Communications arts and sciences professor, Joanna Schultz, was recently awarded by the Michigan Campus Compact. (Photo courtesy of Adrian College)
Joanna Schultz, professor of communication arts and sciences recently went to Traverse City to be honored at the 14th annual Michigan Campus Compact (MCC) service learning conference.
“I’m so thrilled to be getting this award,” Schultz said.
Dean of academic affairs Agnes Caldwell nominated Schultz for this award.
“Dr. Schultz, in my opinion, embodies the mission of this institution, which is academic and personal excellence, as well as the Ribbons of Excellence,” Caldwell said.
One thing about the conference Caldwell said she thought was important is that representatives from school levels K-16, which includes elementary and secondary teachers as well as college professors, are at the conference.
“There are members from the community present at the conference as well,” Caldwell said.
She said this makes Schultz’s receiving the award something more than just an academic achievement.
Caldwell said she is impressed with the work in service learning Schultz has been doing. Service learning takes a lot of time and effort, and Schultz deserves the recognition for her work.
“I think it’s wonderful MCC recognizes faculty work in this area,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell also said that encouraging teachers to integrate service learning into their curriculum is also beneficial for the students.
“Pedagogically, service learning is one of the most important and transformational experiences a student can have in the classroom,” Caldwell said.
According to Caldwell, the difference between service learning and volunteering is the amount of reflection one puts into he project. Projects like the annual Rake ‘n’ Run are considered volunteerism because there is no reflection beyond raking yards. Programs like Cambios, which Caldwell has worked with in the past, are considered service learning because not only do students go to schools to read to students, they consider the issues like racism and discrimination and how those mindsets are perpetuated in children through the people and various media they are exposed to.
“Volunteering is giving back, service learning is giving back with structured reflection and integration with a class,” Caldwell said.
According to her, service learning is more meaningful and a “stronger experience” than simple volunteering because of the reflection and thought students have to put into it. An important aspect of both volunteering and service learning is “you can’t do it for yourself.”
Schultz said part of the reason she was interested in doing the service learning projects in class is because she had several contacts in the community that she could take advantage of.
“It was a melding of my special interests and student needs,” Schultz said.
The service learning projects also reflect positively on Adrian College because “we’ve done our very best work on every project,” Schultz said.
Schultz said students get more out of a class when they get experience with real-life clients in a controlled setting. Things students do with their clients include creating and updating brochures, conducting surveys and assisting with special events planning.
For the first 15 years, Schultz was put into contact with people through Lenawee County. Students were put to work volunteering for places like art galleries, cafes, the United Way, the Adrian Public Library, HOPE recreational center and the Lenawee Country Chamber of Commerce. Five years ago, Schultz said, people started contacting her.
One project saw Schultz and two students from her Public Relations II class going to Berlin, Germany, during Spring Break in 2005.
They went to the John F. Kennedy Schule, a bicultural and bilingual German-American preparatory school which teaches students from kindergarten through grade 13, to help them make improvements and increase enrollment. They looked at the school’s website and brochures and helped update both, as well as conducting surveys and crunching the data for the institution. The students who went with Schultz were Janet Creque, who works in the PR department at AC, and Erin Vanhala, who is currently employed with Google. While in Germany, Schultz conducted four adult focus groups and Creque and Vanhala conducted two children focus groups to help get information.
“The experience really taught me a lot about PR that one normally wouldn’t learn from just a textbook, to actually be engaged with a client and having to look at solving a problem taught us about creativity, research, culture, and being resourceful,” Creque said in an e-mail. “We also did some evaluation of their website, and that opened my eyes to other aspects of PR and marketing that I had never thought about.”
Creque and Vanhala also had to opportunity to tour Berlin and take in some of the historical sites, go shopping and experience German cuisine.
The opportunity to go to Berlin and have the practical experience with working with a client (and an international one, at that) “was extraordinary,” Creque said.
“I think it was very useful to the school, we made some changes,” Schultz said.
The students don’t only do work with off campus organizations. Other projects have included working with the CAN council, the Underground Railroad Center and the Student Affairs Office. In Schultz’s opinion, helping students get practical experience with clients that they can apply to their careers later in life is well worth the effort that is necessary to include service-learning projects in her curriculum.
“I would keep doing it with our without award,” Schultz said.
Caldwell said that, while she knows service learning is not practical for every classroom setting, she is glad students have the opportunity to participate in service leaning at AC.
“It’s like getting grad school experience with an undergrad curriculum,” Caldwell said.
Creque wasn’t surprised to hear about Schultz receiving the award form the MCC.
“I know in my own job, I am always looking at ways I can help AC students by offering internships in PR, photography, and web design because I realized what a great opportunity Dr. Schultz provided me, and I want to pass that on. She is truly invested in her students’ future, and Michigan Campus Compact could not have chosen a better recipient.”