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Horticulture, Plant & Soil Science Professor Frank Gibbons kicked off the winter quarter Brown Bag Lunch Series on Monday, Jan. 13, at the College of Agriculture. Appropriate to this quarter?s theme, ?Service Learning by Colleges,? Gibbons and two of his students discussed the challenges and rewards of incorporating service learning into his HOR 499/550 Seminar in Horticultural Therapy class.
The Faculty Center for Professional Development, the Faculty Computing Support Center and the Task Force on Service Learning are co-sponsoring the discussion series to provide a forum for the productive exchange of ideas to strengthen the university?s service learning initiative. Faculty, staff and students are invited to bring their lunches and listen to presentations by faculty, students and community partners on how service learning is being incorporated into the curriculum. Coffee, tea and soft drinks are provided.
?Cal Poly Pomona?s signature is ?learning by doing?,? says Ian Stewart, director of the Faculty Center. ?Service learning is also about ?doing? the discipline. Service learning encourages students to make connections between theory and practice, and between themselves and the larger community.?
This quarter, the Brown Bag Lunch discussions are being held in the individual colleges instead of the Faculty Center to make the events more convenient and accessible to the campus community, says Stewart. The goal is to get representatives from each college to attend numerous discussions so that when the group meets for the final Brown Bag Lunch, participants will be able to contribute ideas of further strengthening the university?s commitment to service learning, he says.
The following is a preliminary schedule of upcoming Brown Bag Lunch discussions to be held by each college (Note: Dates, times and venues for some discussions are to be announced at a later date):
- Tuesday, Jan. 28, College of Education & Integrative Studies, noon to 1 p.m., Building 5, Room 214
- Thursday, Feb. 6, College of Business Administration, noon to 1 p.m., Building 6, Room 227
- Monday, Feb. 10, College of Engineering, noon to 1 p.m., Building 17, Room 1635
- TBA, College of Environmental Design
- TBA, College of Letters, Arts & Social Sciences
This quarter?s Brown Bag discussions will culminate with a special plenary session on service learning on Thursday, March 6, noon to 1 p.m., in the Faculty Center Conference Room (Building 1, Room 228).
For more information about the Brown Bag Lunch Series or to suggest topics, contact Ian Stewart in the Faculty Center at (909) 869-2897.