Monmouth and Knox colleges receive grant to boost community engagement

MONMOUTH, Ill. (KWQC) – A grant to Monmouth College and Knox College will help strengthen both college’s ties to their communities.

The two liberal arts colleges received a $18, 280 grant from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest to work on “Neighbors Supporting Neighbors: Building Institutional Capacity for Community-Based Learning at Knox and Monmouth colleges,” stated a media release from Monmouth College officials. The grant will help faculty to use community-based teaching practices, that will provide more opportunities for classes to engage with their local community.

“With both colleges expanding their civic engagement, staff and new faulty members joining the teaching ranks every year, this is an opportune time to heighten awareness of community-engaged learning, reinforce the value of collaboration between student-life and staff and academic-affairs personnel, and bring community voices into the conversation,” said Monmouth Communication Studies Professor Lori Walters-Kramer.

According to the media release, At Monmouth, Walters-Kramer worked on securing the grant along with biology professor Eric Engstrom, educational studies professor Tammy LaPrad, and Wackerle Center for Career, Leadership & Fellowships Director Marnie Dugan.

Last fall, students in Walters-Kramer’s “Vocation and the Common Good” class served various organizations in the Monmouth-Warren County. Work included providing tutoring at the Teen Recharge Center in downtown Monmouth and leading story time at the Warren County Public Library, stated the media release.

“The first phase of the grant-funded project will allow us to bring an expert to one of our campuses to provide faculty and staff information about the history, value and best practices of community-based pedagogies,” said Walters-Kramer. “Those of us on the team from Monmouth College hope that faculty in departments that do not currently offer a community-engagement course will be inspired to consider participating in the next phase of the grant-funded project which involves providing faculty who want to develop a community-engagement project a stipend as well as time to workshop their ideas with others.”

To learn more visit: http://monmouthcollege.meritpages.com/news/Monmouth-Knox-receive-ACM-grant-to-bolster-community-civic-engagement/32824

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