Miami University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Miami University’s Office of Community Engagement and Service (OCES) is an information hub for everything from one-time service projects to deep social change and advocacy work. Through OCES, Miami students, faculty, and staff engage in efforts to create meaningful change. OCES also serves as the first point of contact for nonprofit organizations seeking to engage with Miami for the purposes of community service, Service-Learning classes, co-sponsorship of events or any other form of collaboration for public benefit. From civic engagement initiatives and issue-based programming to short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities, OCES offers a wide array of programs for students to engage and serve in the communities surrounding Miami University. These programs include RISE alternative breaks, disaster response, Miami SOUP, Workshops, and Vote Everywhere. A brief description of each program is listed below and can be found on the OCES website (https://miamioh.edu/student-life/community-engagement-service/). RISE Alternative Breaks: RISE Alt. Breaks invites students to learn, serve, grow, and rise as an active citizen. Each student-led RISE trip provides an immersive service experience over spring break. Focused on a particular social justice theme, each trip is rooted in education, direct service, and reflection. During these trips, students participate in 30+ hours of service, engage in meaningful reflection, explore RISE site, and build long-lasting community with Site Leaders and participants. In 2019, there will be three trips and the themes are Environmental Justice, Recognizing and Understanding Gentrification, and Education Inequity and Youth Development. ComMUnity Connect: ComMUnity Connect (miamioh.edu/volunteer) is Miami’s online volunteer platform which launched in January 2018. The site allows Miami students, faculty, and staff to search and sign up for local volunteer opportunities. In August 2018, OCES partnered with Butler County United Way to create a sister site for local residents to access these volunteer opportunities and address more needs in the community. Disaster Response: OCES became involved with coordinating disaster response and donations on campus when Hurricanes Irma and Harvey hit in 2017. Miami SOUP: Miami SOUP represents Service Oriented Unity Projects. The mission of the program is to foster a sense of collaboration and community between Miami students and community partners to create social change through mini-grants, crowdfunding, and democracy. Miami SOUP invites the campus and local community to come together and create powerful community change. Audience members are invited to donate a few dollars at the door, enjoy a dinner together, and learn about community change proposals put together by students and community partners. It fosters collaborations amongst Miami students, staff, faculty, and Oxford community to create sustainable and ongoing partnerships to spark change in the Greater Cincinnati area. Workshops: Over the years, staff and student leaders at Miami University have facilitated a lot of workshops and OCES makes these workshops public and available to Miami students, staff, and faculty. They have over 15 workshops in their library that fall under themes of political engagement, community building, community service, and community-engaged teaching. Vote Everywhere: Vote Everywhere, a program of The Andrew Goodman Foundation, is a unique Civic Engagement Initiative rooted in a legacy of civil rights and social justice. Vote Everywhere carries on the work of Andrew Goodman, a sophomore at Queens College, who was murdered along with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner during Freedom Summer 1964 while attempting to register African-Americans to vote. Vote Everywhere empowers a national community of campus leaders to mobilize others to act on issues of importance using their votes, voices, and networks. Together, the AGF and OCES select Vote Everywhere Ambassadors, who help implement the goals of the program. Miami University has two Miami Students, who are Vote Everywhere Ambassadors, that help to organize voter registration efforts, plans and facilitates civic engagement workshops, engage students in the political process, and bring down barriers to voting.