Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - B.J. Reed, associate professor and chair of the department of communication technologies at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, received the first Award for Excellence in Service Learning. The award recognizes a faculty or teaching academic staff member who has made distinguished contributions to student engagement through service learning. These service learning experiences combine student learning in such a way that both the student and community mutually benefit from the experience.

Reed's nomination came as a direct result of the work she does with her Public Relations Strategies course. Over the duration of this semester-long course students, "conduct research, produce a case study, develop objectives, activities, a budget, a timeline, a list of staff responsibilities, a statement of benefits and then present this proposal to a client in a public forum," Reed said.

She also noted that students and the organizations stand to gain many benefits from this class' projects.

"Students gain the opportunity to see how to apply classroom instruction to existing organizations, working within realistic parameters for resources and creativity. Students make valuable networking contacts, which offer them additional opportunities through internships and job offers. The organizations get the benefit of a fresh perspective, volunteer hours, and an increasing potential-employee pool," she said.

Organizations that have benefited from this project say they are appreciative of the work that the students have done. The Family Center, a non-profit organization which serves as a resource for parents, benefited from the fall 2006 class.

Francie Tuescher, the former executive director of The Family Center of Grant County, said, "Professor Reed and her students developed a comprehensive sustainability plan at a very detailed level for The Family Center." Tuescher continued, "The Special Topics in Fundraising class took on a challenge that we were unable to. We knew that we needed to focus on developing a sustainability plan but did not have the resources to accomplish the task."

Organizations are not the only ones benefiting from this process. Students say they are also gaining valuable life experiences. Eileen Dushek-Manthe, a former student of Reeds, said, "Many of the skills I developed during this project are the very ones I use daily in my position of public relations representative, writer and grant writer for the Sinsinawa Dominincan Sisters."

Lindsey Konken, another former student of Reeds, agreed with Dushek-Manthe. Konken noted, "This large-scale project, working with a local school district, was the most in-depth and real world experience I had as a student." Konken continued, "Four years of book work and lectures brought me far in preparing me for the professional world, but no other single project brought my education as full-circle as this service learning project. It taught me how to deal with so many aspects of the professional public relations world: budgets, clients, timelines, deadlines, testing, presentation results." Reed was recognized at the University Convocation. She received a monetary award along with a UWP recognition plaque

Contact: Benjamin Collins, chair, Improvement of Learning Committee, (608) 342-1746, collingbe@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Nicole Eggebeen, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,eggebeen@uwplatt.edu