scholarly journals Leadership, Service Learning, and Executive Management in Engineering: The Rowan University Hurricane Katrina Recovery Team

1969 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
DeMond S. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Executive Management ◽  
Organizational Skills ◽  
Rowan University ◽  
Team Project ◽  
User Friendly

Rowan University Hurricane Katrina Recovery Team Project is a service learning endeavor undertaken by students and faculty in various disciplines at Rowan University. The objectives of this service learning endeavor are threefold. The main objective is to help distressed communities in the Gulf Coast Region. Second, this project seeks to not only address broader social issues but to also leave a tangible contribution or impact in the area while asking the following questions: what do we as professional engineers have as a responsibility to the communities we serve, and what do we leave in the community to make it a better, more equitable place to live? The last objective is the management team’s successful assessment of the experience, including several logistical challenges. To this end, this article seeks to help other student-led projects by relaying our service learning experience in a coherent, user-friendly manner that serves as a model experience. By offering peer-to-peer advice in service learning, we wish to break down apprehension about service-learning opportunities and serve as a catalyst for other such endeavors. First, this paper will cover the importance of such endeavors as well as the methods and organizational skills used to design a project. Next, it will illustrate the type of work that was completed in an effort to help rebuild the New Orleans area. Finally, it will offer advice and recommendations for other students organizing similar projects by evaluating a multi-team project approach.

Measuring Students' Attitudes toward College Education's Role in Addressing Social Issues

2008 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 791-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Weber ◽  
Paula S. Weber ◽  
Barney L. Craven
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Business Education ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects ◽  
Standard Techniques

As service-learning projects have spread throughout academia, efforts to assess the service-learning experience have assumed a greater importance. The BERSI scale (Business Education's Role in addressing Social Issues) was developed as a measure of business students' attitudes toward social issues being addressed as part of a business education. As such, it was intended to be useful in assessing attitudinal outcomes of service learning. In order for the BERSI to be useful for nonbusiness students, the scale would need to be reconceptualized and revalidated. This study modified the BERSI items with a focus on college students in general rather than business students, making the resulting scale, College Education's Role in addressing Social Issues (CERSI), potentially helpful to service-learning researchers in a broader setting. The CERSI scale was then validated using standard techniques and normative data were reported.

Service-Learning Exchange in Developed Cities: Dissonances and Civic Outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. 105382592110659
Author(s):  
Rina Marie Camus ◽  
Cindy H. Y. Lam ◽  
Grace Ngai ◽  
Stephen C. F. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Context Of Learning

Background: The context of learning, which includes the host country, is an important variable of service-learning. Since international service-learning programs often take place in developing countries, studies about their impact and outcomes commonly draw from experiences in developing countries. Purpose: We investigate service-learning experience in developed, urban settings focusing on dissonances and civic outcomes, key areas of service-learning pedagogy. Methodology/Approach: This an instrumental case study based on a small group sample of 12 Asian student participants of a service-learning exchange to partner universities in the USA. Findings/Conclusions: Findings suggest that developed cities can be fertile grounds for impactful dissonances and civic learning. “First-world expectations” increased or intensified dissonances students experienced. Confronting urban poverty and other social issues in cities similar to their own led students to see domestic problems with fresh eyes. Implications: Service-learning exchange in developed cities can facilitate understanding social problems particularly in the way these occur in developed countries and promises transferability of learning. However, students need prompting to connect experiences overseas to home contexts and draw practical consequences. Faculty or staff assistance is necessary to help students constructively cope with powerful dissonances.

Characteristics of Physician Relocation Following Hurricane Katrina

2009 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Kusuma Madamala ◽  
Claudia R. Campbell ◽  
Edbert B. Hsu ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Hsieh ◽  
James James
Keyword(s):  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Fisher Exact Test ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Introduction: On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States, resulting in the evacuation of more than 1.5 million people, including nearly 6000 physicians. This article examines the relocation patterns of physicians following the storm, determines the impact that the disaster had on their lives and practices, and identifies lessons learned. Methods: An Internet-based survey was conducted among licensed physicians reporting addresses within Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated disaster zones in Louisiana and Mississippi. Descriptive data analysis was used to describe respondent characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the factors associated with physician nonreturn to original practice. For those remaining relocated out of state, bivariate analysis with x2 or Fisher exact test was used to determine factors associated with plans to return to original practice. Results: A total of 312 eligible responses were collected. Among disaster zone respondents, 85.6 percent lived in Louisiana and 14.4 percent resided in Mississippi before the hurricane struck. By spring 2006, 75.6 percent (n = 236) of the respondents had returned to their original homes, whereas 24.4 percent (n = 76) remained displaced. Factors associated with nonreturn to original employment included family or general medicine practice (OR 0.42, 95 percent CI 0.17–1.04; P = .059) and severe or complete damage to the workplace (OR 0.24, 95 percent CI 0.13–0.42; P < .001). Conclusions: A sizeable proportion of physicians remain displaced after Hurricane Katrina, along with a lasting decrease in the number of physicians serving in the areas affected by the disaster. Programs designed to address identified physician needs in the aftermath of the storm may give confidence to displaced physicians to return.

Bridging Social Issues and Local Community through Service Learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Casta ◽  
Grace Bangasan ◽  
Felicitas Boleyley
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Issues

Diverse Applications of Sociological Imagination: A Qualitative Study of Service-Learning Mentoring

2021 ◽  
pp. 193672442110213
Author(s):  
Laura C. Atkins ◽  
Shelley B. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
At Risk Youth ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Student Mentors ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Personal Histories ◽  
Media And Crime

This project expands discussions regarding critical ways that students’ diverse backgrounds and experiences intertwine with service-learning and social justice. Educators need to empower the next generation to explore their views, apply their skills, and engage with social issues. The research intersects with complex conversations about students’ perspectives regarding media representations, justice system responses, and views of at-risk youth. The project spanned four semesters of a sociology of media and crime course with service-learning mentoring. Qualitative reflection data drawn from 104 participating student mentors provided insights into how service-learners’ unique personal histories and sociological imaginations inform their views of youth, the mentoring experience, and social justice. The findings focus attention upon diversity within classrooms and expand the conversation about social justice praxis and service-learning pedagogy. Through reflexivity, the researchers consider their own social justice and service-learning practices, and add to the call for greater reflexivity within community-engaged sociology classrooms.

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