PLANTING SEEDS THROUGH SERVICE A Qualitative Approach to Assessing Student Civic Learning Through Community Partnerships

This chapter considers how institutionalizing community engagement through cocurricular service-learning programs can strengthen community– university partnerships. This qualitative study assesses student civic learning outcomes while serving in the yearlong Student Engagement Fellows program, a cocurricular service-learning experience at the University of Mississippi. An ethnographic sensibility (Polin & Keene, 2010) approach was utilized to understand student civic learning in programs structured to bring about transformational partnerships through democratic engagement practices. Exploring student reflections on a partnership with a rural community in the impoverished Mississippi Delta, findings from this study suggest four key student civic learning outcomes and offer considerations as to how stuC o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 9 . I n f o r m a t i o n A g e P u b l i s h i n g . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection Trial printed on 4/29/2020 7:00 PM via UNIV OF MISSISSIPPI AN: 1937674 ; York, Travis, Tinkler, Alan S. , Tinkler, Barri E. ; Service-learning to Advance Access and Success : Bridging Institutional and Community Capacity Account: magn1310.main. ehost 214  L. MARTIN, A. NYLANDER, and L. J. OWENS dent civic learning can be harnessed to enhance the integrity of community– university partnerships. This student engagement project demonstrates how a community–university partnership in a historically struggling region of Mississippi can empower university students in developing a social justice practice rooted in the development of civic learning (DePaola, 2014). Community–university engagement strategies allow higher education to realize a world “in which all students are prepared for lives of engaged citizenship, all campuses are engaged in strong partnerships advancing community goals, and all of higher education is recognized as an essential building block of a just, equitable, and sustainable future” (Campus Compact, 2016, para. 14). While some community engagement scholars (Weerts & Sandmann, 2008) argue that organizational structures communicate a set of values and have meaning beyond the individuals they impact, this study seeks to understand the work taking place under the auspices of these enabling institutional structures, namely how student civic learning can be harnessed to enhance the quality of community–university partnerships. The primary purpose of this research is to present the findings from a study of civic learning outcomes among students participating in a yearlong cocurricular service project housed at the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi. These findings have resonance for community engagement practitioners and scholars seeking to understand the trajectory of civic learning when situated in a project-based community partnership that addresses societal needs while impacting UM students. The expectation is that civic action on the part of the students will support the co-creation of knowledge and facilitate control on the community’s end. The community, in turn, will support community development and action projects they help to create through the student engagement program. The mission of the McLean Institute is to advance transformative service throughout the University and fight poverty through education in Mississippi. Guided by this mission, the McLean Institute works to institutionalize community engagement practices in a way that impacts quality of life in partner communities. The staff at the institute relies on student involvement and community partnerships to fulfill its statewide mission. Student contributions and the guidance of community-based organizations provide needed capacity and insight to fulfill the organizational mission. The Student Engagement Fellows program provides students with an introduction to the principles and practice of community engagement with an emphasis on cultivating mutually beneficial community partnerships. Student engagement fellows receive a $2,000 scholarship for the academic year and a $500 project budget. Fellows participate in a competitive application EBSCOhost printed on 4/29/2020 7:00 PM via UNIV OF MISSISSIPPI. All use subject to https://www.ebsco. com/terms-of-use Planting Seeds Through Service  215 process, and apply on behalf of a registered student organization. Each cohort of Student Engagement Fellows is expected to work collaboratively, involve members of their student organizations in community programming, and tailor their projects to community needs. While the program is cocurricular, the McLean Institute staff provide assigned readings, lead discussions, and facilitate project planning. McLean’s director and coauthor for this chapter is a sociology professor and community development scholar. Informed by a university-wide survey on student engagement, the Student Engagement Fellows program at UM emerged out of a desire to nurture partnerships among student groups and community-based organizations. The McLean Institute recognized the opportunity to align service-oriented student groups with community partners seeking a closer relationship with the university. By housing the program at the McLean Institute, university staff sought to provide continuity of relationships and conceptual framing to encourage sustainable and long-term commitments to community-based organizations.