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On April 13, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh American Democracy Project will once again join the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and the Oshkosh Northwestern to celebrate community engagement through the “Evening of Stars” program, a biennial event that honors those who give back to the greater Oshkosh community.

The Community Engagement Award will be presented to a UW Oshkosh faculty or staff member who has created exceptional educational experiences for students that also help address areas of public concern.

Experiences that qualify for the award include:

  • Service learning or volunteer work: structured experiences with pre-determined learning goals that allow students to contribute to the community. This category is NOT tied to classroom teaching.
  • Community-based learning or service learning: structured experiences with pre-determined learning goals tied to classroom teaching that allow students to integrate community service and academic learning.
  • Democratic instruction: structured experiences that advance the learning of and participation in the processes and activities of American Democracy.

The award winner will have the opportunity to share his or her work with a large community audience and will receive a $2,500 check to be given to a local charity of choice. The 2009 winners of the award include UW Oshkosh employees Thomas Breunig and Jocelyn Crist,  who donated their award to the Salvation Army for heat and rent vouchers.  The 2007 winner, Robert Weber, contributed his award to Cerebral Palsy research.

Eligible candidates must be at least 0.5 FTE faculty or academic staff members. To be considered, nominees must have completed their projects between June 2009 and January 2011. We are grateful to the UW Oshkosh Foundation for sponsoring the award.

Nominations must be submitted to the Office of the Provost, attention Carleen Vande Zande or electronically as an attachment to vandezac@uwosh.edu by noon on Feb. 21. Please include the name and title of the nominee, along with a brief paragraph that descries the project for which the individual is nominated.

Nomination forms are available at the following link for submissions: http://www.uwosh.edu/provost/awards/index.php.

Nomination schedule:

  • Nominations due:  Feb. 21 by noon
  • Nominees notified:  Feb. 22 – 24
  • Nominee applications due:  March 18 by 4:30 p.m.
  • Applications submitted to Evening of Stars Selection Committee:  March 21

The American Democracy Project is part of a nationwide campus initiative that fosters the importance of an active public live. The UW Oshkosh American Democracy Project encourages civic involvement by sponsoring Constitution Day events, initiating voter registration drives, hosting a film series and supporting academic service-learning opportunities.

Marleen Flack, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.