Wheelock College, Bostom, MA
Introduction to Wheelock College
Wheelock College in Boston is pleased to submit this application to become one of the Campus Compact Students4Giving sites. Wheelock has more than 100 years of experience in focusing on matters related to children and families. It is a private college with a public mission — to improve the quality of life for children and families — and is recognized nationally and internationally as a premier institution preparing early childhood and elementary teachers. Wheelock College’s teacher preparation program is well known for its focus on child development, research-based pedagogy, and innovative instruction strategies for preparing teachers to teach pre-school and elementary children. Its innovative urban teaching program, begun in 1991, has graduated more than 200 students with specific background and experience working in urban environments. Wheelock’s involvement in and contribution to the Boston community is multifaceted: from hosting an Upward Bound program for Boston Public School students, to placing teaching and social work interns in the schools, to providing support and expertise to a range of community-based non-profit organizations, to providing professional development for Boston elementary science and early childhood teachers, to convening the early childhood community of Massachusetts for a series of strategy sessions, to work on juvenile justice policy and advocacy statewide.
Wheelock offers programs through three schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and Child Life, and the School of Social Work and Family Studies. Wheelock’s undergraduate arts and sciences majors, excellent professional preparation programs, graduate degrees, and professional development programs are all built on the integration of theory and research with practice and policy; sophisticated problem-solving, critical reasoning, oral and written communication skills; a strong grounding in human development; and a commitment to multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice.
Educational Framework for Students4Giving
On October 29, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was welcomed by the Wheelock College community — along with students from Boston Public Schools and public officials — as part of a two-day event focused on reconciliation and unity. More than 350 middle and high school students from Boston gathered for this once-in-a-lifetime symposium to discuss the condition of their communities, what is causing the recent rise in homicides and how Boston as a community can turn the tide of violence toward reconciliation and understanding. This Youth Symposium could not come at a more crucial moment for the city of Boston.
Boston faces a turbulent time, with the homicide rate at an 11-year high — an increase of 44 percent from 2006. It is clear that the city has an escalating problem, yet the answers to solving these issues are complex and varied. Many members of the Boston community are sounding a call for action in order to prevent and reduce this rise in crime. One of the outcomes of this powerful event was a follow-up summit in November where the youth asked for help in their work to relieve the conditions that breed violence in their communities.
In response to the youths’ request, Dr. Felicity Crawford, a faculty member at Wheelock College and Lead Contact for this proposal, put forth, designed and taught a 4-credit undergraduate course entitled: Bridges to Hope: Understanding and Changing the Social and Academic Outcomes of Youths of Boston. During the course, students ably identified and critically examined eight problematic issues that impact their daily live: poverty, health inequities, violence, drug policies, drug use and incarceration, educational inequity, and the deficit orientation that guides institutional policies and practices. They approached their work using a process for naming and analyzing a problem that was put forth by renowned educational thinker Paulo Freire (1985). The course culminated in a presentation of the students’ work to a gathering of 100 attendees.
Students4Giving will provide Wheelock College and Dr. Crawford with the resources to realize the important next step in the Bridges to Hope initiative: using the work completed during the initial course, students will have the opportunity and the funds to begin to forge the positive changes in the social and academic outcomes they envision for themselves, their peers and their community.
For the Students4Giving initiative, Dr. Crawford will create two new courses to be offered in fall 2008 and spring 2009 in the College of Liberal Arts. These courses will be open to Wheelock students and also students attending any member of the Colleges of the Fenway, a collaborative effort of six neighboring Boston-based colleges in the Fenway area. High school students may also enroll.
During the fall course, Articulating our Values and Commitment to Positive Community Change students will learn about the function, sequence, format, regulations, ethics, content and considerations that govern philanthropy and how to manage a Giving Account. Students will use the community assessment completed in the foundational course Bridges to Hope to select one of the eight issues on which to focus Wheelock’s Giving Account for Spring 2009. They will create a philanthropic vision statement for their Giving Account, and also create a request for proposals (with accompanying review rubric) to be released in December 2008. A priority will be to fund community based organizations that can offer a valuable community service opportunity to the students. Students will also design and begin to implement a fundraising plan to ensure that the Giving Account will be replenished and the Bridges to Hope course sequence can be repeated in future years.
In the spring course, Engendering Community Change, students will complete proposal review, conduct site visits, develop a decision-making process and make grantee selections. It is anticipated that the students will select two grantee organizations. Students will also participate in community service activities with the grantees and continue their fundraising activities with a goal of raising a minimum of $8,000 over the course of the school year. Deep engagement with the grantees will give students an appreciation of how non-profits conduct their development activities, encouraging student learning about the need for ongoing fundraising to meet long-term community needs. Students will focus on how the grantees measure the impact of their work, and how they present those results to potential funders. At a June 2009 event, the students and grantees will showcase their work to the Wheelock and Boston community.
Educational Goals: The educational goals are for the students to master ideas and knowledge about how philanthropy works and its potential impact on nonprofit organizations focused on alleviating pressing community problems. Students will manage a charitable fund to achieve their stated philanthropic goals and gain knowledge and experience through reading, writing, and hands-on philanthropic management and fundraising. The courses will include specific units on the following topics: defining philanthropy; the roles of government, business and philanthropy; community needs assessment; operational characteristics of nonprofit organizations; philanthropy and civil society; how diverse cultures approach and experience philanthropy; skills of civic engagement; philanthropy and the individual; volunteering and service; raising private resources; and integrating the service experience into learning.
Assessment: Students will illustrate (verbally, visually, and in writing) their mastery of key concepts and will engage in consistent self and peer reflections to reinforce what they have learned.
Support for Students: The logistics of the grantmaking will be the responsibility of a graduate student paid with a stipend through theStudents4Giving administrative budget. Dr. Crawford will provide support and leadership guiding the students’ work. The leadership of the grantees will support and guide the students’ community service involvement, in partnership with Dr. Crawford.
Ongoing financial support of the charitable mission through the Giving Account program: Wheelock College’s objective is for students enrolled in the Bridges to Hope initiative to successfully create a strong philanthropic agenda and access the resources necessary to support two organizations in spring 2009 and to repeat the sequence for a minimum of five years. The students will consider a variety of fundraising approaches, including securing individual gifts and corporate sponsorships and holding sponsored walks, events, auctions, and raffles. The students will also be introduced to how the Gift Account is invested to maximize its value.
Reference: Freire, P. (1985). The politics of education: Culture, power and liberation. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey Publishers
