{"id":115,"date":"2017-09-25T11:30:44","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/notes\/?p=115"},"modified":"2022-03-14T16:45:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T20:45:36","slug":"soft-skills-and-service-learning-can-virginia-western-do-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2017\/09\/soft-skills-and-service-learning-can-virginia-western-do-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Soft skills and service learning: Can Virginia Western do more?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about the &#8220;community&#8221; part of community college lately.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I light up every time I hear community-service ideas in our college forums, like the idea of <\/span><b>building a Habitat for Humanity house<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (heard that one at a strategic planning brainstorm).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or forming a&nbsp;<\/span><b>Relay for Life team<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Staff Senate).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or establishing a<\/span><b> student food pantry<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (I&#8217;m part of a small group working on some version of this right now). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m still new to Virginia Western, so it&#8217;s very likely I&#8217;ve missed some excellent examples around campus. So far, these are the most visible community-oriented initiatives I&#8217;ve found:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students in our <\/span><b>Community College Access Program (CCAP)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must complete a 4-hour service learning project each semester. According to the Educational Foundation&#8217;s Impact magazine, these students contributed more than 2,800 hours volunteering in the Roanoke Valley in 2015-16. Examples include: Cleaning pens and walking dogs at Angels of Assisi, waiting on customers at the historic Buchanan Theatre, working at the kitchen in the Rescue Mission, and serving LOA Meals on Wheels. (If you know of an organization needing volunteer help, contact CCPA coordinator Carolyn Payne at 540-857-6371 or <\/span><a href=\"mailto:cpayne@virginiawestern.edu\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cpayne@virginiawestern.edu<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.)<br><\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our <\/span><b>Dental Hygiene Program<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">partners with many community agencies to provide free dental care to underserved patients in Roanoke and two other distance learning locations, totaling $984,184 worth of preventive services last year alone. <\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Full-time employees receive 16 hours of leave each year for <\/span><b>School Assistance and Volunteer Service<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0However, not all volunteer work is eligible.\u00a0 If you have questions about what non-profit service qualifies during your normal work hours, contact the Human Resources Office.\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What other examples have I missed? I&#8217;m sure there are more, so please tell me &#8230; we should be shouting them from the rooftops!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our college seems to welcome this kind of community spirit, and it dovetails with our mission, which is &#8220;to provide quality educational opportunities that empower students for success and strengthen communities.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But last week, in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ccdaily.com\/2017\/09\/being-good-neighbors\/\">this American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) article<\/a>, I learned about other community colleges that have made community service and civic engagement a centerpiece of their schools. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At these colleges, faculty have integrated service learning into their coursework. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I plucked one of the best quotes of the article that explains why this is so important, especially at community colleges. This is from Sean Crossland, the director of the Thayne Center for Service &amp; Learning at <strong>Salt Lake Community College<\/strong>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I see it as a great necessity, and an obligation of higher ed, to not just churn out the next round of the workforce but to create an engaged citizenry that can make informed decisions and engage in democracy.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This also echoes what a room full of Roanoke-area guidance counselors heard during a CTE Career Pathways presentation our campus hosted on Sept. 20. <\/span><b>Craig Balzer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, of Balzer &amp; Associates, was invited to discuss the business need for students with career and technical educations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balzer told us about how he grew up in Roanoke County &#8212; starting at Oak Grove Elementary (also my alma mater) &#8212; later graduated from Virginia Tech and moved to the big city of Charlotte. Then he came back to the Roanoke Valley to help build a thriving architectural, engineering and surveying firm that has expanded to serve five locations around Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He urged our region&#8217;s high school counselors to NOT focus on how much money these students can make in jobs that don&#8217;t require a 4-year degree (and these jobs do pay well, btw). Instead, <strong>he wants guidance staff to ask students what they want to DO with their lives.<\/strong> What do they want to build? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balzer expects job candidates to come with a backpack of technical skills, yes. But soft skills &#8212; <\/span><b>verbal and written communication<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>teamwork<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>personal responsibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8212; are what he values most. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other Roanoke-area employers who responded to our recent <\/span>Workforce Needs Survey\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">agreed: 75% say soft skills are &#8220;very important&#8221; and 22% chose &#8220;important.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how do we teach soft skills? One way might be through service-learning projects, which are <\/span><b>hands-on<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and require <\/span><b>empathy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>teamwork<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, building those soft skills while promoting <\/span><b>agency, <\/b>especially if they are student-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that<\/span><b> 85% of Virginia Western&#8217;s alumni stay in the region<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. We have tremendous power to get our students more actively involved with *our* community &#8212; and in a thoughtful way, especially when projects are linked to course objectives.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I suggest you read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ccdaily.com\/2017\/09\/being-good-neighbors\/\">the full article<\/a> &#8230; but if you want a quick summary, I have listed some of the ideas that might inspire you to try something similar. <em>Note that faculty at Nassau Community College are encouraged to host service-learning projects on campus because many students lack transportation. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sustainable campus gardens<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On-campus day-care center<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prom boutiques (free dresses for high school students)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Collecting books<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Care kits for nursing home residents<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cellphones for soldiers<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversational English &#8220;partners&#8221; for those learning the language<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blood pressure screenings at nearby churches on the part of nursing students<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Merchandising internships at local stores undertaken by art and marketing students<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps an <\/span><b>Innovation Grant <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(through the Educational Foundation) might help get you started? Or if there&#8217;s a groundswell of interest, we might consider a bigger <\/span><b>Foundation for Roanoke Valley grant <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to provide some college-wide support and guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Come talk to us about your ideas in the Grants &#8220;Green House&#8221; on the top floor of Fishburn &#8230; we would love to help!&nbsp;(We also have a bowl full of jellybeans.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212; Stephanie Ogilvie Seagle<br>Grant Specialist<br>sseagle@virginiawestern.edu<br>540-857-6084<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about the &#8220;community&#8221; part of community college lately. I light up every time I hear community-service ideas in our college forums, like the idea of building a Habitat for Humanity house (heard that one at a strategic planning brainstorm). Or forming a&nbsp;Relay for Life team (Staff Senate). Or establishing a&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2017\/09\/soft-skills-and-service-learning-can-virginia-western-do-more\/\">Continue Reading<span> Soft skills and service learning: Can Virginia Western do more?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/author\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Soft skills and service learning: Can Virginia Western do more? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blog post: Soft skills and service learning: Can Virginia Western do more?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2017\/09\/soft-skills-and-service-learning-can-virginia-western-do-more\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soft skills and service learning: Can Virginia Western do more? 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