2016-2017 Program

John O'Keefe, Ph.D. (Theology) and Carol Zuegner, Ph.D. (Journalism, Mass Media and Computing)

Backpack Journalism is a collaborative, immersive five-week project that is an Arts and Sciences summer course where undergraduate students learn filmmaking, journalism and theology while producing a mini-documentary telling a story of marginalized people. The Creighton Global Initiative will provide pre-production, equipment, film festival entry fees and scholarship funds to produce three projects over the next six years.

Assessment:

• Film projects are judged for selection in film festivals, both national and international.
• A tool like Global Citizen Index will be used to assess student transformation.
• Standard course assessment.

Lizzy Curran (Global Engagement), Krista Cupich, M.A. (Global Engagement), Margarita Dubocq, M.S. (Encuentro Dominicano Program), Kat Turco (Encuentro Dominicano Program)

Encuentro Dominicano is an important centerpiece of Creighton University's mission and a partnership with the people and culture of the Dominican Republic which expressly illustrates our Jesuit, Catholic roots.  The program allows students to develop the skills they learn in the classroom and to encounter a perspective that they cannot find in Omaha.  In order to increase the number of students who benefit from this immersive experience, there must be increased knowledge about how to best advise Creighton students to encourage participation in the program in a way that harmonizes with their plans of graduation. 

This project will create four grants for academic advisors to attend a five-day, four-night visit to the ILAC center, host site of Creighton's Encuentro Dominicano program.  This opportunity for visitors will boost the Encuentro program's enrollment.  In visiting ILAC and familiarizing themselves with the Encuentro experience, advisors from the four Creighton schools will be able to learn from and partake in what Creighton students encounter during their semester abroad. In addition to the application itself, a requirement of grant recipients will be to create and facilitate information sessions and other recruitment events before and after their trip in order to display a level of commitment to the growth of the Encuentro program. 

Assessment:

• Completion of information sessions on campus hosted by participants
• Increased enrollment in the Encuentro Dominicano program.

Mariana Miller, M.A. (Masters of Arts in Ministry and Christian Spirituality Program), Eileen Burke-Sullivan, S.T.D. (VP Mission & Ministry), and Colleen Hastings (Masters of Arts in Ministry and Christian Spirituality Program).

This project will expand the online MA in Ministry (MAM) to be available in Spanish with the purpose of forming ministers for U.S. Spanish Speaking Christian Congregations. This project only involves the first stages needed for the enhancement of MAM: Four faculty members and two administrators, a total of six people, from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, PUCE (Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador) will be invited to come to Creighton and be trained in online teaching methodology with Ignatian Pedagogy. Once the faculty are trained they will be able to teach online MAM courses in Spanish for Spanish speakers in the U.S. interested in being formed as lay ecclesial ministers serving Spanish-speaking congregations in the US. The MAM program consists of 46 credit hours of theology, personal, psychological and spiritual development, professional ethics and ministerial skills.  Currently the program is only taught in English but there is a quickly growing need to expand to Spanish. There is a growing number of Christian congregations that are multicultural, where the second language spoken is Spanish. In some congregations in the South and South West of the U.S., Spanish is the first language spoken.

Assessment:
By the end of the training, these four faculty members:

• Will have achieved the certificate for online teaching at Creighton University,
• Will master Canvas and other tools for effective online teaching,
• Will have designed and be ready to deliver at least one online course in Spanish each for MAM using Ignatian Pedagogy.
• Formal agreement with the Jesuit University of Ecuador (PUCE) that will guarantee faculty members for the online MAM Program and other possible programs at Creighton.

Allison Lai, Matthew Dummer, Daniel Munley, Jocelyn Wu, Danielle Bell, Ysabella Esteban, Tom Kang (all students, School of Medicine)

For fifteen years, Project CURA, a medical student organization, has sent first year medical students (M1s) on international experiences in an effort to broaden their understanding of global health. Approximately one-third of each Creighton Medicine M1 class goes on a CURA trip annually (30-60 students).  Trips are currently divided between five different countries. The CGI will fund the use of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to assess the impact of the 2016 trips on students with the eventual goal of publishing data for medical education.

Assessment:

• IDI will assess individual and organizational growth (target changes include reduction in 'Direct/Perceived' orientation) and increase in movement towards positive end of spectrum results.

Nicolae Roddy, Ph.D. (Theology)

The project will immerse CU faculty, staff, alumni, and students in the religion and culture of the Balkans over a 14-day period during the summer of 2018, for the purpose of filling a substantial lacuna in general knowledge and awareness of the religion and culture of this fateful region. Marking the centennial of the WWI armistice by returning to where it all began, the proposed immersion will be launched by a two-day symposium co-hosted by the Goren-Goldstein Center for Hebraic Studies at the University of Bucharest, where scholars from several southeastern European institutions will be invited to address issues and challenges at stake in interfaith and multicultural efforts in the Balkans. Following the symposium, CU faculty, students, and alumni will engage in a 12-day immersion tour that will include several significant religious and cultural sites throughout the Balkans, including the UNESCO monasteries of Moldavia, as well as churches, synagogues, mosques, and monuments in Romania, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Montenegro Macedonia, Albania, and Bulgaria. The symposium and travel itinerary combine to provide the acquisition of a robust firsthand understanding of the bruised and tumultuous religious and cultural history among the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, and Rroma inhabitants of the region. Student participation will occur through a separate, self-sustaining FLPA. Finally the papers from the symposium will be edited and submitted for publication to the CU Journal of Religion and Society as a supplementary volume.

Assessment:

• Pre-/post-testing
• Research and reflective essays
• Campus presentations

Jay Leighter, Ph.D. (Sustainability Studies), Larry Hopp (Energy Technology), Mary Ann Vinton, Ph.D. (Environmental Science)

Responding in part to Pope Francis' Laudato Si', Environmental Global Citizenship (EGC) employs partnerships with international, Jesuit academic programs for exchange of students and faculty in immersed environmental academic inquiry. EGC has partnerships in four globally distinctive regions. These relationships include approved course exchanges through the Global Engagement Office (GEO) such that SUS, ERG and EVS students can study in these programs with a clear understanding of opportunities for international study. Courses abroad will be pre-approved as substitutions for Creighton courses in these programs. In addition, opportunities for internships, research partnerships and service experiences are possible through ECG. Finally, the project creates a corpus of courses to attract international students to Creighton for a semester of intensive study in Sustainability Studies, Energy Technology, and Environmental Science. The project will develop or enhance existing Jesuit partnerships in Sweden, Ecuador, Japan and Kenya.

Assessment:

• Course assignments;
• Course evaluations;
• Partner-driven outcomes.

Kelly Tadeo Orbik (SCSJ), Wendy Maliszewski (SCSJ), Ken Reed-Bouley, M.Div., MBA (SCSJ)

The Schlegel Center for Service and Justice (SCSJ) will expand the current Faith-Justice Internships and conferences that currently exist in Washington, D.C., and around the country to include international partners. The SCSJ will send students in pairs to placements (~15 weeks) to work on research, advocacy, and human rights with trusted partners such as Jesuit Refugee Services, Jesuit Ministries, Catholic Relief Services or others. Students will spend time learning how to do the behind the scenes work of social justice through contributing to an office staff, shadowing and possible reporting and advocacy. This is a great opportunity to pair undergraduate and graduate/professional students on interdisciplinary teams depending on needs of the host community. Position descriptions will be developed in collaboration with host partners. Students who are able to demonstrate prior commitment or research to these areas, who demonstrate flexibility and openness to a challenging environment, students with particular language skills and students with clear applications upon return to Creighton will be given priority. SCSJ has been working with domestic partners for limited faith-justice summer internships for over ten years. We provide resources for reflection and seek to mentor students upon return to complete a project or lead a program on campus.

Assessment:

• Debrief interviews with staff
• Post-graduate placement

Amy Lane, Ph.D. (Fine & Performing Arts), Bill Van Deest (Fine & Performing Arts)

This is an immersive project requiring research, community service, and artistry. The Our Town Now project will use theatre for social justice to address child migration, current immigration policy and cultural conflict in rural Nebraska.  An award-winning Nebraska playwright will work with Creighton Theatre and the Office of Multicultural Affairs to develop a new play about what happens when two rural Nebraskan teens of different cultural backgrounds encounter a child migrant and must confront duty to family, the meaning of citizenship and the challenge of compassion.  This will culminate in multiple public performances at Creighton and area partner organizations, including question and answer sessions, breakout discussions and auxiliary panel discussions.  In addition, a guest visual artist will build a public installation and visiting professional artists will conduct workshops on- and off-campus. 

Assessment:

• Students will complete 2 written analyses of readings and provide active participation in class discussion and public discussions.
• Students will engage creatively in class theatrical exercises, 5 personal journal responses and 2 creative writing pieces.
• Students will provide a minimum of 5 volunteer hours at community partner organizations.
• Students will articulate their vision of justice, working as agents of social justice as community leaders, global citizens and theatrical professionals.They will develop and perform a final project which will be assessed through a performance evaluation rubric and archived through film.

Thomas Kelly, Ph.D. (Theology), Kyle Woolley, M.A., (Sociology), Pam Yenko (CCAS)

Service-learning - the linkage of academic work with community-based engagement within a framework of respect, reciprocity, relevance and reflection - has become an extremely popular form of active pedagogy and civic(s) education at U.S. universities.  This proposal will immerse groups of Creighton University faculty, administrators and staff in two different countries over the next two years and be a catalyst to initiate an ongoing commitment to community-based experiential learning with a global perspective and through Ignatian reflection.  Immersion encounters, such as these proposed can deepen and expand critical and creative thinking and contribute to the distinctiveness of Creighton as a Jesuit University.  Participants will commit to a year of formational readings, meetings, travel, and a project proposal to be used in their courses or departments.

Assessment: The following questions will be used to demonstrate whether these goals have been met:

• Do participants return to Creighton and actively pursue community-based learning in their respective fields or positions?
• Do participants design curricula to specifically encourage students to engage the poor and marginalized?
• Do participants implement curricula in effective, community-based learning courses in their discipline?
• Do the participants emphasize compassion in the way they frame their own assessment of community-based encounters of their students within their syllabi?

Michael Hawkins, Ph.D. (History), Tracy Leavelle, Ph.D. (CCAS Dean's Office), Pamela Runestad, Ph.D. (Cultural and Social Sciences)

CGI funding will provide the seed money to develop a new Faculty Led Program Abroad to the Pacific. In summer 2017 (and every other year after that) students will have the opportunity to visit Hawaii and the Philippines to explore critical historical, cultural, and social issues of colonization and the quest for justice in the region.  The three-week program will examine the history and consequences of missionization, imperialism and militarization, colonial legacies, and cultural and social change.  Readings, lectures, discussions, and writing assignments will complement visits to historical sites and meetings with experts and activists.  Students will also have the opportunity to experience a short family immersion in the Philippines. This program will strengthen Creighton ties to Hawaii, an important student recruitment region, and to establish more formal relationships and exchanges with Jesuit universities in the Philippines.  The planning trip in summer 2016 will result in a completed FLPA application, a detailed itinerary for students, and syllabi for two courses (one in history and one in anthropology for six credits total).  This FLPA will appeal to students with academic interests in history, anthropology (including medical anthropology), sociology, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Assessment:

• FLPA assignments to assess student learning;
• Individual and group exit interviews;
• Analysis of final projects.

Kyle Lierk, M.Div., Brittany Hall, Molly Mattingly, M.A., Beth Samson (all Campus Ministry)

Inspired by the "pilgrim" St. Ignatius, the mission of this program is to provide an international journey which engages awareness, experience, and reflection for students by cultivating a dialogue between faith and culture through the Ignatian tradition of pilgrimage.  The journey is bidirectional: (1) an outwardly-focused pilgrimage of deep engagement with the gritty reality of faith in a place and its people, and (2) an inwardly-focused pilgrimage discerning our own relationship with God.  The destinations for this program will be focused on those regions where the Midwest Province has twinning agreements so that our University can stay connected with international Jesuit apostolates (Northeast India and East Africa).  Unlike a traditional pilgrimage destined for a particular holy site, the "destination" of this pilgrimage will be the relationships established with women and men in these regions and the Jesuit ministries Creighton pilgrims will witness. A semester-long formation program of meetings followed by post-experience reflection and sharing with the wider Creighton and Omaha communities will be part of the experience.

Assessment:

• Pre- and post-program surveys;
• Written reflections from students highlighting students' transitioned understanding and expressions of faith and spirituality.
• Observations of participants' engagement in all program elements, including the post-pilgrimage oral presentations and "Pilgrimage on Campus" events.

Michael Kelly, J.D., Sean Watts, J.D.,  Michael Bryant, J.D., Ph.D. (all Law School)

The best-preserved crime scene from the Holocaust is the concentration camp at Auschwitz, situated in the heart of Eastern Europe.  The Law School created a field trip immersion to Auschwitz as part of its faculty-led summer abroad program based in Nuremberg, Germany in 2014.  The program focuses on crimes of the Holocaust, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.  Nuremberg was the site of the Nazi trials after World War II. Consequently, the class has access to all manner of historical and legal materials while in the classroom at the host site in Nuremberg, but the experience of the camp in Poland is central to deepening their understanding.  Tuition is unable to keep up with costs of this part of the program. In addition to retaining this portion of the program, we wish to build on the experience of having a Jesuit accompany students to lead reflections.  To keep this part of the program going and to add a deeper dimension to it through Jesuit involvement, our CGI funding request is two-fold: (1) to offset the cost of the field trip to Auschwitz, and (2) to cover the cost of Jesuit involvement.  CGI funding will be provided for three years, which will provide sufficient time to secure alternate financial support for this part of the program.

Assessment:

• A robust post-experience survey will be developed to be collected in addition to the normal post-course reviews.
• Development of sustainability plan for program

Global Engagement Office

Research evidence is growing that indicates that studying abroad improve second language proficiency and intercultural skills, accelerates student development, broadens academic, personal and career perspectives, and expands students' worldview. International immersion experiences are strongly associated with the development of cultural empathy.  Further, study abroad significantly increases persistence in college of minority and under-represented students in higher education.  The Creighton Global Initiative will set aside funds for study abroad scholarships with the particular emphasis of supporting under-represented students' participation in international travel opportunities.  Criteria and process for application will be developed in consultation with multiple constituencies and support all forms of curricular travel.

Assessment:

• Increase of under-represented students to 10% of study abroad participants in first year and 20% in second year.
• Increase of overall student participation in study abroad to 15% in first year and 20% in second year.

Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Ph.D. (College of Arts & Sciences), Colleen Keller-Chiacchere, M.Ed. (Education), Greg Carlson, S.J., Ph.D. (Deglman Center), Joan Lanaham, D.Min (St. John's Parish), Anand Pereira, S.J. (Northeast India Kohima Jesuit Province)

This two-year project is focused around a Train-the-Trainer model that will enhance the current twinning relationship between the Northeast India Kohima Province and the Wisconsin Province of Jesuits, through Creighton University. The project involves training through reciprocal travel whereby faculty, staff, and students from Creighton will conduct training with educators and parishioners in Northeast India so that they can continue training others in their own communities in educational strategies and Ignatian spirituality formation for the laity.  To enable the people of the Northeast who participate in the training to understand the implementation of the training modules, reciprocal travel will include a trip to Omaha by selected individuals who participated in the trainings.  The purpose of this reciprocity is to show how the knowledge and activities that they learned are implemented in communities on Creighton's campus and Omaha schools.  

Assessment:

• Community need assessment regarding lay spirituality development and K-12 teaching strategies in order to prepare training modules.
• Pre-/post survey to determine knowledge and skills gained and increased number of Northeast community members who learn the concepts and strategies, and train others to develop a sustaining community.
• Reporting of the activities performed during visits to India and Omaha.
• An increase in the educational attainment of the Northeast teachers through use of materials/supplies provided by surveying the use of educational materials by Northeast teachers.
• An increased knowledge of the culture and needs of the Northeast communities through pre/post surveys of Creighton participants and classes/presentations given on campus by visitors.

Krista Cupich, M.A., Lizzy Curran, René Padilla, Ph.D. (all Global Engagement Office)

In collaboration with the Midwestern Jesuit Province's Social and International Ministries, the Global Engagement Office has identified potential partner institutions located in India. CGI will fund the establishment of a faculty/staff advisory group to forge connections with Jesuit institutions of higher education in India and thus expand and reinforce the international mission of partnering institutions.  This project will enhance current Creighton engagement with India.  Collaboration is intended to strengthen and enrich the mission and identity of partner universities through international cooperation in instruction, research, and service (activities may include study abroad opportunities, cooperative projects between faculty and staff, and sharing of academic materials and information for capacity-building). Site visits will be conducted for laying the groundwork for connecting Creighton faculty, staff, and students with their counterparts in India.  Besides providing opportunities for introductions and presentations, committee members will identify academic departments for collaboration and assessment of suitability for exchange. 

Assessment:

• Recommendations for development of specific memoranda of agreement with institutions in India with particular objective of capacity building;
• Number of exchange opportunities actually pursued (i.e. student / faculty mobility);
• Tracking of curricular transformation with Indian subcontinent focus.

Martha Habash, Ph.D. (Classical & Near Easter Studies / CU Liaison to JC:HEM), Eileen Burke-Sullivan, S.T.D. (VP Mission & Ministry)

Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (JC:HEM) is an initiative of the Society of Jesus that, through partnerships with local organizations and universities around the globe, creates access to higher education for people and communities at the margins of society, particularly refugees in 7 camps around the world. This project proposes piloting a global classroom that will enable Creighton students to participate directly in  JC:HEM classes, learning from and working with other students from around the globe in a virtual environment in a mutually beneficial relationship.  Creighton and JC:HEM students will work together in liberal arts courses that enable them to examine discipline-specific topics from a global perspective, and thus gain a better understanding of the disciplinary material as well as of each other's cultural perspectives.  CGI funds will support development and piloting of a one-credit companion course that Creighton students will take while simultaneously enrolled in a JC:HEM course.  Because JC:HEM courses are structured as 8-week intensive courses that occur twice in a 16-week semester, Creighton students would participate in the first 8-week session as students in the global JC:HEM classroom and in the second 8-week session as undergraduate teaching assistants.  During a one-credit companion course, Creighton students will participate in orientation and reflection activities to prepare for and learn from the experience.  The goal is for students to gain the ability to see their own discipline from a more global perspective through interaction with students from other cultures and countries. 

Assessment:

• At the beginning of the course students will write a short paper expressing their expectations for this experience, what they hope to learn from this process, and how this experience might change their attitudes and perceptions about marginalized people as well as their own field of study. The final project for this course will be a reflection paper. 
• TAs will be asked to return to the paper they wrote and reflect on their responses. Questions to be asked: what had they not anticipated, what surprised them the most, what they gained from this experience, and what they plan to do with this newfound knowledge.  Students will share their experience in a public forum.  
• Students within JC:HEM online diploma courses will complete existing course evaluations.  Questions concerning the effectiveness of the TAs will be added to these evaluations.  
• Students at Jesuit Universities will complete course evaluations for the JC:HEM course as well as the "Global Perspectives in Liberal Arts" course.

Global Engagement Office

Around the world today, scholars are attacked because of their words, their ideas and their place in society. Those seeking power and control work to limit access to information and new ideas by targeting scholars, restricting academic freedom and repressing research, publication, teaching and learning. The Scholars at Risk Network responds to these attacks. Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting threatened scholars, preventing attacks on higher education communities and promoting academic freedom worldwide. The CGI will fund Creighton University's membership fees and invitation of a scholar through this network to participate in a creative program on campus. 

Assessment:

• Scholar invitation
• TBA depending on Scholar program

Charles Brockhouse, Ph.D. (Biology), A. Selmecki, Ph.D. (Immunology, School of Medicine), S. Cho, Ph.D. (Biology), D. Boakye (Immunology and Parasitology, University of Accra, Ghana), M. Osei-Atweneboana, Ph.D.  (Department of Environmental Biology and Health, University of Accra, Ghana), Kelsey Wilson (student)

Onchocerciasis is a debilitating parasitic disease that afflicts approximately 39 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.  It has a huge impact on humanity; approximately 1 million disability-adjusted life years, exceeded only by polio.  The World Health Organization has proposed eliminating it, but needs better understanding of the movement and biology of the blackflies that are the sole vectors of the causative worm. Creighton has led the effort to sequence the genomes of the transmitting species, in partnership with academic and government institutions from 5 continents.  Our African partners can now apply the genomic tools we have developed to help determine transmission zones, and model transmission rates within the zones. This project will foster exchange of expertise between Creighton students and our African partners, and provide both with the opportunity to share each other's scientific context. This project will last two years, but will serve as a seed-program for ongoing collaboration and exchange.  Two Creighton students will spend six weeks in Ghana working in the Boakye and Osei labs, conducting field collections of material for genomic analysis, learning from tropical microbiologists and parasitologists at both partner institutes, and interacting with students at Noguchi Memorial Medical Institute, for a deep immersion in tropical disease biology and medicine.  Either Prof. Boakye or Dr. Osei-Atweneboana will visit Creighton University for a period of 3-4 weeks (depending on their schedule).  While here, they will train with the new Oxford Nanopore MinION portable DNA sequencer (used so successfully in Guinea during the Eboloa crisis) in the Brockhouse lab, and high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics in the Selmecki lab.  While here, our visiting scholar will interact with Creighton teaching programs in the Biology, MedMicro, Medical Anthropology, and African Studies departments/majors.

Assessment:

• Submission of a progress report to WHO/TDR
• Manuscripts for peer reviewed publication following analysis of the data produced

Richard Miller, Ph.D. (Theology)

This multi-year lecture series will bring to campus major climate scientists, experts in global food security, leading figures in the technological and policy options to transition to a renewable future, and experts who will help us understand the social, cultural, and political factors that have brought us to this point along with offering us solutions to avoid the worst effects of ecological degradation. A Presidential Task Force on Sustainability will be formed which will coordinate the lecture series. 

Assessment:

• Post-lecture surveys from students, faculty, and staff
• Monitoring expected increase of student involvement that involve sustainability

Caitlin Billingham, Aaron Fried, Mollie Watson, Allison Lai (all students, School of Medicine)

Global Health Conference Midwest (GHCM) is an interdisciplinary effort to address health disparities among marginalized populations both nationally and internationally. Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, we aim to raise awareness of global issues. This two-day event features renowned speakers, panel discussions, a research symposium, and a community fair. GHCM provides an opportunity for professionals, faculty, and students to connect, collaborate, and learn about pertinent and emerging topics in global health. Under the directorship of Creighton professional school students, GHCM is made possible through the combined efforts of a Steering Committee, representing over ten disciplines, and a completely student-run Operations Team. CGI funding will provide partial support for the 2017 conference to enable development of a sustainability plan for future years.

Assessment:

• Development of a sustainability plan

Serenity McAndrews (Student), Madelyn McGlynn (student), Sara Knowles (Student)

This outreach project will include a systematic series of events targeted at student awareness for NETwork Against Malaria and an increase in student involvement in the advocacy work of the organization. Events will include awareness plugs such as a dorm fundraising competition with a reward and midterms or finals week study break event co-hosted with partner organizations. These events will begin with a campus wide beading event coupled with a presentation about global malaria problems and what NETwork uses as a cost-effective intervention, promoted with advertising through partner organizations. Finally, the project will expand outreach for awareness into the Omaha area by standardizing the curriculum for school visits and entering in to craft fairs to sell awareness jewelry and talk about NETwork.

Assessment:

• Measurements of student involvement will be periodically taken to observe if group goals of increased student involvement are met

Global Engagement Office

Recognizing that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, this Global Speaker Series will complement the funded CGI projects as well as other campus efforts in maintaining dialogue across campus about how we can contribute to freeing the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. A committee will be formed to seek out or review submitted proposals for invited speakers that focus on bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. A broad array of topics and perspectives that bring a uniquely "Creighton" focus to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will be considered.

Assessment:

• Pre-/Post-Tests
• Review of range of topics and gaps

Jay Carney, Ph.D. (Theology), Carol Zuegner, Ph.D. (Journalism, Mass Media, and Computing), John O'Keefe, Ph.D. (Theology), Jim Wunsch, Ph.D. (Political Science), Ngwarsungu Chiwengo, Ph.D. (English), Jill Brown, Ph.D. (Psychology), Chinyere Ibekwe (Student, African Students Association), Pam Yenko (CCAS)

This project will fund an "Africa Rising" week on Creighton's campus during the fall semester. The week will incorporate events such as a film/discussion, a keynote lecture, a religious gathering, a Creighton student/faculty panel, and an African food/craft event. The long-term goal is to provide an annual forum for a richer campus conversation on Africa, engaging the local African diaspora community and deepening interest in Africa and African Studies among Creighton faculty and students.

Assessment:

• Quantitative and qualitative observation of event attendance;
• Anonymous evaluations;
• Opportunities for brainstorming for the development of follow-up initiatives based on event themes;
• Monitoring enrollment of Africa related programs and opportunities after Africa Rising.

Becky Nickerson, M.S. (Office of Multicultural Affairs), Wayne Young Jr., Ph.D. (Office of VP Student Life), Shama Ali, M.A. M.Ed., (Global Engagement), Curtis Taylor (Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Leadership and Involvement), Kelli Westphal, M.S. (Global Engagement), Shane Zephier, M.A. (Global Engagement), Hokulea Foster (Student), Jackie Ramos (Student), Rebekah O'Donnell (Student), Sarah Huddleston (Student), and Nidaa Mungloo (Student)

The International Student Engagement Initiative provides multiple pathways of engagement for both international and domestic students at Creighton University.  The initiative has three distinct elements that will provide increased opportunities for international engagement among students and staff, showcase and celebrate various cultures on campus, while bolstering international student retention. The first element matches incoming freshmen international students with trained peer ambassadors (sophomores and juniors) for the first semester of college. This model is centered on a student executive team who will assist in the training of peer ambassadors. In addition, a curriculum will guide ambassadors and new international students in both didactic and group activities. The second element is Monday Afternoon Cultural Share (MACS.) IELI students, Creighton students, and International Student Ambassadors will plan and offer a weekly culture-focused booth for one hour in or nearby Skutt Center.  Students will connect and plan MACS on Thursdays during the SPEAC (Students Practice English at Creighton) conversation hour. The third element is a campus-wide culminating cross-cultural all day Global Fair held in March/April in Skutt. The Global Fair will showcase the year-long focus on globalization through student cultural presentations, global booths and a facilitator/speaker focused on cross-cultural understanding. In addition, through the coordination of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, other cultural student organizations will further promote involvement.  

Assessment:

• Enhance International First - year Undergraduate Retention:  Students will be able to organize their student workload to enable their success during their first year in college. (Mapped to University Learning Outcome: #4)
• Improve the Transitional Process for International Undergraduate Students: Students will be able to identify the necessary resources for assistance and support in the transition to collegiate life.  (Mapped to University Learning Outcome: #4)
• Practice Intercultural Skills and Competencies: Students will appreciate the value of interacting with someone from a different background.  (Mapped to University Learning Outcome: #6)
• Global Citizenship Scale (or other similar measure) will document changes in cultural empathy and other cognitive and affective outcomes.

Deanna Prentice, M.S.(Classic Upward Bound Program), Susan Sullivan-Tuncan, M.A. (Global Engagement), Carissa Loughrey, M.A. (Global Engagement), Maria Isabel Barros, M.A. (Global Engagement), Shane Zephier, M.A. (Global Engagement)

This two-year pilot program, a collaboration between the Upward Bound Programs (UB), the Classic Upward Bound Program and the Upward Bound Math and Science Center, and the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI), will provide Bridge students in the UB Summer Academy (including African Americans, Mexican Americans, and ethnic Karen refugees) and IELI students in the IELI Summer Session the opportunity to meet for activities and cultural enrichment to enhance the multicultural knowledge, awareness and appreciation among students of both groups. This will facilitate the interaction among first-generation, low-income ethnic minority students from Omaha in the UB Bridge program with IELI students -- both unique populations at Creighton. The participants will voluntarily engage in the experience.  The UB Bridge students will graduate from high school and enroll in one to two Creighton courses for credit. During the Summer 2016 and 2017 terms, IELI students will join the UB Bridge students in numerous sponsored activities, and during the Summer 2017 session, the IELI students will join the UB students in their CU courses. The UB students will join the students in the whole IELI program in cultural awareness training, interviews, discussions and presentations. Through these activities, the Bridge students will get to know international students from a variety of cultures, and the IELI students will be introduced to the cultures of America, immigrant students and Omaha ethnic minorities.

Assessment:

• Pre- and post- administration of a survey of cultural appreciation and acceptance completed by all participants;
• Evaluation of knowledge that they gain through interviews and interactions presented in IELI classes while UB students present to UB participants;
• Evaluation of the reflective projects developed by the students at the end of the session;
• Grades earned by both groups in the two CU Summer session courses. (Summer 2017);
• Summary of the findings

Lizzy Curran (Global Engagement), Susie Sullivan-Tuncan, M.A. (Global Engagement Office), Isabel Barros, M.A. (Global Engagement Office), Kelly Tadeo Orbik (Schlegel Center for Service and Justice), Kate Martens-Stricklett, M.S., (Office of Interprofessional Scholarship, Service and Education), Margo Forsythe, M.A. (School of Dentistry), Barb Harris, Ph.D. (Social Work)

This project will provide opportunities for Creighton students, faculty and staff to become "women and men for and with others" by engaging with refugees, asylees and immigrants in Omaha via a variety of volunteer opportunities with Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska (LFS) and their collaborators who provide a wide range of support to the poorest and most marginalized in Omaha. This two-year project will provide four leadership positions in the form of internships for Creighton students to develop and organize opportunities, support volunteers in their service and, ultimately, provide the Creighton community the chance to come together in the service of displaced persons from around the world, assisting them in adapting and thriving in their new home.  The four student interns will work with existing campus partners to deepen and expand relationships with the refugee community with the goal of reinforcing institutional infrastructure and uniting departments of the Creighton community. Four interns (Refugee Service Coordinators) working from the Schlegel Center for Service and Justice (SCSJ) will develop organizational and interpersonal skills with various Creighton and refugee assistance programs. Creighton students, faculty, and staff will participate in a unifying, campus-wide endeavor as they develop relationships with groups that are diverse in culture and language.

Assessment:

• Number of volunteering opportunities created and the number of participants involved.
• Intercultural Development Inventory will document changes in awareness, disposition, etc.
• Quarterly on-campus program (i.e. presentation in residence halls, RSP classes).
• Compilation of a complete roster of Creighton contacts who already have working relationships with LFS and their collaborators. 
• Impact on volunteer participants will be measured through evaluative surveys conducted before and after engagement.

Surbhi Malik, PhD, Department of English

This project aims to build curriculum programming on Bollywood – Indian film industry that is popular on a global scale – as a cultural and political lens to understand the "uncomfortable realities of the world" and then connect this global perspective to our local Omaha community.  This "glocalization" curricular development project will connect students to the global cultures on the one land and local community on the other.  This project consists of three components: 1) developing and teaching a cross-listed interdisciplinary 300-level undergraduate course on "Global Bollywood" in English/Film Studies/American Studies/ and Asian Studies.  The course will include student research that will be shared with campus at an end-of-the-semester event; 2) organizing a public seminar / master research class on campus by a Bollywood scholar from a Jesuit partner organization, an event that will be open to the public; 3) engaging the local Omaha community (especially South Asians from Indian, Pakistani, Bhutanese, and Burmese backgrounds) through film screenings and discussions.  The scope of this project is simultaneously international and intensely local.  Its target participants are Creighton students, faculty in related disciplines, and the local Omaha community.

Assessment:

• Increase involvement of pre-professional and business students in global cultural and cinema arts education: 5 students from each discipline will be enrolled in the course at first offering and then increase by two each subsequent time;
• Number of community participants; brief survey
• Link with partner in India for scholarly exchange