51ÁÔÆæ students were part of an unusual service-learning project that paired them with nonprofit agencies to help improve those organizations\u2019 communications.<\/p>\n
Among the lessons students learned, according to their instructor, was that creating persuasive arguments and effective communication is even more challenging in the \u201creal world\u201d than in college courses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to connect the theories they were learning in class to the real world,\u201d said Leslie Harris, associate professor of communication, who worked with Laurie Marks, executive director of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research, to identify organizations that would appreciate the help.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these organizations are doing great things,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThey just needed help with outreach, particularly with social media.\u201d The class \u2013 Argument Theory and Practice \u2013 is in the Department of Communication and a part of the Rhetorical Leadership Certificate.<\/p>\n
The organizations represented a cross-section of Milwaukee-area community services.<\/p>\n
Doctoral student Hilary Rasmussen was interested in environmental issues, but didn\u2019t appreciate the scientific issues behind contaminated beaches until she and fellow doctoral student Josh Miller helped the Milwaukee Health Department create messages to increase public awareness.<\/p>\n
Allen Sells, a graduate student, worked with families and youth programs at the Sojourner Family Peace Center to create a white paper about the impact of domestic violence on families and public schools.<\/p>\n
Marnie McDonough and Ben Baker, both also doctoral students, helped the Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth create a social media plan.<\/p>\n
Ronnie Johnson and Derrick Langston, doctoral students in communication, wrote blog posts on issues of race in Wisconsin for the American Civil Liberties Union.<\/p>\n
The class was held during the fall semester, but many of the students volunteered to finish their projects or continue working with their organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheories of communication can teach us how to connect and persuade,\u201d said Harris, \u201cbut the students found that social media intensive communication created some challenges.\u201d Some students used more photos or emotional appeals to convey their messages, she explained, and other students were challenged to connect with and persuade audiences using 140 characters in a tweet.<\/p>\n
Coming into an organization for 20 hours over a semester and trying to learn its culture and operations also presented difficulties, said McDonough of her work with Baker at the Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tasks remained the same as what was set out for us in our meetings with the co-executive directors. However, the execution was a bit different because we faced some challenges due to our lack of institutional knowledge,\u201d McDonough said<\/p>\n
For example, she and Baker discovered that because the agency works with young people, there were legal issues with getting permissions to use names and photos in their social media campaign.<\/p>\n
Rasmussen and Miller found that focusing communication about ways to protect beaches was critical because so many complex issues were involved.<\/p>\n
Students learned a great deal about communication as well as about the Milwaukee community and its organizations, Harris said.<\/p>\n
McDonough was drawn to working with the Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth because she has a 3-year-old daughter and a background in marketing. Learning about the center\u2019s work was \u201ceye opening and heart wrenching.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe organization has excellent programs and initiatives and plans that can be put into place to do some incredible things for the community, but like a lot of nonprofits, the center is in need of support \u2013 specifically volunteers and of course, donors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sells brought experience from working with youth agencies in Florida to bear on the white paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt I had something to add to this project in my familiarity with traumatic experiences and how they impact child and teen development.\u00a0I was pleased that the people at Sojourner Truth appeared willing to let me run with the subject of my paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some students are continuing with projects because they fit well with their own goals. Jacob Kay, who is working on a graduate certificate in applied gerontology offered through the Center for Aging and Translational Research, continues to work with TimeSlips\u00a0— a creative storytelling program\u00a0that\u00a0fosters artful expression in those living with memory loss.<\/p>\n
While most of the nonprofits don\u2019t have the time and money to do all the communications they need, students said they were able to make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more to be done, but it\u2019s really important work,\u201d Rasmussen said of her time with the health department. \u201cWe are really encouraged that what we produced could make a citywide and regional impact.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
51ÁÔÆæ students joined area nonprofits to help improve their communications with the community – and learned what they could use in their own coursework.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":839,"featured_media":29431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249,250],"section":[122,123],"display_categories":[115],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[158],"class_list":["post-29430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-campus-partnerships","display_categories-top-story-secondary","uwmnews-feed-letters-science"],"yoast_head":"\n