SIUE’s Successful Communities Collaborative Wins Innovation Award
After just over one year of its inception, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) captured the Illinois Council on Continuing Higher Education’s (ICCHE) Innovative Initiative Award.
Mary Ettling, director of the Office of Educational Outreach, accepted the award Thursday, Feb. 7 at the ICCHE Conference at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
SSCC is a program that establishes partnerships between the University and local communities for the purpose of improving community life and addressing sustainability issues. Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, is the SSCC faculty director.
“Community engagement is crucial to SIUE’s mission to serve the public good,” said Ettling. “The Office of Educational Outreach is pleased to provide support to the SSCC, faculty, students, and community partners engaged in the program.”
During SSCC’s 2017 pilot year, SIUE School of Nursing (SON) students collaborated with the City of Highland to combat opioid use. SIUE’s Department of Public Health students worked with the Village of Godfrey, where recycling project “Greener Godfrey” took off successfully.
Currently, SSCC is collaborating with the City of Alton through spring 2019 to address the town’s 15-year comprehensive public improvements plan.
SSCC’s innovative practices center on broadening the educational experience of SIUE students by providing learning beyond the four walls of the University and expose them to valuable real-world experiences. By matching the identified needs of partner cities with existing courses on the SIUE campus, SSCC facilitates a new dimension in higher institution learning.
SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) initiative is tailored after the prestigious University-community partnership program, Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC) Network model created in 2009 by the University of Oregon. The University joined EPIC, a network of more than 30 colleges and universities in March 2017.
Photo: Mary Ettling, director of the Office of Educational Outreach, accepted the 2019 ICCHE Award for Innovation from Kimberly Harrison, ICCHE award committee chair of Aurora University in Ill.
