Story by Tricia Howley
Assistant Professor Eunhee Choi and Assistant Professor Malcolm Scott have each been honored with an Instructional Innovation in Service-Learning Award through the Celebrate! Colorado State Awards, presented on April 18.
Each year, Colorado State University celebrates the teaching, research and service achievements of CSU students, alumni and friends, academic faculty, administrative professionals and classified staff.
Choi employed an individual placement model in her service-learning course, identifying rehabilitation and care facility Golden Peaks Center as the community partner, and pairing students with residents who are socially isolated.
Through these interactions, residents benefited greatly from a variety of activities, which reduced social isolation and offered the students deeper learning about an aging population, while challenging and changing their attitudes about aging.
Choi’s project meets a pressing need in our local community and offers Colorado State University’s School of Social Work students a “lived” experience in their specialized field of aging populations.
In his service learning course, Scott developed a vibrant experiential learning community that consistently engages local community agencies and their constituencies in supporting social work students’ development and effectiveness in their work within the community.
Scott encourages students to move beyond the theoretical, and toward positive and intentional cross-cultural experiences, with populations who are often marginalized. He facilitates powerful inclusive dialogue to deepen student and community understanding of the complex constructs and community services offered to support homelessness, mental health, and incarceration.
Scott has implemented long-term, sustainable service-learning partnerships benefiting multiple local nonprofits and offering hundreds of CSU students a “lived” community experience.
The School of Social Work is part of Colorado State University’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
