UM News

UM President Donna E. Shalala presents the 2015 Newman Civic Fellows Award to Natasha Koermer, with, at left, Andrew Wiemer, director of the Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development, and, at right, Robin Bachin, assistant provost for civic and community engagement.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (May 7, 2015)—Natasha Koermer, a biomedical engineering student who is minoring in public health and Spanish, has received the 2015 Newman Civic Fellows Award for her extraordinary leadership, civic engagement, and commitment to creating sustainable solutions to global engineering and health issues.

Koermer received the award, which the national organization Campus Compact bestows on the next generation of public problem solvers and civic leaders, from UM President Donna E. Shalala, who lauded Koermer for implementing numerous projects in the community, including a local urban sustainable gardening initiative, an outreach program to inspire high school students to pursue service-based careers in STEM disciplines, and the U’s first 5K Run/Walk for Water to raise awareness about the importance of clean water for all communities.

As if those accomplishments weren’t enough, Koermer is also president of the University’s student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, for which she led the fundraising for and the implementation of a $25,000 sewage system in Las Mercedes, Ecuador, and a research assistant at the School of Nursing and Health Studies, where she works closely with faculty to collect data for a study on intimate partner violence across Miami-Dade County. Her group’s research was selected for multiple conferences, including the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International 2015 and Futures Without Violence.

“She is an incredibly bright, civically engaged student and will no doubt continue to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and its practical application in solving real-world issues,” said Robin Bachin, assistant provost for civic and community engagement.

Offering her congratulations to Koermer in a ceremony in her office on April 28, Shalala was not surprised to learn the junior would not be resting over the break. She is headed to another service project for the summer, this time in South Africa’s Limpopo Province to assist in the Water, Society, and Health Research Experience for Undergraduates funded by the National Science Foundation.

Presented annually by Campus Compact, the Newman Civic Fellows Award honors inspiring student leaders who invest their time and energies in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (April 3, 2015)—The Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦBK), the nation’s oldest and most widely known academic honor society, presented the University of Miami’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement (CCE) with its Key of Excellence Award and  $10,000 prize at a reception on April 2.

Phi Beta Kappa President  Katherine Soule presented the award at the Kampong National Tropical Botanical Garden in Coconut Grove during a ceremony emceed by Katy Sorenson, founder and CEO of the Good Government Initiative. Robin Bachin, assistant provost for civic and community engagement, accepted the honor in support of the CCE’s work.

“The Phi Beta Kappa Society created the Key of Excellence Awards to energize support for the arts and sciences because of their value to the nation,” ΦBK President Katherine Soule said before the ceremony. “The Key of Excellence showcases innovative programs that demonstrate the excellence, range, and relevance of the arts and sciences to their communities. We aim to show decision makers that the arts and sciences develop both inventive employees and thoughtful citizens. They are vital to a vibrant culture and democracy.”

The selection committee recognized the Office of Civic and Community Engagement’s (CCE) exemplary cross-campus commitment to advance the civic purposes of higher education through engaged scholarship and community outreach.

“We are honored and humbled to be accepting this award from such an esteemed academic organization,” Bachin said. “The award draws attention to the importance of linking academic knowledge in the arts and sciences to the public purposes of that knowledge for improving and enhancing our communities locally, nationally, and globally.”

ΦBK Secretary John Churchill applauded CCE for harnessing the University’s diverse academic resources, its connections to the region, and its spirit of innovation. He noted the CCE seeks to help solve complex social problems and prepare students to contribute to South Florida’s community well-being with such initiatives as UM Civic Scholars, Civic Engagement High School Partnership, Engaged Faculty Fellows, and the Imagining America Research Collaborative on Civic Professionalism–programs which promote positive social change while creating a baseline of information on the role of civic engagement in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences education.

“We are deeply impressed with the CCE’s exemplary, cross-campus commitment to advancing the civic purposes of higher education through engaged scholarship and community collaboration,” Churchill said. “We particularly applaud CCE’s extensive array of arts and sciences community-based projects for underserved and vulnerable populations in Miami, an area known to lag behind other U.S. metropolitan regions in indicators of civic well-being.”

The award comes just after the Office of Civic and Community Engagement led the effort for the University of Miami to receive the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Previous recipients of the Key of Excellence Award include Arizona State University’s Project Humanities, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Wisconsin Science Festival and the Washington Consortium for the Liberal Arts.

By Megan Ondrizek
UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 8, 2015) – The University of Miami has been selected to receive the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. As a first-time recipient of the classification, UM joins a growing list of more than 360 United States institutions proven to demonstrate practices of community engagement through mission, culture, leadership, resources, and practices.

“I am delighted that the Carnegie Foundation has recognized the University of Miami, our Office of Civic and Community Engagement, and its director, Dr. Robin Bachin, for our collective commitment to community engagement,” said Thomas J. LeBlanc, executive vice president and provost. “We owe our community and our students the opportunity to learn and grow from the teaching and research of our faculty, and our commitment to that mission has shaped our community engagement initiatives throughout our history. This important recognition from one of the leading voices for higher education is both welcome and well deserved.” Read the full story

 By Megan Ondrizek
UM News

From right are Andrew Wiemer, director of the Butler Center for Service and Leadership; student Guerdiana Thelomar, UM’s 2014 Newman Civic Fellow; and Ashley Arostegui, associate director of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (October 22, 2014)—The University of Miami was recognized with two awards from Florida Campus Compact at the Annual Awards Gala on Wednesday, October 15 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Through the work of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, along with the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development, UM received the Engaged Campus of the Year for the Independent Sector, an award that recognizes exemplary cross-campus commitment to advancing the civic purposes of higher education.

UM also received the 2014 Student Affairs Partnering with Academic Affairs Award, which recognized the work of the new UM Civic Scholars Program. The University received the award for its effective development of a bridge between academic and co-curricular student involvements in an innovative and exemplary manner. The partnership demonstrates high levels of cooperation, commitment and input, or joint participation between student affairs and academic affairs, as well as an ability to successfully accomplish its goals and positively impact all stakeholders with the full support of administrators, faculty, staff and students.

“We are thrilled that the hard work we’ve done over the last few years to infuse a culture of engagement at UM is being recognized statewide,” said Robin Bachin, assistant provost for civic and community engagement. “Our own innovative programs, as well as our exemplary partnership with the Butler Center, have created greater opportunities for UM students and faculty to participate in community-based learning experiences across disciplines.”

The Office of Civic and Community Engagement actively promotes its mission of engaged scholarship, where academic service-learning meets community-based research. The office links the classroom with the community through hands-on, experimental education, in courses and projects, that develop and translate academic knowledge and critical thinking into community engagement and civic responsibility.

“This is a great honor for the University of Miami, but most importantly truly reflects the impressive work of our students and their involvement in the community as engaged scholars and future leaders of our local, national, and global community,” said Andrew Wiemer, director of the Butler Center.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary of service and leadership in the community, the Butler Center, within the Division of Student Affairs, offers a wide range of volunteer and advocacy-based service opportunities for UM students, staff, and local community members, including one-day special events, classroom experiences, ongoing involvement with more than 40 service organizations, and volunteer opportunities during fall and spring break.

Florida Campus Compact, the state affiliate of Campus Compact, is a national presidential membership organization comprised of 53 college and university presidents in Florida and more than 1,100 nationally who are committed to helping students develop the values and skills of active citizenship through participation in public and community service.

By Robert. C. Jones Jr.
UM News

A mural commissioned by the School of Architecture and the Dominican American National Foundation has transformed a bustling city corner in the heart of Miami’s Allapattah community.

MIAMI, Fla. (July 18, 2014) — When Allapattah residents met with students and faculty from the University of Miami’s School of Architecture for five days last May to hash out a plan for their community’s economic and cultural growth, they came up with ideas such as outdoor kiosks where local entrepreneurs could sell their merchandise and a beautification project to bring more public art to the area.

Now, two months after that charrette, part of the residents’ vision for their Allapattah neighborhood, also known as Little Santo Domingo because of its large Dominican population, has come true with the unveiling of a mural they hope is the first of many more.

Featuring birds and plant life native to the Dominican Republic, the mural wraps around the west and south sides of the Sarraff Store Fixtures and Equipment building on Northwest 17th Avenue and 36th Street, giving residents a taste of outdoor art in a corridor dominated by storefront businesses.

“I wanted to give this community something that reminds people of what we can do to beautify this area,” said Ariel Cruz, the artist commissioned by the School of Architecture and the Miami-based Dominican American National Foundation (DANF) to paint the mural.

“It’s our Beautiful Corner of Allapattah,” said DANF chair Rudy Duthil, referring in English to the mural’s official name of La Bella Esquina de Allapattah.

Chuck Bohl’s voice was barely audible over the roaring cars and trucks that raced through the intersection during the peak of a Friday workday when the mural debuted publicly. But the University of Miami associate professor of architecture didn’t seem to mind. After all, he was there to help show, not tell. The mural, he said, helps solidify the community’s ethnic and cultural identity.

“We were building on the concept of nurturing more of a Main Street environment—more art, more entertainment, more culture—but in an incremental way so that a lot of the little businesses can continue to thrive,” Bohl, director of the School of Architecture’s Masters in Real Estate Development and Urbanism program said of the Allapattah charrette he helped organize two months ago with assistance from UM’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement.

Other ideas that came out of that planning session, including kiosks behind grocery stores, could come later. But the effort will require working with city officials to make sure those ideas become reality, said Bohl.

“We’ve seen other areas catch fire and get the attention of developers,” explained Bohl, “so it can happen very quickly.”