July 20, 2016 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu 

Over 150 public health majors worked together to raise nearly $40,000 in cash, goods and volunteer hours for 16 Midlands not-for-profit organizations this past spring. The students were seniors participating in a Senior Seminar Team Fundraising Challenge that was coordinated by Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Student Services Sara Corwin. Clinical Assistant Professor Kara Montgomery, Instructor/Advisor Charlotte Galloway and Instructor/Advisor Christine Palmer designed and taught the new capstone course—the success and scale of which would not be possible without their expertise and collaboration, according to Corwin.

“While giving back to the local community was a priority, the intent of the course was also to provide students with opportunities to gain exposure to and experiences in ‘real life’ public health settings,” says Corwin. “As our seniors graduate and leave us, we need to know they are prepared with a set of skills valuable for the next chapter in their lives.”

Students were randomly assigned to teams of five students and required to select a project leader, an accountant, a communication/public relations manager and two logistics specialists. Each of the 33 teams were matched with a community-based organization (CBO) and tasked with fund raising. After meeting with their CBO, students planned and implemented campaigns to meet the minimum goal of $500, which was established by course faculty.

During the semester, students completed nine individual and team assignments designed to help enhance their skills in strategic planning, analytical and problem solving, communication and leadership. “These competencies are all essential to public health practice,” says Corwin. “So we ensured that they were integrated into the assignments in such a way that students could leave the course and graduate with this particular set of skills and knowledge.”

Students were asked to reflect on their assignments both at the beginning of the course, as they anticipated their experiences, and then at the end, after they had completed all of the assignments. “The team fundraising challenge has given me the opportunity to both assert my strengths for the team’s good and to grow in confidence in those strengths,” says Allison Saige, whose team placed 4^th in the team challenge. “The project has also given me the opportunity to work with a group of individuals who prior to the project I had no experience working with. I learned to communicate regularly and clearly, to respect and listen to the ideas of others, and to offer constructive criticism—all with strangers.”

Saige also noted that she was able to see several public health concepts in action (e.g., how individual, social, and cultural factors interact to influence public health). “The public health issue that St. Lawrence Place works to address, homelessness, is complex with many individual and societal factors interacting to create and fuel the issue,” says Saige.

Faculty members used several criteria in ranking the winning teams, which included performance on individual and team assignments, attendance, ratings of team functioning and fundraising amounts. The five highest scoring teams were recognized at a Community Partner Appreciation Luncheon held on Saturday, April 30 at the Arnold School’s Public Health Research Center, and the overall project was featured in a WIS Good News community segment.

Senior Seminar Team Fundraising Challenge Winners
St. Lawrence Place Team 9	The Free Medical Clinic Team 21	The Oliver Gospel Mission Team 19	St. Lawrence Place Team 14	The Therapy Place Team 1
Liza Chafin	Katy Hallman	Mary Grace Loveless	Ashley Martin	Caroline Hayden
Nicole O'Janovac	Travis Lazaroff	Austin Luera	Saige Allison	Lauren Drummond
Aliyah Small	Maggie Roberts	Rickeia Peterkin	Paulina Peralta	Hannah Livingston
Kaleb Carter	Rebecca Sowers	Hannah Dotson	Gabriel Diaz	Toby Tyler
Kristin Jeffcoat	Shanetra Bryant	Brittany Thigpen	Gabriela Perry	Samantha Shaddix

 

Participating Community-Based Organizations:
Big Brother Big Sisters	Pets Inc.
Boys & Girls Club	American Red Cross
Conservation Voters of SC	Ronald McDonald House
EdVenture	SC Campaign to Prevent Teen  Pregnancy
Free Med Clinic	Senior Resources
National Alliance on Mental Illness	St. Lawrence Place
Oliver Gospel Mission	Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands
Palmetto Place Childrens Shelter	The Therapy Place