Staff & Community Engagement Professionals

Dola supported the initial engagement of ThrYve Violence Prevention program to begin addressing creating intergenerational mentorship opportunities where youth assist older adults with digital literacy skills in a structured and supportive environment at the Vernon Multipurpose Center in Wyandotte County.

Researchers from the KU Center for Community Health and Development advanced global community health efforts by collaborating with the World Health Organization to deliver a digital "toolbox" to partners in 300 countries. This resource supports local health promotion strategies and helps communities strengthen their public health infrastructure. At the same time, lessons learned from this international work are being applied in Kansas, bringing global insights home to improve local health outcomes.

KU launched the Building Bridges global youth academy, a new 10‑day summer program designed to bring together teens from Kansas and around the world for leadership development and cultural exchange. The academy offers an immersive experience that exposes participants to college life while helping them build cross-cultural relationships and global competencies. By engaging youth from diverse backgrounds, the program positions KU as a connector of local and international communities and as a champion of global citizenship.

The KU Reads program continued to build bridges between the University and the broader community by offering a series of spring events tied to the Common Book, The Anthropocene Reviewed. These events created shared opportunities for learning and reflection, drawing together students, faculty, staff, and local residents. By fostering dialogue around themes relevant to both campus and community life, KU Reads deepened public engagement and strengthened the cultural and intellectual connections that unite KU with Lawrence.

Life Span Institute leadership organized an in-person institute-wide Collaboratory event for staff, researchers and graduate students to build skills in storytelling, communication, and dissemination of research impact in order to increase capacity for community engagement, public awareness, and external recognition of LSI research

In fall 2024, the Center for Service Learning launched a focused outreach effort to visit academic departments and promote service learning as a teaching tool. During the fall semester, staff connected with more than 15 departments, with additional visits planned for spring 2025. This initiative has already led to new service‑learning course designations and an updated list of courses carrying the social awareness designation, strengthening opportunities for community‑engaged learning across campus.

As part of its ongoing commitment to broadening collections and incorporating stakeholder feedback, KU Libraries launched a student curator pilot program, inviting four undergraduate students to design their own collection. The result was "Page Turning Tropes: Your Favorite Narratives, Themes, Cliches, Archetypes." The students-Margaret Baechle, Allison Bell, Ali Madden, and Sarah Patti, all from the KU Libraries Student Ambassadors Program-worked closely with librarians Amalia Monroe-Gulick and Sara Outhier. Together, they brainstormed collection ideas and explored the collection development process, while gaining insight into the collaborative work of various library departments in providing access to valuable resources.

Katherine Rose-Mockry. (2024). Liberating Lawrence. University Press of Kansas. Katherine, Staff Director Emerita, published a book on the history of gay activism at the University of Kansas during the 1970s. Its publication sparked public conversations on and off- campus throughout the region about local LGBTQ+ history and activism. Ms. Rose-Mockry further engaged the community through multiple public talks and appearances on local public radio, bringing university-connected history directly to the public.

Straughn, Celka. (2024). Arts in Practice: Refining the Canvas, Higher Education and AAE Grant Implementation. Presentation at the US Department of Education, Assistance for Arts Education annual convening. Celka Straughn, Staff/Admin, KU Spencer Museum of Art, presented on university-community partnerships between universities (including KU's Partners in Education Across Kansas - PEAK project involving the Spencer Museum) and K-12 school districts, and shared insights on aligning priorities, building long-term relationships with community educational partners, and demonstrating the initiative's impact on teaching and learning within those community schools.

Colyott, Kaila., Bricklemeyer, John., & Orth-Alfie, Caremen. (2024). The state of professionalization of teaching professors at the University of Kansas. ARTFUL Conference: Advancing R1 Teaching Faculty for Undergraduate Learning Conference. Rice University, Houston, Texas. Kaila Colyott, Teaching Innovation Program Coordinator, and John Bricklemyer, associate dean, KU Edwards Campus and colleagues facilitated a presentation and discussed promoting teaching faculty in STEM education with eight attending institutions. Funded by NSF 21-211257 and the Provost’s Office at Rice University.

Nagarajan, Gowri. (2024). Transformative Learning for Social Impact: Designing Curriculums with Community-Service Integration. IMPACT National Conference. Gowri, staff program facilitator, in the Self Program in Engineering, presented a workshop on supporting community engagement practice by empowering administrators, student leaders, and community partners to design effective community service programs. It focused on curriculum development merging project management, design thinking, and community development principles, aiming to strengthen community ties and foster socially responsible leadership through well-structured engagement.

Community & Technical Report – Holt, Christina. (2024). Douglas County Tenant Experience Report. (2024). University of Kansas, Center for Community Health and Development. Christina, Assistant Director, KU Center for Health and Development. partnered with the Sexual Trauma Abuse and Care Center, LiveWell Douglas County, Douglas County, City of Lawrence, direct service providers, housing advocates, and community collaborators who developed and implemented this assessment Community members with lived experience with housing insecurity and barriers to safe and affordable housing who shared their stories and ideas for how to improve housing for all in Douglas County. Initiative was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Cooperative NUF2CE002584. Report was developed in 2024 and presented to the local Affordable Housing Advisory Board and the Lawrence City Commission at the City Commission Meeting.