STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT OSWEGO

Civic Engagement Coalition Newsletter: Fall 2013

SUNY Oswegos Random Act of Kindness Campaign kicked off our spring semester as it started February 11th and continued into the spring semester. Those on campus and middle school students in Mexico, Phoenix, Fulton, and Oswego school districts received Random Acts of Kindness cards to Go.Do.Good. around the community. Campus good-doers performed Random Act of Kindness, filled in their name on the card, and were able to leave it at the scene of the good deed with the receiver. The receiver filled in his/her name and a description of the good deed and returned the card to one of the designated drop boxes on campus. Both the giver and receiver were entered in drawings to win a prize that were announced once a week throughout the semester. The prize was a Bobble water bottle, which filters the water as you drink it and saves 300 water bottles in the process. This played into the sustainability piece of the Thrive Community Incubator. With close to 20 winners and countless cards submitted, people at SUNY Oswego and the greater Oswego Community were spreading the Go.Do.Good. spirit, showing those around us that we care about one another.

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INSIDE THIS Random Act of Kindness Campaign: SUNY Oswego and Beyond ISSUE:
Random Act of Kindness & the Go Do Good Campaign Thrive Community Incubator (Pt. I) Thrive Community Incubator (Pt. II) GENIUS Olympiad Oswego County CARES Civic Engagement Awards Fall 2013 Events and Student Involvement 1

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Thrive Community Incubator Part I: Emily Pilloton & Humanitarian Design

Thrive, the Office of Business and Community Relations Community Incubator project, in partnership with Civic Engagement brought in Emily Pilloton (left), seen on TED Talks, as the spring semesters first speaker. Pilloton, Founder and Executive Director of Project H Design (design initiatives fro Humanity, Habitats, Health, and Happiness), kicked off the two day event by explaining humanitarian design and its many uses in the community, as well as how she involved community educators and students in affecting change in rural Bertie County, South Carolina. Day two was a town hall discussion addressing opportunities to develop similar initiatives here in Oswego County, which was facilitated by Pilloton. The discussion allowed for campus and community members to ask Pilloton, as well as a panel members from some local school districts, BOCES, Department of Social Services, and SUNY Oswegos Technical Education Department, questions about how Oswego County could continue to evolve and incorporate new ideas into its education system and community.

Emily Pilloton

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Community Incubator Part II: Greg Horowitt & Innovation Ecosystems

On April 9th, the second part of the Thrive Community Incubator presented by the Office of Business and Community Relations in partnership with Civic Engagement, Greg Horowitt came to SUNY Oswego to kick off a year-long series of workshops to be held in Oswego County. The goal was to create an innovation ecosystem with Global CONNECT, an applied research and technical assistance consultancy Horowitt co-founded at the University of California-San Diego, which focuses on the development

Try fast, learn quickly, fail small...evolve rapidly. Greg Horowitt

and growth of innovation clusters. Horowitt, author of The Rainforest: How to Build the Next Silicon Valley, has traveled to dozens of cities around the world helping communities grow.

Horowitts book examines the dynamics and drivers of innovation ecosystems and draws from his hands-on experiences in intellectual frameworks. Horowitt was brought in to incorporate some of those ideas in Oswego County. Day two of Horowitts visit allowed for community members from not only SUNY Oswego, but other professionals from around Oswego County, to come together and learn more about one another and themselves. Horowitt gave advice about how the community and local businesses could grow and attract new customers and how to apply some of his consultancys ideas in to the Oswego community.

Photo Credit: Gary Ritzenthaler

Greg Horowitt

Oswego County GENIUS Olympiad at SUNY Oswegos Sustainability Fair

In an effort to promote interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and the environment, the Offices of Business and Community Relations and Civic Engagement held the first annual Oswego County GENIUS Olympiad this April. Building on the success of the International GENIUS Olympiad (working with its Director Fehmi Damkaci), the Oswego County competition is exclusive to Oswego County high school students. Like the international competition, projects were environmental in nature, presented in poster and research paper form, and students will were required to answer questions regarding their project to a team of judges. Projects this first year ranged from carbon footprint-type projects such as "The Footprint of a High School Play" to alternative energy projects such as "How Wind Can Be Used as an Alternate Source of Energy." The Gold Medal was awarded to Parker Wells of Central Square with his project "The Onondaga Lake Watershed." Central Square receives $2000 for mentoring the winning project to be used towards an environmental/sustainable educational project of choice for their school. Wells, along with Director's Choice project "How Economic Status Influences Environmental Views" winners Tiffany Trovato and Eva Jones of Fulton, will be invited to come back to SUNY Oswego to compete in the International GENIUS Olympiad in June. There they will be able to network with scholarly peers from around the world, stay on campus for 5 days, take a trip to Niagara Falls, and have the opportunity to win even more prizes including scholarships. Other winners that day included a Silver Medal for Lacey Rusaw of Fulton for "The Footprint of a Domestic Cat," and Hannah Geitner and Julia Speir of Photo: Director of GENIUS, Fehmi Damkaci of Fulton received Bronze Medals for "The Feasibility SUNY Oswego and Parker Wells of Central Square, the Gold Medalist of the inaugural of Using Green Exercise Equipment." Oswego County GENIUS Olympiad.
Photo Credit: Jon Zella

C IV IC E N G A G E ME N T C O A LIT IO N N E WS LET T ER : F A LL 2013

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Oswego County CARES Expo

Thrive kept the momentum going in April of the spring semester as the Office of Business and Community Relations at SUNY Oswego hosted the Oswego County Community Awareness Regarding Exceptional Services (CARES) Expo. The expo showcase da wide range of human services available to Oswego County residents, as well as several mini seminars of community interest. The CARES Expo was created in partnership with the Rural Health Networks Co -Morbidity Task Force and is co-sponsored by the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Family Support Services Council. The childrens activities were provided by members of Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor Society in Education) and Alpha Phi Omega (national co-ed service-based fraternity) led by SUNY Oswego student Keri Frazer, President of Kappa Delta Pi, and graduate student Jon Zella of the Civic Engagement Coalition.

Civic Engagement Awards

The Agent of Change Award: This award recognizes a student who has identified a need on campus or in the community and worked to address the need or solve the problem. The problem-solving project should be identified and initiated by the student who recognizes events, services, or programs that would not otherwise exist on campus or in the community if the student had not initiated action. Eligibility & Selection Criteria: 1) Demonstrated leadership, committed to ethical action and social responsibility 2) Has identified a campus or community need or problem and worked to provide a solution. 3) Has initiated action on the problem. This year there are two recipients: The first, Brad Frate, Director of Greek Affairs for Student Association, has been involved in a number of projects on SUNY Oswegos campus and the Oswego community including the Quality of Life Campaign. The Quality of Life Campaign was created in order to improve the communitys quality of life as well as college students who reside there during the academic year. Through this objective, Frate and former S.A President Rebecca Witkin, had a goal; to create a relationship with the mayor and chief of police, to effectively communicate to students what the Quality of Life Campaign was and act as the liaisons for the college community. This group met a total of three times this past semester, and the progress made is being continued on through the new SA president (Anthony Smith), and whoever is selected to be the director of Greek Affairs for the next academic year. The Second, Tucker Sholtes, has been actively involved in helping both communities he considers home; Binghamton and Oswego. During the end of August and beginning of September 2011, the Southern Tier of New York was hit with major flooding caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Because of the large amount of SUNY Oswego students whose families and friends were affected by the flooding, a Binghamton Area Flood Relief Project was started by Sholtes with the goal of helping families begin to rebuild both their homes and their lives. Through a collaboration of student organizations, staff and students, five weekend flood relief trips were conducted during the 2011-2012 academic year. Students and staff helped to gut and rebuild homes, rebuild little league baseball fields, construct swing sets at homes that lost them, and replace a community garden. Sholtes applied for and received $2600 in grants to support the recovery efforts along with volunteers from SUNY Oswego, high school students and volunteers from the affected region, and from Queens Habitat for Humanity contributed to making this project successful. Sholtes continued his involvement and commitment to the community in 2012-2013. As a leader in Enactus, he has partnered with a number of other student organizations and community members to help develop the Oswego community garden after its inaugural year in 2012. He recruited students to volunteer at the garden in the fall of 2012 and applied for and received a grant through the campuss ACTS program to help further develop the program. Next, the Civic Leadership Award: This award recognizes a student who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to civic engagement on the campus or in the community. The application should (a) provide evidence of civic leadership during the preceding 12 months and (b) demonstrate the students capacity to identify and begin to address root causes of campus or community issues through creating public policy change or other efforts focused on creating positive change. Eligibility & Selection Criteria: 1) Currently a junior or senior in good standing at SUNY Oswego. 2) Demonstrated civic leadership on campus or in the community. 3) Demonstrated capacity to identify and address root causes of campus or community issues. This years recipient, President of the Political Science Club at SUNY Oswego and long time Student Association Senator Francisco Perez, was a huge help during Civic Engagements Rock the Vote Campaign. He volunteered countless hours of his time and even went as far as to offer to run two nights of events during Constitution Week; both nights of the Film Series. Perez was an intricate part of educating students about the important issues and the candidates stances during the 2012 election season at events as well as tabling. Finally, Perezs ability to collaborate with Civic Engagement allowed members of his organization to become more involved on campus, in the community, and in their nations political process.

State University of New York at Oswego Office: 145 Campus Center (The Compass) Phone: 315-312-5745 Alt. Phone: 315-312-5690 E-mail: Civic@oswego.edu

About us:
The Civic Engagement Coalition assists the Civic Engagement Coordinator to organize purposeful experiences within and beyond the classroom to develop knowledge, skills, motivation, and practice necessary for becoming responsible, engaged citizens in a pluralistic, democratic society. The coalition is composed of students, faculty, and staff who are interested in furthering the mission of the committee and is chaired by the Civic Engagement Coordinator. While all interested members of the college community are encouraged to serve on the CEC, the following areas should be represented: The Center for Community Service and Service Learning Student Association Office of Civic Engagement The four academic schools/colleges and Penfield Library Residence Life and Housing Offices directly engaged in linking the college with the wider Oswego community, such as The The Associate Provost, Chair of Faculty Assembly, and Dean for Student Affairs serve ex officio.

Engage. Involve. Educate.

Social Media

@SUNYOswegoCE

Offices of Experience Based Education, Business and Community Relations, and Extended Learning. The committee meets once monthly during the academic year to report on and make recommendations about curricular and co-curricular civic engagement activity.

Facebook.com/SUNYOswegoCivicEngagement

SUNYOswegoCivicEngagement.wordpress.com

Fall 2013 Civic Engagement Programming & Student Involvement

This fall, SUNY Oswego Civic Engagement is putting together a series of events concentrating on educating students on their civil and civic liberties and responsibilities, both on and off campus. Events will cover current events and their affects on laws, as well as their influence on United States citizens daily life. The programing will feature student and campus organizations from across SUNY Oswego and create an opportunity for students to Students volunteering at SAPBs Fall Concert. engage with those who can answer their Photo Credit Jon Zella questions. We offer community service and volunteer opportunities as well as the chance to network with other campus professionals throughout the fall and spring semesters. Students can become involved, in any capacity, by emailing the Civic Engagement graduate assistant, Jon Zella, at Civic@oswego.edu or by stopping by our office in the Compass during our office hours.

lakerlife.oswego.edu/organization/civicengagement

Newsletter created by Jon Zella and edited by Tammy Elowsky.