For the second year in a row, USI received national recognition for it’s community service throughout Evansville.
Every year, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) honor universities for work throughout the community. The projects submitted on the 2010 application were the Saturday Art Workshop, USI partnership with the Juan Diego Center and Raising Awareness through On Court Mentoring.
The Saturday Art Workshop provides elementary school students from the community the opportunity to take art classes from art education majors.
During the two-day workshops the children work on different projects such as painting, drawing and sculpting, said Executive Director of the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment Katherine Draughon.
The Partnership with the Juan Diego Center is a program where undergraduate and graduate nursing, social work and occupational therapy students go to the Juan Diego Center once a month and provide screenings for the Latin American population.
The screenings consist of physical exams for all ages, as well as hearing and eye exams for children.
“We take up a whole portion of their center,” Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Professions College Ann White said. “We have a system where they sign in and walk through stopping at the various tables with different information.”
The funding cycle for this program is said to run out around October and November. The program hopes to receive a new funding cycle so work can continue with the Juan Diego Center and keep building relationships with the Hispanic community, White said.
“In the Latino world, the community is very important so we connect to the Juan Diego center which is community to them,” White said. “It’s where they come and it’s their support system, so we can get access to community and do screenings and teach them about health.”
Raising Awareness through the On Court Mentoring program is currently in its fourth year of service. The project provides one-on-one tennis instruction from the tennis team and physical education majors for the students at Glenwood Middle School.
“I am very proud of the faculty that started the program,” said Glenna Bower, associate professor and chair of the Physical Education Department. “I look forward to seeing the continued success of this program.”
In late September, the call will go out for new projects. The deans will be filtering through different projects from last year and nominating the top six to eight they believe best fit the bill. From there, Draughon will pick the top three to submit to the CNCS.
“Being nationally recognized shows USI’s commitment to Evansville community and beyond,” Draughon said. “It also provides experiential learning opportunities for the students involved.”
