VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Council for Community Engagement has awarded one-year grants totaling $100,000 to eight university-community programs established to respond to community-identified needs.

The Community Engagement grant awards were announced at a reception at Scott House on May 14.

Cathy Howard, Ph.D., vice provost for community engagement, told attendees they were playing a critical role in increasing the level of community engagement, which was identified as a key theme in VCU’s strategic plan three years ago.

“We truly value our role in this community,” Howard said. “We are committed to having our faculty, staff and students get involved in the community to meet the important goal of maintaining VCU as a model for university-community partnerships.”

Grants were awarded to:

Enhancing Self-Regulation and Social Competence in Head Start Children, a partnership between VCU’s School of Allied Health Professions, occupational therapy, the Department of Psychology, the School of Social Work and VCU Head Start to provide training to families, children and teachers in the VCU Head Start program to enhance self-regulation skills and improve social competence in at-risk preschoolers. 

ECO-Monitoring: Ecology, Chemistry, Observation, Mentoring, a partnership between VCU’s Center for Environmental Studies, Center for Life Sciences Education, the departments of biology, chemistry and pathology, the School of Medicine, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Charles City County Public Schools in which middle and high school students in Charles City County will serve as citizen scientists by participating in a pilot program to monitor box turtles.

Education and Care of Patients with Hypertension and Diabetes in a Free Clinic, a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and Ambulatory Care Center Internal Medicine Pharmacy Services Clinic, Women’s Health Center at Stony Point, VCU Medical Center, VCUHS Community Care Programs and the Richmond Area High Blood Pressure Center to expand the educational initiatives and clinical care at the center to include high-risk patients with both hypertension and diabetes.  

Peep This: Using Documentary Filmmaking to Engage African American Male Adolescents Living in High Risk Urban Neighborhoods, a partnership between the department of African American Studies, the School of the Arts, the department of photography and film, media, arts and text program and the Family Resource Center in which male adolescents in Richmond’s East End will learn to create documentary films relevant to Richmond history and their own community experiences.

Enhancing Biotechnology and Forensic Sciences Instruction in the K-12 Classroom, a partnership between the departments of forensic science and biology, the Center for Life Sciences Education, Richmond Public Schools, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Virginia Biotechnology Research Park and Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences to create continuing education workshops for middle school and high school teachers. Through the partnership, local teachers will have access to specialized continuing education, supply kits, equipment loans, model lesson plans, training videos and teacher mentors. 

VCU Medical Reserve Corps Pilot Project, a partnership between the Division of Health Careers/Education and Special Services for Students, the VCU Health System; the department of emergency medicine; the City of Richmond Office of Emergency Management; the Richmond City Health District; the Virginia Department of Health and the Central Virginia Planning Agency in which the Richmond Medical Reserve Corps, a network of volunteers that supports existing health agencies, will work with VCU to develop a university network for effective disaster response during regional emergencies.

VCU Extends Helping Hands, an expansion of a partnership between the School of Education, the department of psychology, the School of Social Work, the Counselor Education Student Networking Association, St. Andrew’s School and the Friends Association in which the team will work to meet the educational, social and behavioral needs of at-risk children from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade at St. Andrew’s School and Friends Association.

Cosby High School Health Sciences Exploration II, a collaboration between University College, the VCU Health System, the Center for Health Disparities, the Office of Student Outreach Programs at the School of Medicine, the admissions office from MCV campus programs, the Cosby High School Health Sciences Specialty Center and the Virginia Mentoring Partnership to offer a one-credit course on health sciences careers to about 120 students enrolled in the Cosby High School Sciences Specialty Center.

The eight grantees were selected from a group of 15 proposals. Members of the Council for Community Engagement gifts and grants committee selected the successful grantees.