A service-learning project that a statistics class did this semester was spotlighted in the May 10 edition of the Henrietta Post.
Twenty-four students applied their knowledge and abilities to a data analysis project for RAIHN, a primarily volunteer-run network of 41 religious groups that provides an array of services to homeless families in Monroe County. The study that the students developed illustrated the impact of RAIHN on families’ lives and in the communities and brought to light any trends over the past eight years. In addition to studying the data, the students volunteered at a RAIHN site to read or play games with the children, help with homework, and prepare meals.
The centerpiece article included interviews with student Jacqueline Alaimo and math instructor Debra Adiletta, who teaches the statistics class and arranged this partnership with RAIHN.
The class project is relevant on two fronts: Not-for-profit community groups like the Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (RAIHN) face greater demands to show results and prove their worth in competition for funding from various sources. A big challenge for many nonprofits is they are thinly staffed (sometimes operating with only one full-time employee) and lack resources to evaluate the impact of their work.
Secondly, the students’ civic service is exactly in line with President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge initiative. It calls on community colleges and other higher education institutions across the U.S. to foster interfaith service -- interfaith cooperation and community service -- as a way to tackle challenges in local communities and enhance understanding among diverse groups of people.
Hency Yuen-Eng
College and Community Relations
05/17/2012 |