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Southern Miss has been recognized for its volunteerism and service to the community
by the Carnegie Foundation. We are one of 115 higher-education institutions across the
country recently selected to receive the 2010 Community Engagement classification. Now I'm
here with Dr. *** Conville, who is professor of Communication, who has been very instrumental
to the development of our volunteerism and the culture of volunteerism at Southern Miss.
And so, I wanted to get his take on this great honor. Dr. Conville what does this honor say
about Southern Miss and it's commitment to service?
It says several things. Some of the schools that were inducted this year include Auburn,
Florida State, Georgia, and private schools like Hope College in Michigan, Wake Forest,
and Oberlin. So we're in, it puts us in good company. Beyond that, we knew that already.
It sure is nice to have an institution as prestigious as Carnegie to affirm that.
Can you give us some examples of the kinds of activities our faculty, staff, and students
do to serve the community? One of the terms you learn within the service
learning community is the term community partner. Alders gate for example is one of our longer
standing community partners. It's an after school program in East Hattiesburg. Every
semester there are 8-10-12 USM students helping them do their work, providing a safe place
for kids to be after school and to help them with their homework and tutoring, and to play
games with refreshments. If you ask Linda Dixon the director she'll say that they couldn't
do what they do without our students helping them there. Another is the Edwards Street
Mission. This, it's a food bank out on Edwards street in Hattiesburg that serves over 800
families in that community. There are three different classes this semester; actually
it will be a three year project. Three different classes, USM classes, who are helping design
a playground, designing and planning a garden, and creating a nature trail.
Well we know how important these volunteer activities are to the university. We know
how important it is to the community. How does it fit into the educational process?
You sort of alluded to that in your last comment. The term, another piece of the language in
civic engagement, is service learning. The service part is probably pretty clear. I involve,
I invite some of my students to go into the community and do some good, but to close the
other half of that circle they bring that experience back into the classroom. That concrete
hands-on experience helps them learn the course content better. A level of engagement is there
that, just not there if you're memorizing terms out of a textbook or only learning or
studying lecture notes. When students at Alders gate, for example, see a couple students maybe
third graders get into a squabble of some kind and the student is there to observe it
and maybe to intervene if it seems appropriate, then we're studying conflict management in
my course. The light bulbs come on and "Wait a minute!” they were doing things I read
about in a text book and some of them worked and some of them didn't. They’re able to
get concrete examples of exactly the kinds of things we were working with in class. The
up-shot is learning is deeper, stronger, greater engagement.
What would you like to see a student take away from this experience, from a volunteering
experience? One of the things that the research shows
is that students who engage, and either volunteer service during college or in service learning,
tends to stay on for graduation more often. There are retention implications for service
learning and student volunteer work. And the research also shows they make better alumni.
They're more likely to join alumni associations and make contributions in the future. So there
are some very practical outcomes. So there is the notion, I guess largely conceived of,
creating better citizens. If folks have had hands on experience in their communities,
and have made a difference they are more likely to participate in the political process and
participate in their communities as they grow into older adulthood.
How would you advise a student to have the best experience possible?
I love your statement, sounds like I'm pandering. What is it? Ride all the rides? That has stuck
in my mind since you first came. One of those rides is getting involved in either volunteer
work; our office of community service learning is a kind of clearing house for someone who
wants to get involved in any kind of volunteer work. You go to the office and Josh DuPlantis
has a long list of community partners who need students, for their energy and their
knowledge. Anything else you'd like to add?
There is a 20 year history across several university presidents, including of course
you, who have supported the university initiatives and civic engagement. All of that has enabled
us to create a cultural service and a culture of service learning so that it complements
the teaching enterprise. So there's not just an effect on students but there's and effect
on faculty. Re-conceiving the way they teach, and ways to involve their students not only
in the discipline but in raising the question how the discipline can make life better for
real people in this community and beyond. Well thank you Dr. Conville for your time
and service to service.