Office of Public Engagement
Updates
September 2015
New Year / New Faces
The Office of Public Engagement welcomes a new academic year and three new team members. At the same time we say good bye to a dedicated, long time state and UConn employee.
Mary Feathers, OPE’s Program Administrator since 2010, has made the decision to retire. Mary’s contributions to UConn and to engagement are substantial. We will miss her steady, calm presence and her welcoming manner toward all. We wish Mary the very best in this next exciting chapter.
Anna Dilley, a second year Masters/Doctoral student in Educational Leadership at the Neag School of Education, has joined OPE as our new Graduate Assistant for the UCONN Cities Collaborative (UCC) While earning a dual degree from Purdue University (B.A., Fine Arts - Textiles; B.S., Psychology), this self-described “wicked knitter” founded a knitting club whose members created and donated hats for premature babies in local hospitals. Anna feels passionately about leveraging university resources to benefit local communities and is eager to apply that passion to her work with UCC.
Susan Graham-Handley, our new Program Specialist, is no stranger to UConn. She served as an Academic Advisor for over 10 years on the Greater Hartford and Waterbury campuses. Before coming to UConn, she was a consultant at the former Department of Higher Education. A true UConn alum, Susan earned two master’s degrees (Sociology and Communication Sciences) and her B.A. in Communication Sciences at UConn. Susan’s work at OPE will focus on programming, capacity building, and sustainability.
Edlira Kostallari, our new Graduate Assistant for the New England University-Assisted Community Schools Collaborative (NEUACSC) has just begun her doctoral program at UConn in Economics. Eda earned her M.S. in Applied Economics from St. Cloud State University where she founded and served on both the Graduate Student Advisory board and the Graduate Student Organization. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Tirana majoring in Business Administration and Management. Eda has experience working with schools and program development which will be a huge asset to OPE, as will her ability to speak six languages!
Service Learning
Since January, ten dedicated UConn faculty members have been meeting regularly to exchange ideas, to explore components of pedagogy and to create innovative, high impact, engaged academic opportunities for their students as part of OPE’s Service Learning Fellows program. We are pleased to introduce the 2015 Service Learning Faculty Fellows. For more on the fellows, click here.
- Kimberly Bergendahl, Assistant Professor In Residence, Political Science, Storrs
- Course: Politics of Crime and Justice
- Community Partners: Office of the Victim Advocate, UConn Police Department, Perspective Programs
- Phil Birge-Liberman, Assistant Professor in Residence, Urban and Community Studies, Waterbury
- Course: Geographical Analysis of Urban Social Issues
- Community Partner: Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury,
- Syma Ebbin, APIR, Agriculture and Resource Economics, Marine Science, Avery Point
- Course: Environmental Science
- Community Partners: Town of Groton, Departments of Parks and Recreation, Planning and Development
- Oskar Harmon, Associate Professor, Economics, Stamford
- Course: Contemporary Problems in Economics
- Community Partners: Connecticut Commission on Aging, Kidsafe CT, UConn Stamford
- Mark Kohan and Susan Payne, Asst. Clinical Prof and Assoc. Clinical Prof, Neag School of Education, Storrs
- (Course to be offered in Spring of 2016)
- Rasy Mar, Community Based Education Specialist, Medical School, Farmington
- Principles of Clinical Medicine
- Adam Rabinowitz, Assistant Research Professor, Agriculture and Resource Economics, Storrs
- Course: Marketing and Consumer Behavior
- Community Partners: Auer Farm, Foodshare, Grow Hartford, Extension - Tolland
- John Redden, Visiting Assistant Professor, Physiology and Neurobiology, Storrs
- Course: Scientific Writing in Neurobiology
- Community Partners: National Organization of Rare Diseases (NORD), and UConn
- Kristina Wagstrom, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Storrs
- Course: Air Pollution
- Community Partners: Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association, UConn Office of Environmental Policy
Our Mission
The Office of Public Engagement’s mission is to assist in the development of engaged citizens through coordination, advocacy and capacity building for engagement activities. Civic engagement, service learning, engaged scholarship, university assisted community schools, strategic partnerships, and communities as partners and collaborators are examples of programs and activities offered by the OPE. The work of the office is through and with others across all disciplines, all campuses and with our community partners.
Public Engagement provides resources for faculty, professional staff and students to integrate engaged scholarship into their academic, research and service programs, and maximize the University’s impact on the communities with whom it engages by facilitating interdisciplinary connections and forming long-term community partnerships.
Contact Us
Phone: (860) 486-4854
E-mail: engagement@uconn.edu
Address: 368 Fairfield Way U-4201
Storrs, CT 06269-4201
For more information, contact: The Office of Public Engagement at 860.486.4854