2006 Portland State University Civic Engagement Award Recipients

Neil Keny-Guyer, director of Mercy Corps, delivered a speech to commence the celebration. To showcase and celebrate the civic engagement efforts of PSU faculty, departmental or programmatic units, and community-based partners, the PSU Center for Academic Excellence recognizes exemplary civic engagement efforts. These awards acknowledge the importance of civic engagement in all facets of university life. President Bernstine delivered the following four awards to each of the recipients:

Excellence in Partnerships for Student Learning
Excellence in Faculty/Community Engagement
Excellence in Departmental Civic Engagement
Excellence in Community-based Research

Excellence in Partnerships for Student Learning

The following community partners are recognized for the contributions their organization has made towards helping PSU realize its motto, "Let Knowledge Serve the City." The organizations achieved this by a) facilitating student learning in a community based context; b) providing venues for faculty to advance their community based scholarship; c) serving as a co-educator with faculty; and d) suggesting creative ways to work with students and faculty in an educational, community development context.

YES! Program! in Collaboration with PSU Faculty Members

Eve Menger and Richard Knight, along with PSU Professors William Becker and Julie Becker, established the non-profit organization Youth Exploring Science (YES!) to organize the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), increase the number of middle and high school students in Portland and across Oregon who are engaging in direct, inquiry-based science, expand the science fair system and the number of students participating in them and provide mentoring to science teachers whose students are science fair participants. PSU�s Center for Science Education works very closely with the YES! volunteers to make the program valuable for students, teachers, parents, and community partners.

Excellence Faculty/Community Partnership

The following faculty/community partnerships are recognzied for their exemplary ability to a) enhance student learning; b) engage in public problem-solving; and c) produce scholarship that addresses a community concern.


The Community and Language Enhancement Partnership

(CLEP) unites PSU�s Applied Linguistics Department with Atkinson Elementary, a linguistically, culturally, and socio-economically diverse public school in Portland. PSU students and faculty work with Atkinson to: develop a multi-cultural, multi-generational garden celebrating diversity with culturally appropriate foods; create a school language policy and materials supporting the sustainability of languages, culture and environment; design multi-cultural curricula; offer English as a Second Language classes for parents; and create a school-wide framework that gives voice to those that traditionally have been not heard due to language and culture barriers.

Janet Cowal, Applied Linguistics
Brian Lynch, Applied Linguistics
Lynn Santelmann, Applied Linguistics
Jeannie Curtis, Atkinson Volunteer Coordinator
Chris Gutierrez, Atkinson Principal

Excellence in Departmental Civic Engagement

The following departments are recognized for making their engagement with community a central aspect of their aggregate approach to student learning and scholarship. They achieve this by a) utilizing community-based learning to facilitate integration of community work and reflection into academic study; b) encouraging the scholarship of engagement where participatory action or applied research is pursued; and c) providing support to key departmental initiatives which engage the community in efforts to fulfill the University's mission.

Maude Hines, English

Through the tireless work of Maude Hines and other PSU faculty, Multnomah County Library and Portland State partnered to support the 2005-06 "Everybody Reads" program. PSU helped the library engage the public in discussing Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. All of the events hosted by PSU were well attended and inspired community conversation related to issues of politics, culture, the history of Afghanistan and the US invasion. This partnership allowed PSU faculty and students to engage with the Portland metropolitan community to discuss educational issues contemporary political events surrounding Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Susan Chan, Music 

In this highly successful community-based learning project, several PSU piano students work with their faculty member to perform for the retirement community at Mary�s Woods, an agency that serves senior citizens. Through this partnership, students at PSU have enhanced learning experiences while they enrich the lives of the audiences in underserved communities. The residents Mary�s Woods and the PSU students have mutually benefited from this partnership, and the performances have brought much joy to the residents. Future performances are strongly encouraged.

Masters of Social Work Program

Julie M. Rosenzweig, Ph.D., M.S.W.; Program Director
Ellen Masterson, M.S.W; Director of Field Education
Janet Putnam, M.S.W.; Director of Student Affairs

Collaborative relationships with community-based agencies are fundamental to the educational mission of the Masters of Social Work Program. Students receive training and supervision from professionals in over 200 local organizations. Agencies in turn are able to extend services beyond the limits of their paid staff. Through reciprocal partnerships, M.S.W. students and agencies together provide essential services to the state's underserved and vulnerable populations.

Excellence in Community-based Research

Faculty/community teams that partner to provide pertinent data and responses to community needs with a focus on research. Any community-based research in social action and/or social change that attempts to promote social justice (Michigan Journal of Community Service. V9, N3. p 5-13, Summer 2003).

Kerth O'Brien, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology Project EQUALED

Project EQUALED (Exploring the Quality of African-American and Latino Experiences with Doctors) is exemplary of community-based research on health disparities issues. In a series of focus groups, community members contributed perspectives on racial disparities and cultural competence in primary care. Project EQUALED works with community members as co-researchers, addresses social justice issues in health care, builds community infrastructure, and applies its research findings to democratize knowledge and strengthen ties between the community and university.

Matthew J. Carlson, Ph.D., Department of Sociology Oregon Health Research and Evaluation Collaborative

The Oregon Health Research and Evaluation Collaborative is a community-based partnership of researchers, physicians, and policymakers from PSU, OHSU, Portland Veterans Affairs, Providence Health System, and two state agencies. It provides hundreds of thousands of grant dollars, faculty publications, and community internships. Most importantly, research conducted recently by the Collaborative caused state lawmakers to revise Oregon Health Plan rules in order to make it easier for Oregonians to maintain their health insurance.

Robert L. Bertini, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Christopher Monsere, Ph.D., P.E., Assistant Research Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Professors Bertini and Monsere have made effective use of community involvement in their research by actively engaging the key community stakeholders that plan to implement research findings. In a unique partnership, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab archives the transportation data collected by Portland-area transportation agencies and supports a key safety initiative in the City of Portland. Bertini and Monsere work closely to build relationships with these partners on a daily basis.