July 2024

NEWS

July is Disability Pride Month, a celebration to honor individuals with disabilities, their identities and contributions to society. It originated in 1990 as day to celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) being signed into law. The College of Education, Health & Human Sciences created a curated list of resources centering disabled voices and stories, which can be found here. 

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is reapplying for the Elective Classification in Community Engagement from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This classification was first awarded to UTK in 2015. The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach is leading the process. We are seeking input on partnerships across the university that demonstrate high-quality and impactful community engagement and mutually beneficial partnerships. Please take the survey below by Monday, August 5, to share your partnerships.

Join us for the 22nd annual Shoes for School event on Saturday, August 3.  Sign up here to volunteer or donate supplies.  If you would like to purchase school supplies from our supply vendor, contact Quannah Washington qwashing@utk.edu for vendor information.  All supplies should be delivered to Quannah Washington by July 31.

All UTK faculty and staff are invited to bring their families to the 3rd annual Family Fun Day. This event will be held on Saturday, August 3, from 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. at the Change Center. Participants can look forward to receiving school supplies, skating, and games. If you would like to volunteer for the event, please sign up here. If your unit is interested in contributing any incentives, or for any general inquiries, please contact Quannah Washington.

After three years of thoughtful planning, the Appalachian Justice Research Center (AJRC) has officially launched. Co-directed by College of Law Professor Wendy A. Bach and College of Arts & Sciences Department of Sociology Professor Michelle Brown, the center aims to serve the needs of communities in the Appalachia and the Mountain South by addressing community justice issues in the region. Learn more about the AJRC here. 

The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach, in collaboration with the Department of Africana Studies, hosted its 3rd annual REAP Academy, June 24-29.  This academy is designed to introduce Knox County Schools' eighth graders/rising freshman to the idea of being change agents in their schools and communities. Students engaged in a variety of classes, field trips, and experiential learning opportunities.  

On July 15, the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach welcomed area middle and high schoolers from the East Tennessee Freedom Schools to campus to learn about future opportunities on Rocky Top in the Tickle College of Engineering, Haslam College Business, and Frieson Multicultural Center.  The day concluded with a session on Digital Leadership at Hodges Library. 

For the third consecutive year, the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach (OCEO) partnered with the Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMaRT) program. The SMaRT program identifies promising students to engage in interdisciplinary research administered by some of the nation’s top researchers from the University of Tennessee,  Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute. Sixty undergraduates from a variety schools nationwide are participating.  Students will conclude their program with presentations of their research during the SMaRT Symposium on August 1 and 2 at the UT Conference Center from 9:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m. both days. 

For the second month in a row, the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach  team partnered with UTK Athletics to develop young leaders.  Camp Evolve held another session for students to learn what it takes to develop character, good work ethic and a commitment to excellence.  Over 60 students from the Boys and Girls Club participated in exercises designed to teach deeper aspects of leadership and concluded with a campus tour. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach (OCEO) will host the 7th Annual Engagement and Outreach Week from October 1-5, featuring the Annual Engagement and Outreach Conference on October 1-2. If your college or department is planning an outreach or engagement event for fall semester, consider planning it during this week and OCEO can include it in our promotions. If you have any questions, or an event to share, please contact Sonja Jackson, OCEO Assistant Director and Conference Chair. 

Collaboration is embedded in nearly every task we do in academia, industry and government. Therefore, collaboration skills are in high demand across different work contexts and disciplines. On Thursdays, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. this fall, Mehmet Aydeniz will be leading "ITS 495, IT595 - The Science and Art of Collaboration." The three-hour course will be offered online-synchronous to graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs and faculty and does not require any pre-requisites. Students will develop a deeper understanding of the science of collaborations, acquire knowledge and skills needed for them to effectively participate in, form, lead and sustain productive collaborations through project-based learning opportunities. 

Youth as Solutions is a guided youth leadership development program where teams of middle and high school students follow the guided service-learning process of the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) to design a solution that meets a need in their community in one of the following areas: education equity, community health, environmental justice, or civics and democracy. One adult leader and two primary youth leaders receive training and support from NYLC to lead their broader youth team in taking collective action. Throughout the school year, teams receive professional development for the adult mentor, youth leadership skill development, funding (up to $1,000) to implement the project and service activities, and materials, templates, trainings, and support to level up the team’s service-learning experience. Applications are due Friday, September 13. 

ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES

The University of Tennessee System is seeking engaging presentations from University-affiliated faculty and staff for the 2025 Grand Challenges Summit. Planned for February 13-14, in Murfreesboro, this summit is aimed at addressing Tennessee's most pressing issues, including overcoming addiction, advancing K-12 education, and strengthening Tennessee's rural communities. Proposals are due September 1.

Campus Compact will be hosting their 2025 National Conference from March 31-April 2, in Atlanta, GA. In 2025, they will celebrate "40 years of Campus Compact and imagine a future where the cumulative impact of communities, campuses, and individuals working together brings about a collective flourishing for all." 

Compact25 plans to be the largest national conference focused on the role of higher education in building healthy communities and fostering a just and equitable democracy.  Proposals for the conference are being accepted through September 27. 

ENGAGE! editors have announced a call for manuscript submissions for the next edition of the journal focused on Reckoning, Reparations, and Regeneration from Global and Local Contexts. This special issue, published by IUPUI, calls for manuscripts that: 1) use a community focused perspective to clearly elucidate the historical, micro/individual, mezzo, and/or structural reasons for which reparations are necessary to disrupt persistent collective social injury while fostering community healing and wholeness and 2) explain the most appropriate mechanisms for providing reparations to address the current inequalities. Theoretical, community-based, and interdisciplinary frameworks for discussing these issues are encouraged. Community members and community-engaged scholars from a wide range of scientific and professional backgrounds are encouraged to submit manuscripts. A distinctive characteristic of the journal is that articles must be conceptualized, written and disseminated with a community partner. Submissions are due October 15. 

FUNDING, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS

The Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation is dedicated to economic education for all in the United States. The Foundation’s current funding interests include, but are not limited to, leveraging AI to increase student learning effectiveness and experience in economic education; research on AI and economic education; enhancing and leveraging capabilities to reach a greater number of people in economic education; economic education programs which have a multiplier effect through teachers, social workers, etc. on the population they serve; new and innovative economic education curriculum and capability; behavioral economics with a focus on environmental issues; and programs to generate more excitement and demand for economic and financial education. 

The Kids Run the Nation Grant Fund, an initiative of the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), provides financial assistance to running clubs, schools, and community-based nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. for youth running programs. Programs should have kids running regularly, more than once each week for multiple weeks (as opposed to participating in a one-time event), and should be structured running programs incorporating educational topics and running activities, ideally utilizing the RRCA’s Kids Run the Nation curriculum. The 2024 grant application period closes on August 1.

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation provides grants for community-based research that helps communities organize for change. The grants (up to $25,000) support participatory research projects that help: change laws and regulations, reform institutional practices, amplify the voices of those left out, and build the political power of groups excluded from decision-making. Concept proposals for community-led projects that link an explicit research design to a concrete social action strategy are being accepted through August 15. 

The Rural Technology Fund provides grants to schools and organizations in the United States for rural technology education projects and assistive technology projects. Rural Technology Education Grants support teacher and student-led projects in public schools and libraries to help spark student interest in technology-based careers. 

OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH

If you are conducting community-engaged research, scholarship, or outreach work, we invite you to share your activity with us. Your work is important and deserves to be elevated to the highest extent possible. Please complete the Engagement Project Form here. 

If you received a copy of this newsletter from someone else and want to subscribe, please click here. 

Office of Community Engagement and Outreach
within the Division of Access and Engagement
301 Andy Holt Tower
1331 Circle Park Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996
Phone: 865-974-4742
communityengagement.utk.edu
communityengagement@utk.edu