Kolomer and McEwen recognized with 2012 SL Teaching Excellence Award
Two UGA faculty members have been recognized with the 2012 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award. This award recognizes UGA faculty members in any career track for excellence in developing, implementing, and sustaining academic service-learning opportunities for UGA students in domestic and/or international settings. Academic service-learning integrates relevant community service with academic coursework and structured reflection to enhance student learning, develop civic responsibility, and address community needs. The Office of Service-Learning established the Service-Learning Excellence Awards in 2011.
Stacey R. Kolomer, associate professor in the School of Social Work, helps her undergraduate and graduate social work students develop professional skills and competencies through engagement with a range of diverse populations and community partners locally and state-wide. In her Social Work with Older Adults course, students gain real-world experience with seniors through interdisciplinary health fairs and life reviews of older adults, including an innovative project in Hart County with UGA’s Archway Partnership that resulted in recordings now used for walking tours about area history. Collaborating with the Georgia Fire Fighter Burn Foundation, social work students in Kolomer’s Burn Camp classes work with burn-injured children, serve as counselors during a special summer camp, lead support groups, and evaluate the program. In her recent First-Year Odyssey Seminar, Kolomer’s students learned about families with custodial grandparents, and helped reduce food insecurity of these households through service with food recovery and redistribution through the Athens Community Council on Aging. She has also published and presented on the outcomes of her service-learning work.
Kolomer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Albany, an MSW from Columbia University, and a BA from SUNY-Stonybrook. A faculty member at UGA since 2001, she was a Service-Learning Fellow in 2008.
Deanna W. McEwen, public service assistant in the College of Pharmacy, has incorporated and extended service-learning experiences for all second- and third-year pharmacy students, improving their clinical and interpersonal skills through at least 80 hours of direct involvement with the community in four courses. These introductory pharmacy practice experiences, which meet new accreditation standards from the American College of Pharmacy Education, involve over 250 students annually in disease prevention and awareness clinics, health camps, and wellness programs. McEwen has engaged her students in developing and implementing smoking cessation programs for UGA employees, influenza vaccination clinics for Athens-Clarke Co. government employees, farmworker family health programs in south Georgia, blood drives, and cardiovascular fitness programs for Walton County. She has also improved coordination and communication with these multiple community partners, hosting a service-learning expo to share information, clarify activities, and prepare community preceptors for supporting student learning.
McEwen holds a Pharm.D. from the University of Georgia. A member of the UGA faculty since 2009, she was a Service-Learning Fellow in 2010.
