The Campus Food Pantry That Experiential Education Built
Presentation Format
Individual Presentation
Intended Audience
All Audiences
Presentation Description
Rationale:
The presentation about the campus food pantry at Austin Peay State University will focus on the roles that students played in the shaping the pantry’s offerings and how experiential education provided the vehicle for students to become engaged in the project. Through a community needs assessment, students engaged with local food banks for a class project and learned about the need for increased food insecurity support for college students. Through service – learning classes & cooperative learning projects, students have been using their life experiences with need, struggle, becoming independents, financial hardship and unexpected roadblocks to their course content in an effort to provide resources for their peers. This hands on, life experience is a valuable way that students are learning why their future careers matter in the bigger picture of community life. This context providing opportunity has broaden their perspective on their careers beyond how it will benefit themselves financially.
Service – learning courses from many academic areas on campus including: health and human performance, sociology, communications, art have collaborated with our pantry project through their course content. 82% of our service – learning students say that service-learning has helped them see real-life application of coursework while 67% of faculty say that community work has helped focus specific
areas of scholarship for their students. Cooperative learning opportunities through our agricultural and social work departments have had a foundational impact on our pantry, engaging those students in a deeper role with our pantry’s history and future. The impact of these EE courses has left a lasting mark on students, and even more of a lasting mark on our campus and the way it responds to student support.
Goals:
The goals of this presentation are to
- Share the story of the SOS campus food pantry at Austin Peay State University, including the highlights and low points.
- Participants should walk away with a list of potential EE opportunities can be made on campus to enhance student learning.
- Community Partners and university administration will walk away with sample projects that are mutually beneficial.
Engaged Participation:
Participants will be asked to brainstorm in groups (by undergraduate academic departments) how their academic program can improve on current support systems, create new systems for assistance, or address issues that have gone under the radar. Groups will be encouraged to identify a need other than: food insecurity, homelessness, depression.
Location
Room - 212
Start Date
4-14-2016 10:30 AM
End Date
4-14-2016 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Wills, Alexandra, "The Campus Food Pantry That Experiential Education Built" (2016). Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning 2016. 4.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/4
The Campus Food Pantry That Experiential Education Built
Room - 212
Rationale:
The presentation about the campus food pantry at Austin Peay State University will focus on the roles that students played in the shaping the pantry’s offerings and how experiential education provided the vehicle for students to become engaged in the project. Through a community needs assessment, students engaged with local food banks for a class project and learned about the need for increased food insecurity support for college students. Through service – learning classes & cooperative learning projects, students have been using their life experiences with need, struggle, becoming independents, financial hardship and unexpected roadblocks to their course content in an effort to provide resources for their peers. This hands on, life experience is a valuable way that students are learning why their future careers matter in the bigger picture of community life. This context providing opportunity has broaden their perspective on their careers beyond how it will benefit themselves financially.
Service – learning courses from many academic areas on campus including: health and human performance, sociology, communications, art have collaborated with our pantry project through their course content. 82% of our service – learning students say that service-learning has helped them see real-life application of coursework while 67% of faculty say that community work has helped focus specific
areas of scholarship for their students. Cooperative learning opportunities through our agricultural and social work departments have had a foundational impact on our pantry, engaging those students in a deeper role with our pantry’s history and future. The impact of these EE courses has left a lasting mark on students, and even more of a lasting mark on our campus and the way it responds to student support.
Goals:
The goals of this presentation are to
- Share the story of the SOS campus food pantry at Austin Peay State University, including the highlights and low points.
- Participants should walk away with a list of potential EE opportunities can be made on campus to enhance student learning.
- Community Partners and university administration will walk away with sample projects that are mutually beneficial.
Engaged Participation:
Participants will be asked to brainstorm in groups (by undergraduate academic departments) how their academic program can improve on current support systems, create new systems for assistance, or address issues that have gone under the radar. Groups will be encouraged to identify a need other than: food insecurity, homelessness, depression.
Program Abstract
Follow the story of the SOS food pantry at Austin Peay State University, established in 2011, and the highlighted ways experiential education grew the outreach efforts the pantry offered. Four years later the pantry has tripled in size, hosts a free thrift store, community gardens and chickens. This storytelling approach is followed by a “lesson learned” handout that will provide insights, regrets, and ideas for implementing a similar approach to community struggles on your campus.