On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, the Office of Community Engaged Learning (OCEL) and the Center for Community Research and Education (CCRE) hosted another Faculty-Partner Roundtable for this semester. The CCRE is an office at Lewis that works from the College of Education and Social Sciences to facilitate research projects and programs focused on the needs of communities.
With over 40 participants, faculty and staff from different departments and disciplines at Lewis University met with representatives of community organizations to discuss areas for potential collaboration. As the first time that this event has been held in-person since the start of the pandemic, many were eager to discuss their interests in future projects and activities.
The gathering began with a presentation from Laura Wilmarth Tyna (OCEL Director) and Dr. Emily Shayman (OCEL faculty advisor and professor in social work). Both spoke to what “community engagement” means to the Lewis community and the ways in which the university facilitates such interactions. From there, the participants were free to move around and interact with each other as desired. Topics such as data-oriented research and educational opportunities were just a couple of the ones discussed.
As we expect more opportunities to arise for people at Lewis and our community partners, OCEL will continue supporting such collaborations in a variety of ways. With the success that this roundtable event had, we expect to be hosting many more to come. Thanks to Dr. Hannah Klein and Dra. Joanna Maravilla from the CCRE for their support in hosting this event, and a special thanks to all who could be there. We hope that this marks the start of more productive partnerships and the continuation of community engagement here at Lewis University.