2020 Virtual COPLAC Annual Meeting Materials
The 2020 Annual Meeting theme - Partner and Prosper – Campus, Community, Corporate - was uniquely suited to our current situation, as we all forge new partnerships and innovate old ones to serve our campuses and communities at large. We came together over two days as staff, faculty, and student leaders involved with community engagement, civic outreach, internship supervision, and career centers to share our research and work in general. Please take some time to enjoy the asynchronous videos and well as the recorded Zoom sessions from our time together.
Established in 1987, COPLAC membership now spans across 26 states and one Canadian Providence. This year’s Annual Meeting brought together a number of member institutions over the two-day event. Map created by Anitra Griffin
Asynchronous Content
Three Compilation Videos; Presentations, Posters, and Keene State Extras
Google Folder Find any supplemental materials presenters may have uploaded.
Full Program Stay in-the-know by pulling up the program and following along with the agenda!
COPLAC Virtual Message/Bulletin Board! Please take a minute to check out our colleague’s posts. Please leave your own message, shutout, kudos, etc. Remember you can post questions & comments about the presentations you view as well! We would love to hear about one way you are taking care of yourself these days.
Find supplemental materials presenters have uploaded into a Google Drive Here
Find a list of COPLAC Annual Meeting Registrants Here
Monday 29 June (all times Eastern Daylight)
3:30 - 4:30 pm NSF ADVANCE Project presentation
COPLAC member institutions can participate in the consortium’s NSF ADVANCE grant to advance women in STEM careers. In this session, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Academic Officers, and interested faculty hear about our NSF ADVANCE initiative, which will partner and liaise across the nation by offering professional development for administrators and virtual affinity groups for women STEM faculty.
5:00 - 6:00 pm Welcome Reception
All-Steinway, All Together Spotlight
Nationally accredited program. Fabulous faculty. Energized students. Overly-worn equipment. These were the factors that drove Keene State College to launch an initiative to become an All-Steinway School, a prestigious designation that only five other COPLAC schools share. Keene State is nearly at the halfway point, having replaced eight of our twenty “mature” pianos with new Steinway or Steinway-designed Boston pianos. In this session, Keene State Piano Program Coordinator Christina Wright-Ivanova, DMA will share the journey of the All-Steinway, All Together Initiative and how access to the finest equipment has elevated the entire Music Department. This will be followed by a special musical feature by Kirsten Becker ’20 and Alyssa Becker ‘23, and a Q&A with KSC faculty, alumni and students.
Tuesday 30 June (all times Eastern Daylight)
11:30 am - 12:30 pm Partnerships and the Future of Higher Education
Introduction: Melinda Treadwell, President, Keene State College
Keynote: Mary Grant, Senior Administrative Fellow for Civics and Social Justice, Bridgewater State University
Conclusion: Denise Battles, President, SUNY Geneseo
12:55-1:55pm Campus Partnerships(one link for all three “Campus” presentations)
12:55-1:15 Beyond Books: How College Libraries Can Support Students’ Basic Needs @Mason Library
Celia Rabinowitz, Dean of Mason Library,
Keene State College
In summer 2018 Mason Library became the first satellite site for the student-run campus food pantry, the Hungry Owl, because we could provide access to food for students on campus. Since then the program has expanded to multiple satellite sites and the library has also changed how we make items available. We work cooperatively with the Hungry Owl student volunteers and faculty advisor. Library staff are all supportive of our role in supporting all of our students’ needs and our location is a popular stop for students seeking provisions.
1:15-1:35 HBCU’s partnership with a Majority White Institution to Increase Minority Applications to Medical, Dental and Physician Assistant Programs
Wanda C. Gonsalves, Interim Dean Natural, Applied and Health Sciences
Kentucky State University
Diversity in the health professions is imperative to improve health disparities. Numbers of African American applicants to Medical, Dental and the PA profession have remained low for years. To increase minority applicants, a partnership was formed between an HBCU, Kentucky State University, and the University of Kentucky in conjunction with the development of a Pre-Medical Academy at Kentucky state. More students have interest in applying to Medical School.
1:35-1:55 GC Journeys: Career Preparation as a High Impact Practice
Jordan Cofer,Associate Provost, and Lauren Easom, Director of Career Center
Georgia College & State University
While high impact practices are the number one predictor of student success after college, the GC Journeys program at Georgia College asks students to complete five high impact practices during their four years at college, while infusing the curriculum with AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes (Essential Skills). Working with the career center, Georgia College has pioneered a new approach to replicating the impacts of a high impact practice for students through a scaled model (Career Milestones) that asks students to complete milestones each year. This revised milestone template has been aligned with NSSE’s Quality Matrix for High Impact Practices. This presentation will give a brief overview of the GC Journeys program, before discussing how it has leveraged the career center to offer a transformative college experience.
2:00 - 3:00 pm Community Partnerships (one link for all three “Community” presentations)
2:00-2:20 Re-imagining Cooperative Education in the time of COVID
Scott Beard, Provost and Joseph Jefferson, Director, Cooperative Education
Shepherd University
Cooperative Education bridges the gap between classroom education and the real world of professional work. It affords students the chance to pursue multiple semesters of experiential education opportunities that directly relate to their academic interests. During the pandemic students were able to use remote options to complete these experiences while earning academic credit, and to also help community and healthcare organizations through these experiences. This presentation will focus on the benefits the partnerships provided both to our students and to the cooperating organizations.
2:20-2:40 COVID and the Collaboration of Field Placements
Tim Lintner, Professor of Education
University of South Carolina Aiken
In this time of social distancing, increased online learning, and reconfigured academic calendars, many colleges and universities are wondering how COVID 19 will impact field-based (e.g. student teaching and nursing clinical) practices. This presentation will explore how USC Aiken is collaborating with our community health care and educational partners to create meaningful, sustained, and safe ways that assure the continuity of programmatic experiences and expectations for select USC Aiken students
2:40-3:00 Campus/Community Partnership for Neurodiversity
Julie Lochbaum, Janet Gooch, Provost, Nancy Pennington, Ex. Director Adair County SB40 Board
Truman State University
Located in rural northeast Missouri, Truman State University aims to increase services for persons with Autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders ranging from diagnosis through supportive services for education, employment and independent living. To reach this goal we are:
1.Renovating a historic structure, Greenwood School. This building began as a location for our Progressive Era lab school wherein student teachers gained experience. Currently empty, the building is architecturally significant, and still a symbol for our community of campus/community partnership in education.
2.Developing curriculum in an existing Disability Studies Minor and in new graduate programs such as Mental Health Counseling and Applied Behavioral Analysis.
3.Working in partnership to increase diagnostic and clinical services available in Northeast Missouri.
Partners include AT Still University, the local founding institution of Osteopathic Medicine; Preferred Family Healthcare; Northeast Missouri Health Council; Kirksville R-III School District; and the Adair County SB40 Developmental Disability Board. Approved by voters in 2005, the Board oversees a countywide property tax which supports services to residents with developmental disabilities.
3:35 pm- 4:35pm Campus and Community Partnerships (one link for all three “Community” presentations)
3:35-3:55 COVID-19 in Context, a Course for All
Keith Mellinger, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Anand Rao, Chair of Communication and Digital Studies
University of Mary Washington
In response to the overwhelming impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Mary Washington put together an interdisciplinary course titled COVID-19 in Context, which looks at the impacts of the pandemic through the lens of experts in a wide variety of disciplines. Each class consists of a lecture, Q&A, and small group discussion. The course carries academic credit for all continuing and incoming students, but is also open to all faculty, staff, and community members at no cost. We share our story of how this course has generated tremendous goodwill while supporting our advancement and recruiting initiatives.
3:55-4:15 Thinking Outside the Box: Modifying Youth Programming and Community Outreach During Unprecedented Times
Sarah Hendren, Director of Partnerships and Outreach, and Jecca Shumate, Program Director of Environmental Education
University of Montevallo
As a complete pivot from our original community summer camp plans, we’re producing nature workbooks for children that we’ll distribute for free alongside optional supply kits that can be purchased. The workbooks will feature 5 themes that correlate with our environmental resources on campus and in the community. Topics include: weather, recycling, nighttime, gardening, and animal adaptations. We’ll also distribute a biweekly newsletter throughout the summer where we’ll supply free virtual content and have confirmed partnerships with several local organizations to help with that. Our hope is to provide something that children and families can use without needing internet access to a computer since we realize many children are without those resources or may be “burned out” on e-learning by summertime. In having the additional virtual content, it provides supplemental content for anyone who can access that. The workbook will offer a suggested pacing guide for 10 weeks but can be adapted as needed to fit any user’s schedule and will be available throughout the summer.
4:15-4:35 Service Learning in a Time of Pandemic
Kimberly Armstrong Silcox, Director of the Center for Community Engagement, and Nicolas Pierre Simon, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Eastern Connecticut State University
The Center for Community Engagement at Eastern Connecticut State University has created deep and meaningful partnerships in the local community. Partnering with faculty on service learning has been an important way to engage students who might otherwise not have volunteered and has resulted in many students reporting that their experience has changed their lives. Assistant Professor of Sociology Nicolas Simon and Center for Community Engagement director Kimberly Armstrong Silcox will share their experiences in building collaborations on and off campus and the impact those experiences have had on students. We will also talk about how service learning will change in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
4:40 – 5:40 pm Interest Groups: Networking, Discussions & Next Steps-Three concurrent sessions Collaboration, networking, and community building are all important elements of any conference. We would like to take some time to come back together to explore and ignite ideas for future partnerships in all three tracks! Come join in brainstorming and planning sessions. You will be given the opportunity, to choose one of three tracks, Campus, Community or Corporate and join in discussions about how to carry the Annual Meeting energy to the next amazing partnership. Please note, each session will begin with a brief overview of the applicable poster sessions.
Campus Interest Group
Related Poster Sessions
- Building Partnerships through Implementation of a Writing Life stories’ Course– Georgia College
- Internship: A Liberal Arts Education Practically Applied– Eastern Connecticut State University
Community Interest Group
Related Poster Sessions
- Social Justice and Community Partnerships in a Post-COVID-19 World - Evergreen State College
- Partnerships Created from the Transition to a Virtual Clinical Format in response to COVID-19 for Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students – Georgia College
- Artists responding to critical needs during the COVID-19 Epidemic - Shepherd University
- Distance Lobbying During the Pandemic: Students Discuss Higher Education Funding with State Representatives - University of South Carolina Aiken
Corporate Interest Group
Related Poster Sessions
- The People Make it Work: Designing and Driving a Collaborative, Inclusive and Responsive Strategic Planning Process – Kentucky State University
- The People Make It Work: “Leveraging Partnerships and Technology to Drive Career Services in a COVID-19 Environment – Kentucky State University
5:45 - 6:00pm Closing Remarks & Trivia
Cole Woodcox, Executive Director, COPLAC
Melinda Treadwell, President, Keene State College
Join us for the opportunity to celebrate the good work and perseverance of the COPLAC Community!