The Engage Dallas education and training team published 21 hours of new content for students on October 3. These supplemental online trainings aid SMU students in their understanding of the community-identified needs and are intended to increase their effectiveness when completing their community service in South and West Dallas.
Under the leadership of Audryanna Reed, former chair of the education and training committee and SMU’s Associate Director for High-Impact Practices, the team conceptualized, compiled, organized, and completed this ambitious project over the spring and summer terms.
Reed remarked, “Engage Dallas offers required and supplemental training courses to allow participants to better understand the Engage Dallas initiative and the diverse communities we serve. As we develop world changers, we think that it is important to provide direct and indirect learning opportunities for students, opportunities for students to identify the intersections between social problems, and intentional reflections to help students identify their role in creating sustainable solutions.”
These online, asynchronous supplemental trainings are now available to SMU students within the Engage Dallas Canvas Course. Students who complete these trainings will receive general engagement hours toward the Community Engagement proficiency and Experience.
One of the Engage Dallas initiative goals is to build capacity for social change in our local community. The education and training team intentionally curated and embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion resources from national leaders like the Smithsonian National Museum, state-level data, and materials publicly available from our Engage Dallas community partners.
Overall, these trainings build student capacity during their service through Engage Dallas. For instance, each Residential Commons has a social problem and now have a training to provide important foundational knowledge. These trainings, available to students in the Engage Dallas Canvas Course, help students understand the national impact of the social problem and utilize critical thinking skills to analyze how individuals, groups, non-profit organizations, and/or government entities can come together combat the social problem. These 11-Commons-specific trainings include:
- Armstrong Commons- Homelessness
- Boaz Commons- Food Insecurity
- Cockrell McIntosh Commons- College Access & Preparation
- Crum- Arts as Social Impact
- Kathy Crow Commons- Environmental Injustice
- LoydCommons- STEM Education
- MHPS Commons-Immigration & Refugee Support
- McElvaney Commons- Community Wellbeing
- Morrison McGinnis Commons- Child Poverty
- Virginia Snider Commons- Childhood Literacy
- Ware- Community Rebuilding
In addition to the above social problem trainings, the education and training committee published trainings entitled:
- Systems of Oppression
- Community Building and Community Impact
- Active Listening and Active Citizenship
- Privilege and Social Identities
- Social Justice
- Race and Engage Dallas
- Introduction to Community Engagement
- Circle of Self
Students can always access these online supplemental trainings, but SMU students will also be able to attend in-person opportunities throughout the academic year to dialogue about topics like these. In-person training and education sessions are posted regularly on the Engage Dallas website.