Last month was exciting, not just for the Office of Community Engagement, but for the many campus and community partners who were recognized by the University of Iowa and Iowa & Minnesota Camus Compact for exemplary leadership in community engagement partnerships and projects across Iowa and beyond. Within these accomplishments are stories of how this work positively impacts the teaching, learning and research of our faculty and students, alongside the meaningful, mutually beneficial collaborations with communities large and small.

To continue this tradition of excellence in community engagement, we are now accepting registrations for the Faculty Engagement Corps, formerly the Engaged Faculty Institute, to provide insight, training, and support to UI faculty and instructors preparing to, or interested in, incorporating community engagement into their classroom in the next academic year. Community-engaged teaching is a high impact educational practice and an important objective of the UI strategic plan. The impressive efforts taking place across campus by our faculty and students are helping to fulfill that commitment, while improving and enhancing the lives of Iowans and beyond.

In partnership,

Nick Benson

Executive Director

Faculty Engagement Corps Orientation Begins June 5th

If you teach at the university and are interested in learning more about how you can infuse community engagement into your courses, consider joining the Faculty Engagement Corps (FEC) and attend an orientation on June 5th & 6th, 2023. 

The orientation provides in-depth training on the components and best practices of community engaged teaching and learning and walks instructors through the entire process of creating or re-designing a community-engaged course.

Turkey River Watershed community engagement project promotes flood resiliency and water safety through storytelling and building community

Kate Giannini, program manager at the Iowa Flood Center, served as a 'community connector' working with Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (NEIARCD) and the Turkey River Watershed Management Authority (TRWMA) on a community engagement project titled Building Connected Communities in Rural Watersheds: Collaborative Partnerships for Actionable Science. The project aimed to educate and empower members of the community living in the Turkey River Watershed to share their stories while exploring new ways to protect and preserve the water resources vital to the productivity of farmland, the safety of drinking water, and beauty of shared recreation areas.

"I can't say enough positive things about this community engagement work," Giannini said. "It builds our network, reinforces the importance of relating our research into impactful on-the-ground projects, and especially provides resources to communities that don't have them. This work has been incredibly impactful to our smaller communities and the Iowans we serve."

For this project, the Iowa Flood Center worked with the Turkey River Watershed, the University of Iowa and the Iowa Flood Center, and the NEIARCD. Together these organizations are focused on advancing education and awareness in communities to improve land resiliency through flood reduction, conservation practices, and water quality improvement, which helps recovery when extremes from floods, droughts, and climate change impact land.

"We are working with farmers, landowners, watershed management authorities, and local community partners to provide better tools and resources for them to make decisions that work for them on their property," Giannini said.

A watershed is an area of land that drains to a local water body, which could be a lake, river, or small creek, which all vary in different sizes. When it rains in urban areas, water that falls on private property goes down a storm drain and into a nearby local creek. In rural communities, those who farm in the watershed with lots of land to manage can influence what helps or impacts people downstream based on what they do on their land.

"It's really about bridging that gap between downstream stakeholders, what's happening on the land, what type of management systems are in place, and how they are affecting somebody else downstream either positively or negatively," Giannini said. "Somebody living downstream in a watershed might not know the land near Minnesota shares the same watershed. They appreciate learning about the land impacting water in their area."

BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH STORYTELLING

"Many people assume that a watershed community means living in a floodplain and automatically say, 'I don't live in a watershed,'" Giannini said. "They are thinking of being affected by floods – especially if the Iowa Flood Center is there talking about tools and resources. Once people learn that this is the only land that drains to the Turkey River, they appreciate having that terminology and connecting the dots."

The Iowa Flood Center worked with the NEIARCD and the TRWMA to conduct a series of planning exercises, workshops, and community meetings to gain a better perspective of those living, working, and playing in the Turkey River Watershed while raising awareness among community members who might not know that they live in a watershed or what that means for their lives and the environment.

"We wanted to create a sense of community at the watershed level and better educate the stakeholders there so they could learn about available resources, other projects that are occurring, and what we can all do to reduce flooding and improve water quality - in addition to learning about other resources that the Iowa Flood Center and the University of Iowa are already providing," Giannini said.

The project invited members of the community to drop in to 'open house' style events, where whiteboards were available for people to write about personal experiences within the Turkey River, challenges they faced living and working on the land, and ideas that they had, including improving water quality and recreational access.

"Watershed management has been a core strength of our team," said Ross Evelsizer, natural resource project director at NEIARCD. "However, engaging with the University of Iowa and the Iowa Flood Center has elevated our access to resources, funding, and community impact. This project will set a foundation among stakeholders and improve the sense of community at the watershed scale."

Have a story about how community-engaged teaching, learning, research, or the arts at the University of Iowa is impacting Iowa communities?

Reach out to ui-engagement@uiowa.edu to share your experience!

Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact announces 2023 Presidents' Award winners

University of Iowa's Teresa Magnum, Sepehr Yadollahi, and community partner Northeast Iowa RC&D have been recognized for their exceptional leadership educating students through community and civic learning experiences and making an impact in communities through reciprocal partnerships that address community-identified goals.

Congratulations to this year's winners and thank you all for the work you are doing helping hawkeyes make an impact in Iowa communities and beyond!

CERT Fellowship Application Open

Are you a University of Iowa faculty member, researcher, or graduate student looking for $10,000 to facilitate developing relationships and solving environmental health challenges in collaboration with campus and community partners?

The Environmental Health Sciences Research Center has an RFP open now for the Community Engagement and Research Translation (CERT) Fellowship for topics related to environmental contamination, environmental practices, community health and wellbeing, the effects of climate change on health, and community engaged research

Collaborations: A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice

Collaborations is a peer-reviewed, open access journal, sponsored by the University of Miami and Rutgers University. It is a site for sharing research and practice emanating from university-community collaborations. The journal is currently accepting submissions.

The Office of Community Engagement is here to help with letters of support and one-on-one meetings with our office to discuss upcoming courses, research projects, and community partnerships.

2023 ISPA Inaugurated

Literary representatives from across the state selected award-winning young writer and poet Lola Nakashima-Brooke for Outstanding Poetry from a pool of highly-talented high school students competing for the honor of being the 2023/24 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador (ISPA).

Iowa Percussion Ensemble Tour Dates

Friday May 12^th  

Summer of the Arts Friday Night Concert Series, Downtown IC 6:30-8:00 *free and open to the public

Sunday May 14^th 

McKinley Park in Creston, IA 1:00 p.m. *free and open to the public

Monday May 15^th 

Oak Hill Elementary, Tiffin, IA 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 16^th

West Elementary, Independence, IA

9:00 a.m.

Grand Living at Bridgewater, Coralville, IA 3:00 p.m.

North Liberty Public Library, North Liberty, IA 6:30 p.m. *free and open to the public

Wednesday, May 17^th

Winfield-Mt. Union Elementary, Winfield, IA 9:30 a.m.

Thursday, May 18^th

Carpenter Elementary, Monticello, IA,

9:30 a.m.

Oxford Elementary, Oxford, IA, 2:00 p.m.

Clear Creek Amana Community Performance at High School, Tiffin, IA

Time TBD *free and open to the public

Friday, May 19^th

North Bend Elementary, North Liberty, IA 9:00 a.m.

Longfellow Elementary, Iowa City, IA

1:30 p.m.

The Arts Share and Grant Wood Art Colony week-long summer camp will be here before you know it!

Classes will be informal and energetic, in an intellectually safe, stimulating environment that fosters creative expression and interaction. Workshop leaders are UI graduate students.

Last year's camp filled up quickly so be sure to register soon to secure a spot for your kids!

The fee will be $175 per child (and includes snacks) and the dates will be June 12^th -16^th.

Faculty Engagement Corps Orientation

June 5-6, 9AM - 4PM

In-person

IISC/Clinton Year-end Event

May 4, 3:00-6:30 pm

Downtown Clinton, IA

CERT Fellowship Application Due

June 1

Imagining America and Publicly Active Graduate Education

May 11, 10AM - 11AM PST

Zoom (virtual event)