Examples of Engagement
Art
Youth Art Month
Youth Art Month attracts about 800 visitors to Bardo Arts Center each March (primarily families of K-12 public school students whose work is displayed). About $800 in awards are given out (funds are raised by ĢƵArt Ed Club) and a reception/ceremony
is held for 2 hrs. Area art teachers are recognized and first place artworks are framed/photographed
and exhibited in the Killian building into perpetuity.
Cast Iron Pour
Cast Iron pour events are held at Green Energy Park, Dillsboro NC, Brevard College
and here at Western Carolina Univ. Casting metal is one of the oldest forms of art
making. It is a multi-layered process and requires a lot of involvement from students
and staff. Faculty Justin Kennedy works foundry/metal casting into his curriculum. We also invite the public in whatever area we are working in to also participate.
Therapeutic Arts Program
Dr. Goins along with first year MSW student Jenn Johnson are working to offer a free
therapeutic arts program to 72 low income older adults residing in Asheville. The
project is in partnership with the Council on Aging of Buncombe County and The Geezer
Gallery in Portland, OR. The project examines the effect of participation using a randomized control to assess
health-related quality of life.
Education
Rocket to Creativity
Dr. Lisa Bloom and Dr. Sharon Dole along with ĢƵstudents continue to offer Rocket to Creativity, a one week experience
in creative thinking and problem solving on the ĢƵcampus each summer. The camp provides
an exciting summer enrichment opportunity for children 8-14 and allows ĢƵstudents
to gain experience promoting creative thinking and problem solving through problem-based
learning.
Growing Minds @ WCU
The Local Food and Farm to School Education Project integrates knowledge of education
and nutrition in order to help implement best educational practices and address health
and economic needs in the WNC region. Through this project, ĢƵstudents are observing,
assisting, and leading local food cooking classes, cafeteria taste tests, gardening
lessons, farm field trips, and farmer classroom visits.
Community Table
Staff member Brian Boyer, along with students from the Leadership Class the Band of Brothers, provided the
staff for the Friday dinner shift at the local Community Table. Students were responsible
for serving and plating of the food, distributing beverages, washing dishes, and for
compiling and distributing food boxes for local families in need of items to supplement
their household items.
Environment and Sustainability
Salamander Population
Biology faculty and students are involved in long term monitoring of salamander populations
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Nantahala National Forest. In this
project, they monitor salamander populations at sites in GSMNP and in Nantahala National
Forest. They also collect data on both general salamander abundance, and on movements
of salamander hybrid zones at these sites.
Animal Relief Fund
Mary Adams along with student volunteers from ĢƵsupervised by Jane Finneran (ARF-Animal Relief
Fund), continue to seek grant funding to reduce pet overpopulation and eliminate euthanasia
of cats and dogs at the county shelter. Students created public materials and perform
statistical mapping of pockets of pet overpopulation for Adams's English 303 class:
Introduction to Professional Writing.
Natahala National Forest
Ben Tanner, Rob Young, and Beverly Collins completed a project at Panthertown Valley
within the Nantahala National Forest. Project data were used to construct a record
of changing plant communities within the bog over the past 9000 years and were also
used to elucidate changes in local climate conditions over that time period.
Healthcare
Musculoskeletal Study
Faculty Karen Lunnen and John Carzoli, along with four Doctor of Physical Therapy students engaged in a collaborative project
with multiple state and national agencies to assess the needs of migrant and seasonal
farm workers in western NC as well as survey, screen and analyze musculoskeletal data
received from patients to develop preventative materials.
Volunteer Work
Faculty Michael Razdrh has students complete an assignment that requires them to volunteer
five hours of their time at a local Human Service Related Agency or organization, one that deals with people or the service of people. Examples include Community Table,
Full Spectrum Farms, Habitat for Humanity (out of Franklin), Mountain Trace Nursing
Care, Skyland Care Center, Social Service Agencies, etc.
Data Collection
Dr. Vallire Hooper and Dr. Kae Livsey co-taught the evidence based nursing practice
course during Spring 2015 in the Accelerated BSN program. Students enrolled in the
course served as data collectors for a specific hospital wide quality improvement
data collection project that was underway at the clinical agency.
Recreation and Tourism
Habitat Spring Festival
The festival purpose was to raise awareness of and provide students “hands-on” learning
experiences. Student groups recommended festival ideas and presented their findings
to Habitat for Humanity in Jackson County representatives. The best festival components
from each project were selected to include in the event. Using the best festival components
list, faculty Carroll Brown and Mary Morse designed a festival project for HT436 Tourism
Planning & Development students.
Tourism Economic Footprint
Steve Morse, economist, and director of the Hospitality and Tourism program with
students from senior level capstone class, collected and analyzed tourism economic
impact data to generate a custom one-page "Tourism Economic Fact Sheet" for each of
the 26 counties in the WNC economic development footprint. This fact sheet tracked
tourist spending in each county for the last five years and provide a snap shot of
the economic importance of tourism to each county's economy.
Active Routes to School
Faculty Debby Singleton and Active Routes to School (ARTS) coordinator, Jackie Moore, along with students from the Parks & Recreation Management and Health & Physical
Education programs, will work collaboratively to create, implement, staff, and evaluate
new and ongoing ARTS programs in the region. ARTS is part of the NC Safe Routes to
School Program, a partnership between the NCDOT and NCDPH. The programs include; before
and after school walking/activity clubs and school based programs focused on increasing
physical activity.