College of Liberal Arts and Sciences instructors who want to lead service-learning experiences in Iowa communities have a partner ready and eager to help make it happen: the University of Iowa Office of Outreach and Engagement, part of the Office of the Provost.
The UI Office of Outreach and Engagement’s services to campus include:
- Service-learning course administration
- Community-based research support
- Grant funding for community-engagement activities
- Marketing and promotion
- Coaching and consultation on community-engagement best practices
Connect with the UI Office of Outreach and Engagement:
- Visit the Office of Outreach and Engagement website
- Apply for the current grant-funding cycle
- Questions concerning community-engaged teaching and learning can be sent to Travis Kraus
- For assistance on community-engaged research, contact Nick Benson
- For marketing and promotion assistance, contact Michelle Sillman
An essential part of the Office of Outreach and Engagement’s mission is to connect faculty, staff, and students to communities in Iowa through partnerships. One recent partnership that the office facilitated was between the city of Manning, Iowa, and Professor Frank Durham of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
In need of a client organization for his students’ consulting project, Durham contacted Travis Kraus, director of Economic Development & Sustainability in the Office of Outreach and Engagement. Kraus offered a range of organizations that had answered a request for proposals for advanced student consulting services, and connected Durham with city officials in Manning.
Manning (pop. 1,553) sits proudly in Carroll County four hours west of Iowa City. Manning’s city leaders wanted to reverse the current trend of populations moving away from small cities and wanted to improve publicity for the high quality of life they enjoy in rural Iowa, so they called on the University of Iowa for assistance.
Throughout a semester-long course in the fall of 2018, students worked to develop communication plans that would entice prospective residents to move to or visit Manning.
Durham encourages his colleagues who want to launch public-engagement projects in Iowa communities to work with the Office of Outreach and Engagement, the central hub for community engagement at the University of Iowa.
“The chance for students to work with a live client is magical,” Durham said. “Our visit to Manning brought the whole project to life. The students loved it, and our contacts in Manning were quite enthusiastic, as well.”