Honorees lauded for enhancing
students’ learning experiences
MURFREESBORO,
Tenn. — The Experiential Learning Program at Middle Tennessee State
University has once again presented a group of local organizations with its
2016 EXL Outstanding Community Partner Awards.
MTSU’s
EXL Program, which provides students with hands-on learning in a specific work
or service, presents these awards to organizations who help make
“learning-by-doing” possible through their exceptional work with the students.
Since
its establishment in 2006, the EXL program has engaged students directly in
service, with more than 200 courses now approved as EXL courses universitywide.
In addition to taking EXL courses, students can sign up to be EXL scholars,
which requires them to complete assessment activities, including an e-portfolio,
and perform an MTSU service component to receive the designation as an EXL
scholar upon graduation.
Presented
with the 2016 Outstanding Community Partner Awards are: Murfreesboro Islamic
Center’s Ossama Bahloul, Nissan Americas and Stones River Manor Assisted
Living.
• Ossama Bahloul, former imam of the
Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, has served as a partner to the EXL Program’s
Religion and Society course since fall of 2014. Bahloul welcomed MTSU students
to the center and answered their questions concerning the practice of Islam and
its role in current events. Assistant professors Rebekka King and Jenna
Gray-Hildenbrand noted in their nomination letter for Bahloul that students
reported this learning opportunity as one of their favorites.
“His
knowledge, compassion, and warmth make him especially approachable to our
students, many of whom have had limited exposure to traditions outside of their
own religious communities. At the heart of experiential learning is the type of
transformation our students experience at the Islamic Center. This process of
critically examining this experience sets them on the path towards being fully
engaged scholars and citizens.”
“The
partnership between MTSU and the Islamic Center elevated the educational process
to a higher level,” Bahloul said. “It has been beneficial for myself to
interact with the MTSU faculty as well as the students. It has assisted me in
deepening my understanding of the faith community. The relationship has evolved
into a friendship that I will always value and cherish.”
• Nissan Americas was nominated by
Department of Management professor Jackie Gilbert due to the automaker’s
continued collaboration with the EXL Principles of Management course. Students
enrolled in Gilbert’s course receive the opportunity to create their own
civility policies and pitch their ideas to a group of Nissan Associates at
their headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee.
“Nissan
graciously hosted my Principles of Management students, who presented on the
topic of civility policy to a corporate audience,” Gilbert said. “This process
involved several meetings with Rob Wilson, director of diversity and inclusion
at the time, who recruited four corporate ‘judges,’ hosted a private luncheon
for my students, and coordinated a monetary donation from Nissan to MTSU Jones
College of Business.”
In
addition to choosing a winner and making a donation of their behalf, Nissan
also provided students with feedback and hoped to implement the students’ ideas
in its own company policies.
• Stones River Manor
Assisted Living has served as a partner to MTSU’s Aging Health and Development students
for the past seven years by providing learning opportunities on health,
wellness and the aging process.
AHeAD
instructor Stephanie Bush noted that “without the Manor’s support, the class
would not be as successful as it currently is. A strong partnership is
essential in order for the course to run successfully and remain in existence.”
Kandi
Smith, activity director at Stones River Manor, along with her assistants
Ashley Hurt and Cindy Crabtree, mentor students and provide weekly on-site
trainings. This mentoring and training allows students to have a greater
understanding of the aging process.
In
addition, Stones River Manor also provides the class with a budget to complete
planned activities for Manor residents. The organization has also partnered
with other experiential learning classes by raising awareness on local hunger,
hosting food drives, and by offering internship opportunities to students.
For more
information about MTSU’s Experiential Learning Program, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/exl/ or contact EXL Director
Carol Swayze at 615-898-5542 or email Carol.Swayze@mtsu.edu.
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