Abstract
Scott and Siegel discuss the relationship between collaborative community–campus projects and positive campus climate change. Wagner College has promoted change in both local communities and their campus by developing project-based learning activities stemming from community-identified needs. Two case studies highlight positive change in campus climate. One study is based on a visual arts “learning community” mural project; through this project participants learned how civic professionalism, visual art, and diversity contribute to building strong communities. The second study is based on a community theater workshop where participants learned about histories, theories, and ethics of community-based/grassroots theater and used this knowledge in creating performances. Both projects resulted in tangible products (murals and performance art) as well as community climate change.
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The Learning Community Model is composed of three course suites (First-Year, Intermediate, and Senior) and was developed to work specifically in league with Wagner’s mission emphasizing scholarship, achievement, leadership, and citizenship anchored in the liberal arts.
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Other examples of civic engagement include the Bonner Leaders Program, a national college access program that provides students with the financial opportunity, theoretical framework, and field experience to work in their local communities for 300 hours a year (above and beyond anything required by their academic programs) in exchange for a small scholarship. Presently, 58 students have made a four-year commitment to serve as a Wagner Bonner Leader, meaning that each year the Bonner program alone places highly trained students in community organizations for a minimum of 17,400 hours of community work totally funded by the college.
Bonner placements are strategic in nature; students are aligned with lead partners of the Port Richmond Partnership, often playing the role of capacity builder in organizations that Wagner Professors are working with as well. In April 2016 Wagner hosted a summit at which leaders of community organizations and Wagner faculty and administrators exchanged ideas on how the partnership was working, and made plans for moving ahead with new projects. The summit participants focused specifically on what the local needs were, and worked to create projects that will assist with them.
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Scott, S.J., Siegel, S. (2018). Affecting Campus Climate: Fine and Performing-Arts Community Outcomes. In: Hensel, N. (eds) Exploring, Experiencing, and Envisioning Integration in US Arts Education. The Arts in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71051-8_14
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