Big Things Happen

Edmonton Tofield Sherwood Park Miquelon Lake 50 St 48 Ave 48 Ave Beaver Hills Camrose Daysland 50 St 13A 68 St Rosebud Camrose Dr Calgary Westerose big things happen on a small campus 2009 Report to the Community Battle River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) EcoCafe in Westerose Message from the Dean Beaver Hills Initiative - Beaver Hills Edmonton Public Schools Habitat for Humanity Bethany Group During an invited visit to a local school this winter, I was Boys & Girls Club Hetlinger Tae Kwon Do introduced to a social-services liaison worker whose first Brigantia Place * Learning Together appreciative comment was something like this: “Everywhere I go people are talking about Augustana students. It’s fantastic.” Busy B Bargains in Tofield Meals on Wheels The message was gratifying for me to hear. Having suggested a Camrose Association for Community Living (CAFCL) Miquelon Lake year ago that our Campus was on the verge of an explosion of Camrose Community Connections * Open Door community-based learning and research, it has been wonderful to see it happen. Camrose Composite High School PACE Outreach Camrose County ParentLink In the past year, as this Report shows, our students have been in many places, working with many agencies throughout the Children's Health & Mentorship Program (CHAMP) Respite Care region. Science students conducted water and beaver habitat Charlie Killam School Rosebud Theatre studies at Miquelon Lakes Provincial Park, and undertook GIS Chester Ronning School Sparling School and sector-planning projects with two counties. Psychology students learned about language acquisition in an elementary Community Correctional Services Spencer Environmental in Edmonton school. Art students learned their craft by tutoring in an Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Standard Lions Club in Calgary alternative high-school program. History students peeled an all-day symposium on food issues and an evening class on Daysland Alliance Church Strathcona County back the past through the prism of the vaudeville-era Bailey human rights and cultural pluralism for credit and non-credit Theatre. Global and Development Studies students produced participants. Our jam-packed events calendar says a lot about * Some locations are not marked on the map due to privacy issues. a documentary podcast on farm families concerned about a our scholarly and artistic connections. But, since events are planned resource development. Drama took its fall production nothing without appreciative audiences, it says even more about Photo Credits on the road. Vikings student-athletes participated in a sport the remarkable learning community in which we’re situated. Contents mentorship program. Most of this activity would not have In many ways, the links between the University of Alberta, the Thank you to the following for providing photos: happened without three key ingredients: the energetic work of Dean’s Message 03 Augustana Campus, Camrose and east-central Alberta have Costa Rica Field Studies our Learning and Beyond office; the willingness of professors to grown stronger around opportunities to serve the greater Connecting Communities 05 think outside of conventional classroom settings; and, not least, Glynnis Hood, Environmental Studies Professor good. In 2008-9 our new Fitness Centre at Edgeworth built a Discovery Learning 08 the reception our students have received from community membership of more than 1000. The Performing Arts Centre Trish James, Camrose Boys & Girls Club partners. Academic Theme 10 Dan Jensen, Camrose Booster project moved to the design stage. The first Camrose-based The road between campus and community, of course, runs Donor Profile 11 students completed the Faculty of Nursing’s after-degree Paul "Sparky" Johnson, Drama Professor two ways. In 2008-9, Augustana welcomed Roger Hutchinson, B.Sc.N. program; many began work in the region. At our own Distinguished Alumni 13 Learning & Beyond Office professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, as the Ronning spring convocation we celebrated the first-ever presentation Augustana at a Glance 14 Centre’s first Visiting Distinguished Fellow. In successive weeks of an honorary degree to community leader Berdie Fowler Other photos taken by Michael Holly, Creative Services during the fall we also hosted public talks by scholars from and eagle feathers to two aboriginal graduates. We hosted the Donors 16 Chantal Beesley, Augustana Campus, and Tina Chang. universities like Yale and McGill and Frankfurt. In a year in annual meeting of Boomtown Trail communities as well as the which the campus theme was Food: From Field to Fork, we set a Cover images by Elise Almeida, Creative Services. Heifer in Your Tank roadshow from the Faculty of Agriculture, rich table of concerts, including a first full opera, a distinguished Life and Environmental Sciences. We built relationships with lecture by McCalla professor and geographer Glen Hvenegaard, local farmers whose food we served in our cafeteria. 03 Message from the Dean Connecting Communities That same spirit of partnership was also evident in the Community Service Learning generosity of an increasing number of donors whose combined gifts surpassed the $1-million mark for the By different names, experiential learning has a long history at first time in Augustana’s history. Those gifts humble the Augustana Campus, though it’s usually associated with us and inspire what we do. They will support purposes exotic international and wilderness locations. This year, it like major new scholarships, student summer research has also meant an ambitious set of opportunities for students internships, the Ronning Centre and a practical closer to home – involving at least 60 off-campus agencies. sustainable foods endowment for the Campus. Thanks Community service-learning (CSL) takes students out of the to donors, we are also ready to purchase a nine-foot traditional classroom and encourages them to make their Steinway piano. own connections between theory and practice. Students in In the five years since Augustana became part of CSL-designated courses complete a minimum of 20 hours of (l-r) Karsten Mundel (Director), Danielle Hachey (Program the University of Alberta, one of the quiet changes volunteer work, typically with a non-profit organization, a Marina Endicott reads from Good to a Fault at a campus event Assistant), Leslie Lindballe (Coordinator), Candice Tremblay we’ve absorbed has been a significant increase in school, a social-service agency or municipality. They are also to celebrate the shortlisting of her novel for the Scotiabank (Research Assitant) of the Learning and Beyond (LaB) our admission requirements. In effect, we are now expected to reflect on their experience. Giller Prize. recruiting students from a much smaller pool of office. The office coordinates international, outdoor, and “CSL is one way for an institution to give back to the community potential applicants. All of them have options; many of community service learning offerings at the campus. but we also know that the learning students receive is often them can simply live at home to go to school in bigger more,” says Karsten Mundel who directs the Learning and offering it yet, only around four to five each semester but there’s centres. It’s clear to me that to build our campus we Beyond (LaB) office, which is at the centre of all this activity. around 85 to 90 students per semester that have been placed,” need to make scholarships more competitive and raise Sabrina Phippen, Pigeon Lake, AB, receives the Dean’s Citation “Students are putting into creative tension what they are Karsten says. our profile in places where we’re still a well-kept secret. Entrance award from Dean Roger Epp. Two additional four- learning in the textbook with what they’re experiencing in the We need to highlight our intimate, small-campus Certainly the CSL option has proven popular among students. year Augustana entrance scholarships were established in fall community.” For some it’s a welcome change of pace, one less paper to write. setting, our new facilities and the chance to learn from 2008 and awarded to Charley Switzer, Oyen, AB, and Kathryn In CSL’s first year, no one was sure how students and professors For others, it’s the opportunity to gain practical skills and talented people like Marina Endicott, whose novel Kerr, Vanderhoof, BC. Good to a Fault has won national and international would respond, or how difficult it would be to find community volunteer experience – even try out a career path. recognition, and Ian Blokland, physicist, marathon placements. “It’s interesting, there’s not a ton of courses “We talk a lot about educating the whole person and this is a runner and recipient of a prestigious, early-career way we can formalize that,” Karsten says. “CSL moves away from U of A award for undergraduate teaching. All those the concept that students are empty recipients that you have things are true enough. But it’s also important for us First year student, to fill with knowledge. They have to figure it out themselves, to recruit students to the city of Camrose. With that Alejandro Velez from and in the process learn how about how to relate to people, deal end in mind, our local partnerships are a tremendous Bogotá, Colombia, with conflict and stress.” advantage. Our students experience them through is working with At the Open Door, three students helped with a youth distinctive, hands-on learning opportunities, financial the LaB office as employment program, joining in activities with participants and assistance and a sense of welcome that begins each an international presenting on topics from the justice system to communications September with a block-party barbeque sponsored by Student Liaison. to applying for post-secondary education. One effect was to residents of the campus neighborhood. Augustana, in One of his goals is to break down stereotypes, says executive-director Randal Nickel: turn, is deeply grateful for all this support – and can be bring international “I think it’s an invaluable connection for our youth to say, ‘Hey confident about its future as a result.

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