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News

Office of General Education seeks faculty grader for Engage Dallas

Engage Dallas is seeking to hire one faculty grader to assume responsibility for managing weekly grading of the Engage Dallas Canvas Courses. Grading is estimated to take 2-3 hours weekly.

About Engage Dallas

Engage Dallas is a place-based community engagement initiative via SMU’s Residential Commons to address community needs focusing on South and West Dallas. The initiative is a long-term, university-wide commitment led by students to partner with local residents, organizations, and other leaders to positively impact the community. There is equal emphasis on campus and community impact stemming from the initiative.

Engage Dallas learning modules are facilitated via Canvas Learning Management System. All students are automatically enrolled in the Engage Dallas Canvas Course in order to complete the required modules for participating in service events. Students who intend to use Engage Dallas to earn the Community Engagement and/or the Civic and Individual Ethics Proficiency & Experience for the Common Curriculum will be enrolled in a 2nd Canvas Course to track their progress. Grading occurs in both courses.

The following strategic goals guide the work of the Engage Dallas initiative:

  1. Build capacity for social change in our local community
  2. Engage SMU students, staff, and faculty to serve, learn, and lead through the Residential Commons
  3. Advance the field of community engagement in higher education

Position Description

Engage Dallas grading centers the “4 Cs” learning outcomes originally developed by Mesa Community College. The four Cs include (1) communication, (2) civic engagement, (3) critical thinking, and (4) cultural and global engagement. Engage Dallas student reflections should address one of the four Cs.

  • Communication: Purposeful development, expression, or reception of a message through oral, written, or non-verbal means.
  • Civic Engagement: Encompasses actions to promote the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.
  • Critical Thinking: The mental process of effectively identifying, determining, gathering, evaluating, and utilizing resources to innovate and/or to accomplish a specific task.
  • Cultural and Global Engagement: Encompasses the awareness of cultural systems, events, and creations and an ability to apply this cultural and global awareness to human interaction and expression.

Modules that prompt student reflection include, but are not limited to:

  • Engage Dallas Groundworks pre-reflection
  • Engage Dallas post reflection
  • Systems of Oppression
  • Community Building & Community Impact
  • Active Listening & Active Citizenship

Note, some reflections are submitted in essay style, while others may be submitted in a creative format such as art reflections, interviews, or letters.

Major Position Responsibilities

  • Evaluate student learning by creating and applying course competencies and accurately evaluating student progress
  • Maintain accurate records of students’ academic standing; promptly input grades, attendance, and other information as required by administration
  • Respect the confidentiality of student information; refrain from discussing or releasing such information except within recognized limits
  • Evaluate students based solely on their academic performance and to respond promptly to student grade questions and/or appeals
  • Review and approve students CEPE requirements including but not limited to individual tracking forms and final reflection submissions
  • Suggest feedback periodically to co-initiative managers on opportunities to improve student learning
  • Highlight substantial student reflection to co-initiative managers
  • Send communication to students of final reflection submission dates for grading prior to end of the semester

Grading Schedule

  • 2-3 hours/weekly
  • A consistent day for grading should be selected—open to grader’s discretion

Position Requirements

  • Experience with student learning in the co-curricular (study abroad, internships, etc.)
  • Ability to grade online coursework 2-3 hours/week
  • Serve as the faculty grader from August 2025 – July 2026

Compensation Structure

Graders for Engage Dallas are paid a stipend of $3,500 divided into installments. The Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Success will not request or require a time sheet to document actual hours worked, but instead will take the weekly gradebook export as an indication of the work agreement.

It is the responsibility of the grader to notify the Co-Initiative Manager and Assistant Provost if the job responsibilities cannot be completed.

To apply, please send a letter of interest and your CV to Dr. Dustin Grabsch (dgrabsch@smu.edu) by 5pm on Monday, June 30, 2025. Interviews and selection will be completed by July 31, 2025, with a start date of August 1.

Categories
Announcements Event News

2nd Annual Place-Based Community Engagement Symposium a success

The 2nd Annual Place-based Community Engagement Symposium was a success last week. Participants engaged around the theme of “Listening, Learning, and Leading: A Place-based Approach to Promoting Public Responsibility and Community Engagement in a COVID-impacted World.” 114 registered for the two-day symposium.

The conference planning committee chose this theme due to their observation of the challenges posed by COVID-19; our community engagement landscape has evolved significantly, from decreased volunteer participation to heightened community needs.

Conference registrants helped shape this year’s symposium. The planning committee had over 60 questions submitted for our opening session and panel discussion. Plus, questions were arranged as discussion topics at the networking event on Thursday evening.

Audryanna Reed, Associate Director for High-Impact Practices, Co-initiative Manager of Engage Dallas, and Chair of the conference planning committee, shared, “Engage Dallas is grateful for the opportunity to bring together non-profit and civic leaders in Dallas as well as staff and faculty across SMU and Dallas College. Such inspiring words, cultural context, and critical challenges posed by our keynotes Latosha Bruff and Jerry L. Hawkins, M.Ed., as well as our panelists and workshop hosts!”

A copy of the program booklet is included below.

Reed and the conference planning committee are underway with year three planning. Building off the dialogue from this year’s conference, the theme will likely incorporate the concept of “under-championed communities,” which was prevalent in this year’s sessions. Reed says to expect a save the date soon for the November 2024 symposium.

This Engage Dallas symposium collaborated with Residence Life & Student Housing, The Budd CenterThe Office of General Education, the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility, and The Center for Teaching Excellence.

Categories
Event News

Registration open: 2nd Annual Place-Based Community Engagement Symposium

Hosted by Engage Dallas, in collaboration with Residence Life & Student Housing, The Budd Center, The Office of General Education, the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility, and The Center for Teaching Excellence, this two-day event will take place on November 2nd and 3rd.

About the Place-Based Community Engagement Symposium

The Place-Based Community Engagement Symposium is a gathering of thought leaders, academics, community leaders, and nonprofit professionals from SMU and the DFW area.

This event is designed to explore the transformative potential of community engagement within specific geographic contexts.

Our goal is to delve into the strategies and innovations that have the power to catalyze positive change within communities, with emphasis on campus and community collaboration and sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships.

RSVP

Seats are limited, so please RSVP by October 20, 2023. You will be able to opt to register for one or both days.

Categories
Announcements News

Engage Dallas publishes first end-of-the-year report

Engage Dallas is excited to share our first end-of-the-year report. 

This year’s report contains words from our initiative manager, Commons partnerships, student experience, Engage Dallas by the numbers, #1Day4Dallas, One Night for Dallas recap, social outreach, team members, and more!

SMU students provided over 3,815 hours of service this academic year, and we are just getting started. Take a gander at the report for yourself.Report cover

Thanks again for being here and for your continued support of this one-of-a-kind initiative. We couldn’t do it without you.

Categories
Announcements

Love to serve? Consider new individual service opportunity, solo service

As a new initiative, Engage Dallas is consistently seeking feedback and insights on ways to innovate our work, improve our processes, and reaffirm mutual benefit between SMU and the South and West Dallas communities.

Student cleaning classroomHere’s what we discovered since our modest beginning in October 2020: While our community partners enjoy having Engage Dallas groups come on-site and serve alongside them, sometimes they need only one or two students — not an entire group. 

Engage Dallas also knows SMU students have varied schedules and may not always be available to serve with their Residential Commons during scheduled group service.  

So, what’s the solution? A new form of individual service called solo service. Solo service launched to students on February 14, 2022. 

Student and faculty planting vegetables While Engage Dallas still offers monthly, group service through the Residential Commons, solo service is a type of Engage Dallas Individual Service. Solo service provides semi-structured opportunities for students to volunteer and provide direct service on an individual basis. Engage Dallas curates these individual service opportunities for students, based on their Residential Commons affiliation, to volunteer as their schedule and the community need align.  

 

Solo Service is characterized by:  

  • Individual, or sometimes a pair, of students participate in service  
  • Students organize their own transportation to and from the service site 
  • Students sign-up or schedule directly with the Community Partner representative  
  • An Engage Dallas Student Director is not present during service 
  • Students must register and respond to monthly check-in emails from Engage Dallas until complete 
  • Students track their individual service hours via the Community Partner process or on their Engagement Hours Log 

Students can learn more and find out how you can get started with solo service today. 

Plus, recognized Engage Dallas community partners can submit solo service opportunities via our online form