Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

HOOVES believes that experiential training makes a difference for veterans and that Equine Assisted Learning can have a life-changing impact on our service men and women. HOOVES encourages Veterans to work on building a relationship with horses, reading cues and working together to accomplish tasks. This connection helps the Veteran learn how to improve their relationships with others, to better understand themselves and to better cope and adapt to the world around them. BGAB students assist in implementing the annual HOOVES Veteran's Day cookout and family event and assist in the stables.   

The 2020 Election Candidate Forum featured a facilitated question and answer session with candidates running for elected offices representing Wood County and Northwest Ohio.  This forum was be a hybrid in-person and virtual event featuring a live stream video feed.  The limited in person audience included 40 participants in addition to sixteen candidates and 5 volunteers.  As of October 15 2020 the recording of the event has received 1,687 views.

This initiative was led by Dr. Lisa Hanasono and funded by a Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program (MAC ALDP) Grant. Dr. Hanasono assembled a team including undergraduate and graduate students, high school students, and community members representing City Council, Not In Our Town Bowling Green, and the Welcome BG Task Force. The team chose to organize a community dinner dialogue about the impact of the opioid crisis on the Northwest Ohio community, building upon a series of campus-community workshops for developing skills in civil discourse offered at BGSU. Approximately 145 university and community members met at St. Mark’s Church in Bowling Green (BG). After enjoying a dinner catered by South Side Six, guests listened to opening remarks by BGSU President Rodney Rogers, BG City Council Member Bruce Jeffers, State Senator Theresa Gavarone, State Representative Haraz Ghanbari, and Wood County Commissioner Ted Bowlus. Next, guests participated in three 20-minute rounds of small group discussions led by dialogue facilitators. During the first two rounds of discussion, guests discussed issues related to the opioid crisis (e.g. destigmatizing addiction, providing better social support, medical and psychological issues, legislative and leadership issues, educational programs, and local resources). During the third round, facilitators and guests brainstormed lists of individual and collective actions that they could take to address the opioid crisis. The lists were posted along the event space’s walls, and guests were given an opportunity to post their names next to action items that they pledged to do. At the end of the event, we invited guests to complete an exit survey and visit booths that featured community organizations.

The 11th Annual BGSU Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service activities occurred January 19-21, 2019.  Multiple opportunities over the course of three days were available for students, faculty, staff, and community members make it “a day on, not a day off!” to celebrate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

January 19 -20, 2019 – “Can”vas Food Drive Highlights

BGSU partnered with the Brown Bag Food Project to host the 11th Annual “Can”vass Food Drive.  Volunteers went door to door to collect food items and donations to benefit five local food pantries.  Volunteers also got to know their neighbors and community while addressing food insecurity in Wood County and Bowling Green.  The BGSU Center for Public Impact coordinated volunteer recruitment and management of faculty, staff, student, and community member volunteers.  Due to severe cold weather on January 20th the volunteer shifts were cancelled.  However, volunteers on January 19th were able to have the following impact:

• A friendly competition between Administrative Staff Council and Classified Staff Council yielded 12 boxes (roughly 20 items per box) of donated nonperishable items.
• The food drive yielded 20 total boxes (roughly 20 items per box) of donated nonperishable items.
• Collectively it is estimated that 400 nonperishable items were donated.
• 105 individuals registered to volunteer for a shift on either January 19 or 20.  Of those individuals registered, 30 were BGSU students, faculty, or staff (approx. 29%)
• 37 volunteers served on Saturday, January 19, 2019 (January 20th volunteers shifts were cancelled due to severe weather) Of those individuals who served, 12 were BGSU students, faculty, or staff (approx. 32%)

January 21, 2019 – BGSU Athletics MLK Jr. Day of Service

BGSU Athletics and the Center for Community & Civic Engagement planned to host a day of activities on MLK Jr. Day, January 21 from 10:00 am – 2:30 pm.  The planned schedule for the day is below.  Unfortunately, due to severe weather the event was cancelled.  We anticipated 86 high school students and 60 BGSU student athlete volunteers.  Local high schools scheduled to participate were Fostoria High School, Eastwood High School, Maumee High School, and Woodmore High School (Elmore, OH).

Schedule

• 10:00 am – Guests tour Stroh Center, Slater Ice Arena, and Anderson Arena.
• 12:00 pm - Lunch and service project with BGSU Athletes
• 1:00 pm - Inclusive Leadership Workshop facilitated by We Are One Team (Chet Hesson)
• 2:30 pm - Depart campus

Media Coverage

WBGU-TV, The Journal –

• Civic Initiatives – 2019 MLK Jr. Day Celebrations, Aired January 9, 2019

Sentinel-Tribune

• Winter session and weather impact MLK Day of Service, January 17, 2019

BG Independent Media

• BG, BGSU lay out plans to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., January 8, 2019
• Cold cancels Sundays MLK food drive, January 20, 2019

A full-day event led by teacher candidates in BGSU's School of Teaching and Learning and volunteers from the College of Education and Human Development. This Math Camp provided middle school students with opportunities to engage in enjoyable collaborative problem-solving tasks, apply their mathematical skills in creative ways, and build confidence in their mathematical and general academic abilities. The volunteers, undergraduate education majors, spent several weeks preparing for this event by planning challenging activities and creating interactive materials that could motivate students throughout the day and maintain their energy and focus. Students solve mathematical puzzles, engage in mathematical games, sing, and dance, all while applying their knowledge and problem-solving skills to bring about their team's success in each task. Through this service learning opportunity BGSU teacher candidates are charged with all the important elements of schooling—that being, for a large group of students the teacher candidates enact their plans to take care of all students' emotional, academic, nutritional, and physical needs throughout the duration of the camp.

A full-day event co-led by teacher candidates in BGSU's School of Teaching and Learning and members of the Heidelberg University Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This collaborative event provided elementary school students with opportunities to engage in enjoyable collaborative problem-solving tasks, apply their mathematical skills in creative ways, and build confidence in their mathematical and general academic abilities. The volunteers, undergraduate education majors, spent several weeks preparing for this event by planning challenging activities and creating interactive materials that could motivate students throughout the day and maintain their energy and focus. Students solve mathematical puzzles, engage in mathematical games, sing, and dance, all while applying their knowledge and problem-solving skills to bring about their team's success in each task. Through this service learning opportunity BGSU teacher candidates are charged with all the important elements of schooling—that being, for a large group of students the teacher candidates enact their plans to take care of all students' emotional, academic, nutritional, and physical needs throughout the duration of the camp.

Purpose

Covid19 created unprecedented challenges for nonprofit organizations – cancelled events, facilities closed, postposed fundraising, decline in donations, layoffs and furloughs for staff, and a decline in volunteers due to stay at home orders. 

With the combination of expertise, student leadership and volunteers; BGSU was uniquely positioned to support regional nonprofit organizations in this time. The BGSU Center for Public Impact and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program led this initiative to provide grant writing training and support to local nonprofits who lacked the capacity to take advantage of COVID19 funding opportunities. 

BGSU-TAP (Training Alliance for the Public Good)  simultaneously helped build the capacity of regional non-profits, give them a submission ready grant proposal, and provided MPA students with an opportunity to supervise/mentor undergraduate students, and give all students professional experience in grant writing and non-profit administration. 

Program

BGSU-TAP involved three groups of participants:  30 undergraduate students interested in nonprofit organizations, 15 MPA students and 20 nonprofits in Northwest Ohio. 

The first phase of the program was recruitment and selection of the students. Each MPA student was paired with two undergraduate students  to form a cohort to work together for the summer. The MPA students mentored the undergraduates through the work that they are doing. Each cohort worked with 1-2 nonprofits.  

For 3 weeks the students engaged in grant writing training through live WebEx sessions with Dr. Shannon Orr, readings, videos and assignments. 

The student cohorts then meet virtually with their assigned nonprofits and prepared a grant application for their organization.

AEC Mission: We seek to sustain and enrich grades 3-8 students' academic learning during the summer months through interactive experiences in the four content areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. These experiences are designed by trained teachers who are experts in their content for the purpose of ensuring student preparedness for their next academic school year. The AEC program’s primary goal is to positively impact all students' grade level understanding and knowledge retention across the summer months to promote opportunity toward successful graduation. We seek to establish partnerships, philanthropic opportunities, and grant funds to ensure opportunity for students of poverty to participate and advance their education toward graduation.