Texas Tech University – �鶹��Ƶ

Community Vision and Academic Collaboration in El Paso, Texas

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:09 +0000

The partnership was initiated by the El Paso Community partners. After conducting a needs assessment that included findings that there were few registered Hispanic architects in El Paso, El Paso American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chapter and community partners approached universities for collaboration. Dr. Valerie Paton represented Texas Tech’s Provost’s Office in early articulation agreements and opening of the 2+2 program in 2007 and began conducting research on successful transfer pathways for Hispanic students, engaging six College of Education doctoral students in the research and publication and presentation of the findings. From inception, the partnership honored reciprocity and mutuality with the community partners sharing their vision and Tech responding. Together, the partners co-created new curriculum, student support, mentoring, internship, and student-led community engagement activities. Together, the partners wrote a collaborative grant application.

Music and You: A Partnership with the TTU Flute Studio and the Carillon Life Center

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:09 +0000

The TTU Flute Choir, directed by Lisa Garner Santa, Professor of Flute, has created a partnership program with the Carillon Life Center titled “Music and You.” Students are working directly with the Carillon Life Center to explore the relationship between performer and audience, programming for specific populations, and the successful implementation of the logistics behind a musical production. The Carillon Residents are the audience for the performance experience and will provide the inspiration for the musical programming choice.

The TTU Flute Choir, comprised of 20 flute students directed by Lisa Garner Santa, Professor of Flute and School of Music Associate Director of Learning and Teaching, has created a partnership program with the Carillon Life Center titled “Music and You.” Students work directly with the Carillon Life Center to explore the relationship between performer and audience, programming for special populations, and the successful implementation of the logistics behind a musical production. It is common knowledge that medical research supports positive correlations between music and the aging mind, as well as the positive impact of integrating aging populations with younger ones.

Promoting Child Development, Inclusion, and Health through Natural Learning

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:09 +0000

The Coalition for Natural Learning (CNL) is a collaboration between Texas Tech University faculty, Texas state agencies, departments, and organizations. The coalition was created as a more formalized recognition of the ongoing multidisciplinary efforts between Dr. Kristi Gaines (Department of Design), Dr. Malinda Colwell (Human Development and Family Studies), Dr. Charles Klein, and Dr. Muntazar Monsur (Landscape Architecture). CNL engages with its partners through research, teaching, service, outreach & engagement through many forms such as publications and multidisciplinary partnerships.

The CNL has developed a number of strategic relationships and partnerships and each member of the team has expertise to contribute to the initiative. CNL has 1) created an OLE! Design and OLE! Inspector Guide, 2) developed materials to be used for statewide trade shows and presentations, 3) developed and implemented curriculum to train designers in best practices, 4) recruited designers and provided technical assistance, 5) served on the statewide OLE! leadership team, and 6) developed presentations shared with Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Association of Young Children, and other groups as requested. The work through the coalition is providing state agencies, community leaders, administrators, educators, students, and parents resources about utilizing natural environments to promote the socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children. Texas Tech University will benefit by creating stronger multidisciplinary connections that can benefit the training of graduate and undergraduate students.

Professional Ethics LIVE! A Community Partnership in Continuing Education

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:09 +0000

Professional Ethics LIVE! is an annual, Texas Tech University student-run continuing education initiative serving the professional development needs of licensed engineers, architects, landscape architects, and interior designers who live and practice in Lubbock, the South Plains and the Texas Panhandle. The key community partner in the initiative is the South Plains Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (South Plains TSPE), and the key university partner is the Texas Tech University Student Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (Tech TSPE), both of which share affiliation through their parent organization, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). Additional community collaboration exists through AIA Lubbock which is the regional component of the American Institute of Architects, and through the National Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE), headquartered at Texas Tech University.

From the outset, Professional Ethics LIVE! was framed as a relationship between Texas Tech University engineering students, faculty and the local design professional community to promote and satisfy the needs of all partners. Tech TSPE student members invest sweat equity necessary to host the event. In exchange for publicity, NIEE has provided technical content (its educational materials) and expertise (its Deputy Director). Production costs are shared between Tech TSPE and South Plains TSPE, with South Plains TSPE accepting the financial risk, providing direct access to its members as potential attendees, providing guidance on program requirements, and offering experience and support in hosting successful engineering community events of this scale.

CASNR Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement Program

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:08 +0000

Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) began an innovative program to engage promising young adults with outstanding leaders in agricultural policy, natural resources, industry relations, and entrepreneurship. In an effort to address the increasing need for emerging leaders to fully understand the diverse issues, challenges, and opportunities affecting agriculture and rural America, the Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement was designed to give CASNR undergraduate students a unique, high-impact learning experience. The MILE is a competitive, 14-student, three-semester leadership and professional development program that seeks to develop participants’ personal and professional skills while exposing them to the key issues affecting local, state, and national agriculture.

Industry and community engagement are the backbone of the MILE Program. Current partners who are actively engaged with the program, include a combination of agricultural commodity and livestock organizations, and charitable organizations. MILE partners include the 1687 Foundation, San Antonio Livestock Exposition, Texas Corn Producers Board, and Landmark Nurseries Inc. The networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities that occur between leaders in these organizations and our student participants create a unique, high-impact experience that will propel them in their careers. Many opportunities exist to develop additional partners through field trips in Texas’ ag-producing regions, travel to Washington D.C. and Austin, and other experiential-based sessions.

Community Engagement through Coral Reef Research Initiatives

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:07 +0000

Coral reefs are vital to healthy marine ecosystems but are in serious decline due to pollution, global warming, and other threats. This decline also has serious ecological consequences to communities that rely on tourism to coral reefs as a central source of income. In this presentation Dr. Stephanie Lockwood discusses the multinational, study abroad undergraduate research program designed to promote safe and sustainable means to preserve and rehabilitate the coral reefs of Honduras, allowing real world research opportunities for students.

Winner of the 2022 President’s Engaged Scholarship Award for Excellence in Engaged Research

STEM Explorers Program

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:07 +0000

The STEM Explorers program started in Lubbock during the spring semester of 2019 at a disciplinary alternative education program within Lubbock ISD with six students as a STEM/robotics education and behavior intervention and has grown to include six sites in the spring of 2022. It explicitly incorporates social and emotional learning and cognitive behavioral techniques and strategies to support students beyond the STEM content. There has been marked improvements in student behavior, attitudes toward school, academic achievement, and future interest in both STEM and education. The program also provides undergraduate students (many studying to become teachers themselves) with an opportunity not found in many courses. The STEM Explorers Program was presented by Daniel Kelly, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, TTU College of Education.

Winner of the 2022 President’s Engaged Scholarship Award for Excellence in Engaged Teaching

Lubbock Children’s Literature and Film Festival

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:07 +0000

The Lubbock Children’s Literature and Film Festival (LCLFF) is a community-oriented celebration of children’s literature and film that intends to contribute to local and regional youth-based arts programming and raise awareness of reading and viewing as family-centered events. Their goal is to bring families from Lubbock and across the South Plains together to promote children’s literature and film as opportunities for learning, building family bonds, and forging community ties. Leveraging the power of literature and cinema to foster the imagination and build groups of shared interest, LCLFF champions authors and filmmakers that expose the families of Lubbock to innovative and international forms of cultural expression, experienced collectively in a social setting.

The LCLFF strengthens existing relationships we, as Texas Tech faculty, have with several community resources, including LHUCA (Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts) and KTTZ (Texas Tech Public Media). LHUCA, in particular, contributes their Icehouse Theater space to the event as a form of community partnership and co-sponsor, rather than charging the regular rental fee. LHUCA is excited to begin a mutually beneficial relationship, working as a partner to benefit the community by supporting much-needed children’s programming in Lubbock.

Voices from the Vernacular Music Center: A podcast in Community Arts and Education

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:06 +0000

The Vernacular Music Centers work focuses on research, teaching, and advocacy in the world’s vernacular musics- musics and dance that are learned, taught, and passed-on by ear and in memory. “Voices from the Vernacular Music Center: A Podcast in Community Arts and Education” is a podcast about how, why, when, and with what impact people share music, dance, and culture. This presentation highlights how inclusive, collaborative, regionally-and culturally informed programing creates high-quality, accessible resources for learners, teachers, and communities. This presentation was presented by Christopher Smith, Professor and Director of the Vernacular Music Center, School of Music, J.T. and Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Winner of the President’s Engaged Scholarship Award for Excellence Engaged Creative Activity

Community Partners: Balfolk Lubbock & Roots Music Institute 501c3

Texas Education Policy Fellowship Program

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:06 +0000

Three TTU faculty members, Drs. Rebecca Hite, Jessica Gottlieb, and Jon McNaughtan, over three years have designed and implemented a nine-month in-depth community-engaged service program that recruits and professionally develops cohorts of mid-level leaders from across the state of Texas. The mission of the EPFP nationally and here at the Texas site is to expand participants’ knowledge of education policy, develop fellows’ situated skills in advocacy-based leadership, and help them cultivate new networks and connections among policy scholars, equity experts, and community leaders in education. Upon graduation, fellows are equipped, empowered, and engaged in improving problems of policy and practice in P-20 Texan education and beyond.

Winner of the 2022 President’s Exemplary Engaged Scholarship Program Award

Community Partner: Mid-Level P-20 Texas Educators