Community and global connections
As part of an urban university, the College of Humanities and Sciences strongly believes that working with the community — both in Richmond and around the world — strengthens opportunities for learning among students, faculty and scholars, and our neighbors. By working and learning together, we contribute to the well-being of our communities, families and children.
Our faculty members partner with schools, public agencies, nonprofit organizations and civic associations to solve problems and our students learn by providing service in the community. Our community partners rely on the support of our faculty expertise and student volunteers and benefit from programs, such as lectures, that educate the public.
College engagement highlights
The following programs were featured in VCU’s 40 Acts of Caring, which showcased the contributions that VCU faculty, students and staff have made to the community in the past, present and moving forward.
School of Mass Communications
During the school’s CreateAthon onCampus, students devoted a 24-hour period of their spring break to assist local nonprofits with their advertising and marketing needs. Read more from the Virginia Department of Social Services’ Office on Volunteerism and Community Service.
Department of English
David Coogan, professor of English and member of the Community Engagement Committee, teaches writing workshops with inmates at the Richmond City Jail.
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Students in a 2001 world regions geography class began a tradition of picking up trash along Reedy Creek as part of a service-learning project. In 2006, students began organizing the Reedy Creek Environmental Festival to teach environmental lessons to the students at Miles J. Jones School.
Other work in the College identified among the 40 Acts of Caring included:
- Building Capacity for Change
- The Latino Mental Health Clinic
- VCU Clark-Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development
VCU Community Engagement grant recipients
Congratulations to the 2009 VCU Community Engagement grant recipients from the College!
Improving the Quality of Mental Health Care for Richmond’s Youth
The team will develop an interdisciplinary mental health program to increase service capacity, improve service delivery and reduce treatment drop-out for adolescent clients at Childsavers.
- Primary VCU contact: Bryce McLeod
- VCU Partners: Virginia Treatment Center for Children, Department of Psychology, School of Social Work
- Community partner: Childsavers
Peep This Film Camp
Adolescent boys from Richmond’s East End will create documentary films relevant to Richmond history and their own community experiences. VCU students from the Afrikana student organization and the Ph.D. in Media, Art and Text program will serve as mentors for these Family Resource Center clients.
- Primary VCU contact: Shawn Utsey
- VCU partners: Department of African American Studies, Department of Photography and Film, Ph.D. in Media, Art and Text, Department of English
- Community partner: East District Family Resource Center
Our Park, Our Environment
High school students will be involved in the development and implementation of a long-term data collection and monitoring system prior to the opening of a new state park in Powhatan County.
- Primary VCU contact: Anne Wright
- VCU partners: Department of Pathology, Department of Biology, Center for Life Sciences Education
- Community partners: Powhatan Public Schools, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Diffusion Theory to Promote CARE in a Homeless Population
The project will implement and test the effectiveness of an innovative bracelet storage device to increase the medication reconciliation for a homeless, uninsured and underinsured population.
- Primary VCU contact: Leticia Moczygemba
- VCU partners: School of Pharmacy, Department of Psychology, School of Social Work
- Community partner: Daily Planet
