LUKE SHANNO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Wartburg will have faculty, staff and student representatives at the Educating for Service: A Night of Celebration event hosted by the Cedar Valley Service-Learning Collaborative Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.
The Cedar Valley Service-Learning Collaborative is made up of representatives from Allen College, Hawkeye Community College, the University of Northern Iowa and Wartburg College, as well as the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley and was formed two years ago as a way to discuss what area
institutions are doing in the field of community engagement.
After holding a number of meetings, the collaborative decided they needed a greater focus and direction for the group, Renee Sedlacek, Wartburg’s service-learning coordinator and collaborative group member, said.
The event is billed as a night of learning, sharing and networking in the field of community engagement, with a variety of events on the schedule.
“We decided that we were going to work together to highlight and showcase what our campuses are doing,” Sedlacek said. “In order for us to collaborate more and work more together, we first need to understand what each other are doing. This event is simply to meet that purpose.”
The event will open with a student and community project fair where groups from the four participating higher-education institutions can display service-learning experiences.
Members of the Wartburg student community that will be present include Service Trips, the Volunteer Action Center, Community Builders and a project team from an integrated marketing communications class that worked with a local non-profit organization in Waverly.
“This will be a great opportunity to not only display the work we’ve done for Self-Help International, but will also be a way for us to see how other students in the area are getting involved within the community,” Justin Illig, a student working with a local non-profit, said.
Community non-profit organizations will be offering volunteer opportunities and will display the work they are doing in the Cedar Valley as well.
Liz Mathis, former chair of the communication arts department at Wartburg, will serve as the moderator for the evening’s events and will offer the official welcome to the program. In 2007, Mathis became the vice president of community relations for Horizons, a family service alliance in Cedar Rapids.
Robert Koob, former president of the University of Northern Iowa, will offer a keynote address.
“Dr. Robert Koob was a visible presence and very active member within the Cedar Valley community when he lived here. We are looking forward to bringing him back to address the important role college students can play within the community,” Sedlacek said.
Other scheduled events include a student panel, which there includes one Wartburg representative, as well as round table discussions about community engagement that will close out the evening’s activities.