Nine faculty representing six schools plus the College of Arts and Sciences comprise the newest class of Faculty Fellows in Engaged Scholarship, a yearlong program that seeks to strengthen service-learning opportunities at UAB.
Such opportunities enable faculty, students and community partners to collaborate on projects that extend student learning, provide volunteer help for community endeavors and advance UAB’s mission to support and improve the community.
Each of these educators will develop a new service-learning course or redesign an existing one during the fellowship year and then receive a grant to help develop it:
- Kristin Johnston Chapleau, program specialist in clinical and diagnostic sciences, School of Health Professions
- Suzy Davies, Ph.D., associate professor of health behavior, School of Public Health
- Caroline Harada, M.D., associate professor of gerontology, geriatrics and palliative Care, School of Medicine
- Ragib Hasan, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer and information sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
- Jenna LaChenaye, Ph.D., assistant professor of human studies, School of Education
- Meena Nabavi, program manager in health care organization and policy, School of Public Health
- Eddie Nabors, instructor in accounting and finance, Collat School of Business
- Lourdes Sánchez-López, Ph.D., associate professor of foreign languages, College of Arts and Sciences
- Abidin Yildirim, Ph.D., assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, School of Engineering
The program, entering its fourth year, is structured around a series of interactive workshops exploring theories, implementation strategies, assessment and the integration of service-learning across disciplines. Upon completion, each fellow will receive a $1,500 grant to support course development.
During the 2015-16 academic year, the number of service-learning courses increased by half and enrollment grew 72 percent compared with the previous year. “Students who take service-learning courses tend to be more engaged in their school and community, and they tend to stay in school and graduate,” said Libba Vaughan, director of Service Learning and Undergraduate Research, which directs the program.
The program is open to all faculty involved in undergraduate teaching from any department on campus. For details, contact Vaughan, 996-7080 or libbav@uab.edu. Applications will open for the 2017-18 year in May 2017.
