In this Issue SPRING INTO ACTION:2004 Programs Launched Upcoming 2004 Conference: Join us! FFLC: Faculty Sharing Service-Learning WCELF: Students Redefining Community Engagement PURS: CBOs and Researchers Thinking Collectively Featured CBO: The Perry School

In this issue, you will find stories on our new programs: The Faculty Fellows Learning Circle, the Partners in Urban Research Seminar, and the Washington Civic Engagement and Leadership Fellows. Also, be sure to register for the April 17th Conference on Community Driven Research and Social Change. Wishing you a warm and pleasant spring! -- The CoRAL Network Staff

SPRING INTO ACTION:2004 Programs Launched

January 2004 saw the launch of three new CoRAL programs, supported through a Learn and Serve/Higher Education Grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The first program, the Faculty Fellows Learning Circle, meets regularly to examine critical issues in service- learning and community-based research and apply these principles and practices to their teaching. Next, the Partners in Urban Research Seminar (PURS) involves faculty and community leaders to develop a community-driven research agenda on key local issues for the national capital region, focusing on public education to create linkages with schools and CBOs in support of K-12 and higher education initiatives. Finally, the Washington Civic Engagement and Leadership Fellows (WCELF) allows qualified undergraduates from consortium universities to hone their community organizing and campus leadership skills, first by examining issues of poverty and social justice in the District, then through designing and implementing their own community-based research programs.

The buzz about these programs stems from their innovative cross-campus collaborations. Bringing together faculty, researchers, and students from seven universities in the Washington region, along with leaders of community organizations, the programs are the first of their kind in the Washington region.

Guiding these initiatives is the belief that intercampus synergies are key to effective civic engagement in the District of Columbia. Rare is the opportunity to connect with one¡¦s counterparts from other campuses in a seminar setting, to discuss community-based learning and research. The outcomes of these seminars will begin to take shape in fall 2004, when each program will begin implementing a project formulated this spring. To date, universities participating in the CoRAL Network are American University, Catholic University of America, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Trinity College, University of the District of Columbia, and the University of Maryland. Through fostering relationships between members of these schools, the CoRAL Network hopes that these initiatives will foment new ideas and facilitate greater communication among institutions of higher education. By combining the incredible resources afforded the DC community by the different universities, these initiatives will set precedence for the potential of cross-campus collaboration.

Find out more....

	Upcoming 2004 Conference: Join us!
You've received the emails. You've seen the flyers. You've heard your friends and coworkers discussing the calls for papers. Now it's time for you to register for the 2004 Conference on Community Driven Research and Social Change in the National Capital Region. CoRAL's first annual conference will be held on April 17th, 2004 at Georgetown University. This year's conference theme is on stakeholders' roles and responsibilities in successful community-based research. The conference is open to anyone involved in community-based research or learning in the greater Washington metropolitan area. Faculty, researchers, community organizations, and students will be in attendance to network, present, and learn about social change during this engaging conference. The conference will include a networking breakfast and lunch, and panel and poster presentations focusing on stakeholders in community-driven research and critical issues in the National Capitol Region. CoRAL is excited that David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, is our first keynote speaker. He will discuss his vision of service-learning and its role in fostering civic engagement and community development both locally and nationally. Registration for the conference is online and free. For more information and the registration form, please visit our website, www.coralnetwork.org. Conference Information and Registration »

	FFLC: Faculty Sharing Service-Learning
Engaging fifteen faculty from six DC-area universities, the Faculty Fellows Learning Circle has created an exciting atmosphere in which professors pursue ways to ¡§increase the quantity and quality of service- learning and community-based research¡¨ in the Washington region. While the CoRAL Network has been working to fulfill the cross-campus communication void for all three of the newly-launched initiatives, Faculty Fellows Learning Circle participants in particular have embraced the opportunity to finally have a dialogue about service- learning in their classrooms, across their campuses, and throughout DC. Beginning in January 2004, the FFLC meets eight times this semester at two-hour meetings on Friday afternoons. Discussions so far have touched on topics ranging from student experience and community agency involvement to commitment from higher administration and non-traditional academic disciplines. Some specific seminar discussions focused on preparing students for interaction with diverse communities, and understanding the organizations that researchers work with and how the organization¡¦s politics, the services they provide, and their involvement in advocacy affect service-learning. Additionally, the faculty fellows have tackled the question of ¡§What is service-learning?¡¨ as well as explored definitions of community and theories of adult learning. In addition, one of the projects of FFLC program will be to design a new course curriculum or modify an existing one including service-learning/ community-based research. The participants look forward to implementing this course in the 2004-2005 academic year. Marie Troppe, the seminar facilitator, realizes the value of bringing faculty researchers together in the seminar setting: "Faculty don't usually have the time and space to talk about service-learning theory and implementation. The Faculty Fellows program enables them to come together across disciplines and from different kinds of institutions to explore service-learning pedagogy and create a community of faculty interested in social change." She also expressed the faculty¡¦s eagerness and excitement during the meetings, noting that ¡§Two hours are never enough. Eight meetings are never enough.¡¨

	WCELF: Students Redefining Community Engagement
Drawing from seven Washington-area universities, the WCEL fellows are involved in some aspect of community service on their home campuses, and embrace the opportunity to work directly with the community. So when given the choice to implement a research project or develop a new community based-organization, this group of dynamic student leaders unanimously opted for the latter. However, creating an innovative community program pushed the student fellows to conduct their fair share of research. Throughout February, they attended issue seminars on public housing, public education, and local governance and neighborhood development. They were joined by community leaders including Michael Kelly, executive director of the DC Housing Authority, Deborah Evans from the DC Public School Board, Tamara Lumpkin of the DC Public Charter School Board, Tahi Reynolds researcher and analyst from DC Voice, and Neil Richardson, director of the government agency Neighborhood Action. WCEL Fellow Mark Seaman, a sophomore at American University and executive director of the Eagle Endowment for Public and Community Service notes that ¡§It has been very helpful to gain more knowledge about the problems DC faces. Housing, education, and the ways the problems converge are important to know in order to address the areas of greatest need. Now that we know more about the city and its problems, we can bring our ideas together to create a definite change.¡¨ With such an abstract task, the student fellows were at first a little uncertain about where to go with the project. But as of March, they are developing a project that would be as extensive as it would be inclusive: based on the principles of a collaborative involvement and community solidarity, the project will create a network of concerned DC students, parents, and community leaders who see first-hand the problems their community faces, and connect them with universities and with one another, to provide support and resources. WCELF promises to bring some ¡§fresh¡¨ perspective to community service in the District of Columbia by combining voices of students from different universities with the voices of the community members. Creative solutions to deep-rooted problems will remain central to the students¡¦ accomplishments, transcending conventional boundaries between DC universities, citizens, and community organizations. By staying in touch with the citizens and the organizations that serve them, the student fellows have committed themselves to long-lasting change in DC, recognizing that any steps towards progress in DC will effectively involve and reverberate in every aspect of the community.

	PURS: CBOs and Researchers Thinking Collectively
Since late January, the Partners in Urban Research Seminar (PURS) has been meeting every other Thursday afternoon for two hour sessions to discuss the role and advancement of community-based research in the Washington region. Faculty and researchers from seven universities, and community leaders from organizations such as the Council for Latino Agencies, Young Latino Leadership Council, Living Wages, DC Voice, and Kids 2 College, are forging meaningful partnerships to target opportunities for change- oriented research in the public education domain. Eventually, the group will conduct a research project focusing on one aspect of public education. The PURS process focuses on the needs in the DC region, in correlation with the skills, strengths, and interests of the group members. The initial meetings have served to acquaint participants with one another and identify their common interests. Their discussions about rapports between their areas of concern and the various opportunities for public service and community- based research projects, have generated new ideas about research practices and the condition of public education in DC. Group dialogue focuses on key issues such as standardization of the DC schools curriculum, parent involvement in schools, cultural and linguistic disconnects in schools, and school administrative policies. Several of the members have given presentations on their specific community involvement. GU staff Tom Bullock and Charlene Brown-McKenzie also presented their programs Kids 2 College and High Skip. Additionally, participants are examining existing documentation and research regarding education in the District, including the Blue Ribbon Report and the Great City Schools Report. PURS hopes to have decided upon their specific research topic by the end of the session, May 6. Once it has agreed upon a project, the PURS group also hopes to add additional members from the DC school system. PURS is facilitated by Deanna Cooke, PhD, the Assistant Director of the Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching and Service at Georgetown University.

	Featured CBO: The Perry School
Home to the CoRAL Network offices since January of this year, the Perry School Community Services Center Inc. is located in the North Capital neighborhood in the District of Columbia. The red-bricked former school building, which was once a nationally recognized high school for African Americans, now houses twelve non- profit organizations, each offering diverse services but all collaborating on a common anti-poverty mission dedicated to human development. On average, the organizations located in the Perry School receive more than 5254 visitors per month who access a range of services, including a health care clinic, social services, dance and art classes, after-school programs, job training, and income tax assistance. The Perry School Community Services Center is the most comprehensive human services center in the District of Columbia. Beyond managing and maintaining the building, the Perry School also provides direct services. The Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-school Youngsters (HIPPY) program trains community residents to serve as home visitors to teach parents how to prepare their young ones for school. Parents and child caregivers learn the importance of reading to children everyday and providing summer enrichment opportunities to ensure that each HIPPY graduate is well-prepared to start school. Licensed social workers at the Perry School are also available to help individuals and families overcome crises through counseling, emergency assistance, and referrals, GED and other job training and development courses, such as a certified home health aid certification program, are in place to help individuals develop the skills they need to acquire jobs at above-poverty wages. These services and programs are just a few of the anti-poverty initiatives undertaken by the Perry School. Long-time resident and well-respected community activist, Alverta Munlyn describes the role of the Perry School Community Services Center within the North Capital neighborhood as "a vehicle to provide the community with the resources needed to empower families to achieve self-sustainability." Ms. Munlyn and other community leaders spearheaded the effort to convert the Perry School building into a comprehensive community center and open its doors to the community in 1998. For many years, the building was covered and almost hidden by overgrown foliage and ivy. Today it stands as a testament to the rich history, resiliency, and potential of the community it serves.

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