WEST VIRGINIA CAMPUS COMPACT CONFERENCE ON CAMPUS APRIL 20
Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College will host the second annual statewide conference for Campus Compact on Wednesday, April 20. The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Falcon Center.
“The event is an opportunity for faculty, students, staff and community members interested in service learning and community service pedagogies to come together to share ideas and best practices,” said Franchesca V. Nestor, Director, West Virginia Campus Compact.
West Virginia Campus Compact (WVCC) is a coalition of 27 colleges and universities in West Virginia which aim to preserve the public mission of higher education. WVCC works with college presidents, administrators, faculty and students to provide high-quality service learning and community service experiences that help colleges, students and communities. Through grants, access to research, networking opportunities and other resources, WVCC reaches out to higher education institutions of all kinds across the state to help them be more involved in their communities.
“We are excited to team with Pierpont and West Virginia Campus Compact to host the conference on campus this year. Part of Fairmont State’s mission is to help our students develop responsible citizenship and this partnership with West Virginia Campus Compact is an excellent opportunity,” said Dr. Maria Rose, Interim President of FSU.
“It’s a pleasure to help host a group of students who are interested to help in their communities,” said Dr. Doreen Larson, President of Pierpont Community & Technical College. “The very essence of a community college is to be involved in and responsive to the unique needs of the communities it serves. These students and their faculty mentors are at the forefront of that effort.”
Many of the presenters for this year’s conference are participants in WVCC’s Community LINK Program. The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation-funded grant provides $5,000 grants to faculty who work with teams in rural West Virginia communities to create in-depth, high-impact service learning courses that benefit student learners and the communities. FSU is a participant in this pilot project.
The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. with registration and breakfast in the third floor Falcon Center conference rooms. The program will begin with welcomes from Nestor, FSU Interim President Maria Rose and Pierpont President Doreen Larson.
From 9:15 a.m. to noon, teams from colleges and universities will give workshops about their campus projects. A poster and networking session will follow from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. LINK class presentations are planned from 1:35 to 3:45 p.m. Final remarks and recognitions will close the conference by 4 p.m.
FSU and Pierpont students are involved in several of the presentations:
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At 9:15 a.m. in Conference Room 1, Kristin Yoho and Scott Barner of FSU and Drew
Kelly of Pierpont, along with Conrad Carpenter of Bridgemont Community and Technical
College and Adam Pauley and Erica White of Concord University, will give the Student
Advisory Board Presentation. Each year, WVCC campus presidents nominate two students
to be members of the West Virginia Campus Compact Student Advisory Board. These students
serve as student liaisons for WVCC on their campuses, complete service projects, and
participate in special events. The focus area of this year’s SAB projects was college
access and success. In this session, Student Advisory Board members will share their
projects.
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At 10:05 a.m. in Conference Room 1, the Pierpont Community & Technical College Student
Vet Tech Association (SVTA) will present “Who We Are and What We Do!” Presenters will
be Sherry Grudi, Advisor; Shanda Cumberledge, President; Kendie Davis, Vice President;
and Ginger Sandy, Activities Director. The SVTA is an active service organization
at Pierpont Community and Technical College that works with the Marion County Humane
Society, raised funds for Cesar Millan’s Japan Fund, visits the veterans’ nursing
home and more.
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At 11:15 a.m. in Computer Lab 1, Room 305, an FSU group will present “Fairmont Evolves.”
Presenters will be the following: Donna Yergovich Nuzum, Director, Community Service
Learning, FSU; Matthew Schmuck, Assistant to the Dean for Outdoor Programming and
Outreach, FSU; Dr. Nancy Taylor, Professor of Psychology, FSU; Katherine S. Wyrosdick,
AICP, City Planner, City of Fairmont; and students Bryan Bumgardner, Brittany Nester,
Caitlin Bonnette, Eli Morgan, Jordan VanOsdol, Gregory Kramer, Mitchell Haines, Tyler
Hawkin, Sherry Hamilton, Ryan Curfman and Garret Page.
- Nancy Taylor’s Psychology Honors students developed a needs survey for downtown Fairmont and made connections between students responses and how the City of Fairmont might become more engaged with FSU and Pierpont students to connect college students with downtown Fairmont. For Matt Schmuck’s Recreation Course, students developed recreational space plans for the city plan for downtown Fairmont. In this presentation, the entire Fairmont team will showcase their project as well as its next steps.
