs
adopt a mission to create and sustain
social value.
Enactus is a community of student,
academic, and business leaders
committed to using the power of
entrepreneurial action to enable
human progress, with more than 500
student chapters. Enactus student
teams develop projects to support
people in need and improve the
quality of life of individuals in the
community
by
focusing
on
environmental, social, and economic
factors that can create long-term,
sustainable solutions to real-world
problems.
At
the
regional
competitions, student teams make
presentations about their projects to
a panel of business leaders who serve
as judges. The national competition
showcases each regional champions
projects from the year.
In 2013, UNC Charlottes of Enactus
chapter achieved its
first top national 20
ranking at the
organ i z a tions
annual competition.
The
UNC
Charlotte
team
was
a
fourth
runner-up in the
semi-final round
of
competition,
winning $1,500 in
prize money. They

qualified for the national competition

by winning a regional competition,
marking their tenth year as regional
champions.
The UNC Charlotte Enactus teams
presentation focused on three of their
community service projects. The
main project, The Ecuador Project,
has worked with a non-profit based
in Mooresville, N.C. to build a new
facility for an orphanage in Olon,
Ecuador which currently houses
31 children. The Enactus team has
raised over $3,000 through a variety
of fundraising efforts and has
received coverage in the Mooresville
Tribune, Mooresville Weekly, and
Your UCity magazine for their efforts.
The team of 61 students dedicated
over 4,100 hours on nine projects,
and our top 20 finish at nationals
surpasses our two previous highs of
top 60 in 2006 and 2012.

National Recognition for Community

Engagement
Since the institutions founding after
World War II, UNC Charlotte and the
city of Charlotte have had a strong,
mutually
beneficial
partnership.
Educators and city leaders recognize
that a productive exchange of
information and ideas in a dynamic
environment can contribute to the
economic, social, and cultural growth
of the region.

In recent years, UNC Charlottes

commitment
to
community
engagement has been nationally
recognized when, in 2008, the
Carnegie Foundation granted its
Community
Engagement
Classification to the university,

acknowledging
the
mutually
beneficial exchange of knowledge and
resources
with
surrounding
communities in a context of
partnership and reciprocity.

Also in 2008, UNC Charlotte was

named to the Presidents Higher
Education Community Service Honor
Roll for exemplary commitment to
working with local communities to
improve the quality of life for some of
the areas most vulnerable populations.
This distinction, one of the highest

federal recognitions an institution

can receive for service-learning and
civic engagement, highlights the role
colleges and universities play in
solving community problems and
placing students on a lifelong path of
civic engagement. Honorees are
chosen by National and Community
Service, t h e
U.S. Departments of Education and
Housing and Urban Development,
Campus Compact and the American
Council on Education based on a
series of factors, including the scope
and innovation of service projects,
the extent to which service-learning
is embedded in the curriculum, the
schools commitment to long-term
campus-community partnerships, and
measurable community outcomes as
a result of the service. The University
received this honor every year since
2008 and in 201 , UNC Charlotte
received the gold standard.

Project Assessment
This project assessment was done to reflect on the revisions made to the second part of the
UNC Charlotte Community Engagement report of activates Fall 2011 Spring 2014, pages 16
through 29. There were different considerations made during the changes and suggestions made
for this project, such as having a different audience from the past two projects, as well as a
different tone and the heavy inclusion of graphics and a 3 column format for the bulk of the report.
The different format and graphics brought about specific issues and problems such as odd spacing
between words and letter, excessive white space and other alignment issues.
The first issues tackled were obvious typos missed by the author. The original file was in PDF
format but was formatted to word, as I preferred making the actual change to the report and
commenting the specific change done.

When the reports format was changed, it made a few

more errors with words being crunched together but they were easily fixed. There were not many
typos in this report, as it seems considerable editing and proof-reading was done for this report.
The more prevalent issues came in the alignment and formatting of the different graphics and
large bodies of text within the report. Since the report was writing in a 3 column format and
justified, many sentences were oddly stretched out to fit well and straight into the columns, which
is unavoidable. However, there were some other spacing issues that could be manually rearranged

to get a better sentences, like many of the situations were many options were listed, some did not
include the use of parallelism or the options were not in proper order to avoid stretching out
sentences due to long words. Words automatic formatting inconsistency checker aided in revising
many of the sentences that could be revised.
With the report including many graphics and graphs, it resulted in more issues regarding
formatting of the report as a whole. On other parts of the report, the graphics were sized so that
they cut into the columns of text and while some worked well, other were awkwardly placed and
created stretched sentences that included single words in place of an entire sentence. In pages 25
through 28, there was considerable amount of white space that were not filled with anything. Some
of these were solved with arranging the columns to try and hide the white space, but ultimately,
the addition of more graphics or text will be needed to patch these white spaces, left up to the
discretion of the author. Lastly, with the help of another classmate and peer reviewing, it was
apparent that some parts of the report included references to graphs with relevant information
however, many of the graphs did not include a figure number, reference or even source, making it
hard to identify the proper referenced graphic and were made known to the author using
comments. At one point, after uploading the file, several of the words in different columns and
pages got crunched and bundled up, so many of the comments past the 23 rd page were copied
over onto an earlier version, which did cost time to redo. This could have been avoided if the work
was done in Adobe or PDF file editor as the original report was in a PDF format. It could be that the
reformatting to word made the file act up or become corrupted.
Despite some errors and alignment issues during revisions, the report was well-made and
organized. It was reasonably proof-read, as it included few typos and simply requires further
revisions to finish it properly. The last few hurdles will come from the managing of the graphics
which can interrupt the readers pace if not allocated properly. The tone of the report reflects the
type of audience it is aiming for, as well as not attempting to use overly complicated words or rare
synonyms, which is highly appreciated by a younger crowd.

Overall, it was a great project to

tackle since the inclusion of graphics made for different problems and issues to handle that would
otherwise be missing from text-only reports. I also learned to avoid switching file formats for
documents whenever possible. While it may be more convenient to work on a file or program one
is already used to, it is better to preserve the file in its original format to avoid any discrepancies,
as well as pressuring one to learn new methods of technical writing and editing, diversifying ones
knowledge.