RAPPORT Workshop: Where Are You Coming From?

RAPPORT Workshop: Where Are You Coming From?

Monday, November 19
6:00PM-8:00PM
6th Floor Open Space,
Steger Student Life Center

Many people have probably felt "triggered" before. In this workshop, we'll go through the steps of The Triggering Cycle. Another aspect we're exploring are the differences between Debate, Dialogue and Discussion.

This meeting is open to everyone.

Save the Date: 28th Annual Student Leadership Conference - Feb 23rd!

Save the date!

28th Annual Student Leadership Conference

Seek the Highest

Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013

8:30a.m.-4p.m.

Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center

FREE for UC students

Registration opens Jan. 7, 2013 at uc.edu/sald

UC Student Worker Scholarship - Deadline Nov. 30th!

From UC News:

Larry Elsasser Memorial Scholarship Award Deadline - Nov. 30

The inaugural scholarship(s) of $500 for student employees will be awarded for the 2013 spring semester.

Date: 11/5/2012 12:00:00 AM
By: Amy Browns Taylor

  

The scholarship will be awarded annually to at least one student employee working at the university who meets the following criteria:

• The student must be enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Cincinnati (UC);
• The student must be employed by the university as a enrolled student employee at the time of application for the scholarship and award;
• The student must have completed or is in the process of completing two semesters of academic work and hold a cumulative university grade point average of 3.0 or better; and
• The student must submit the required forms including a reference from their supervisor at the university.

Determination of the scholarship recipient will be based on:

1) Completion of the required forms;
2) Demonstrated need for the scholarship;
3) Demonstrated work as a student employee; and
4) Supervisor review and comments.

Application forms are available on the Campus Services website and are due on or before Friday, Nov. 30.

A well-known Bearcat, Larry Elsasser, Ed ’65, MEd ’73, served as a UC employee for 35 years. For most of those years, Larry served as the director of Tangeman University Center.

In 2011, the staff of Campus Services established the Larry Elsasser Memorial Scholarship Fund with the UC Foundation. A university committee consisting of representatives from Campus Services and Student Affairs & Services will review all applications submitted for the scholarship. Scholarship winner(s) will be announced the week of December 10.

For more information, contact Amy Browns Taylor at amy.browns@uc.edu. 

HIV Testing Program Receives Grant to Partner with Community Organizations, Increase Testing

From UC News:
HIV Testing Program Receives Grant to Partner with Community Organizations, Increase Testing

CINCINNATI—The University of Cincinnati (UC) HIV Early Intervention Program (EIP) has received a new Ohio Department of Health grant to greatly expand its HIV testing program by partnering with 10 community-based nonprofits.

The new "EIP-Community Testing Network” aims to link community organizations and social networks to perform 1,000 HIV tests focusing on African-American youth and MSM (men who have sex with men) of any race in Hamilton County.

The grant, for $140,000 for 15 months, will pay for UC’s EIP to integrate counselor-based testing into 10 community-based organizations throughout the region.

The EIP program has signed eight community nonprofit organizations so far, including Lighthouse Youth Services, St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Talbert House, Drop Inn Center, Freestore Foodbank, Central Community Health Board, Our Daily Bread, and St. Vincent de Paul.

"These organizations serve various needs for Cincinnati’s young African-American population—behavioral health needs, substance abuse counseling, food shelters and social outlets,” says Andrew Ruffner, director of the Early Intervention Program, based within UC Health University Hospital’s Center for Emergency Care. "By partnering with them, we can reach patients who may not be seen in the emergency department and engage the staff of our community partners in HIV prevention to make referrals into the testing program. Focusing attention on these populations will ultimately have the largest impact on regional transmission rates over the long term.”

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control reports HIV infections among young, African-American MSM grew 48 percent from 2006 to 2009—the only group to experience a statistically significant increase in new infections.

"There is a particular need in our community for the services offered through UC’s EIP–Community Testing Network,” says Roland Kocsis, director of Lighthouse on Highland, a youth shelter and resource center that also performs street outreach for homeless young people. "It will help meet the needs of the high-risk young people who we see every day, including those who are experiencing sexual abuse, assault or exploitation, GLBT youth, and youth experiencing mental, behavioral or substance use difficulties. We feel this new collaborative will provide the type of outreach and support necessary to link these individuals to timely and high-quality care.”

In addition to placing an Ohio Department of Health-certified EIP counselor at each network center, organization staff will be trained to refer patients to the EIP counselor for HIV counseling and testing services.

"Organizations have gone out into the community to provide HIV testing for years,” says Ruffner. "The difference with this grant is that we’re training staff in these community organizations to engage in risk-reduction messaging to their clients and to refer them to testing when they are at a high risk for the disease.”

The grant also includes a social network aspect—MSM tested by an EIP network counselor have the option to participate in a peer referral program, utilizing their existing social networks to reach partners or peers who may not have been tested for HIV.

"One of the biggest difficulties in reaching out to young MSMs, is that they may not identify as gay,” says Ruffner, "so there’s not a central place or existing community where you can reach them.”

The EIP-Community Testing Network program will be run using a database developed by University of Cincinnati Information Technology (UCIT) for tracking client’s testing history, the relationship among testers and managing their linkage to care.

As part of the grant, the Central Community Health Board will assist with staff training at the testing sites, training organization staff on how to engage with clients and discuss HIV testing with risk reduction.

Local agency IV-CHARIS will assist with testing and counseling. The partner organizations also will form an advisory council to continuously renew the program’s efforts and outcomes.

Proposal Submissions for 28th Annual UC Student Leadership Conference

You and the student organizations that you work with are invited to join us by participating as a conference presenter for the 28^th Annual Student Leadership Conference on Saturday, February 23^rd from 8:30am to 4pm. Proposal submissions are due December 3^rd, 2012.  See the attached document for details. Please also invite your students to join us at the conference. Registration will open January 7^th, 2013.

 

Last year’s conference brought almost 250 participants and included presentations by invited guests, alumni, students, and faculty/staff.

 

This one-day leadership conference focuses on building individual student leader skills and connections. This year will include energetic opening and closing sessions, lunch, a keynote, and nearly three dozen education programs focusing on community service, philanthropy, student organization funding, risk management, public speaking, campus scheduling, professional development, and more.

 

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Terri Hurdle (HURDLET@ucmail.uc.edu) or myself.

Colorado Trans on Campus Coalition Releases Study, Policy Recommendations for Colorado Colleges & Universities

Via SJTI Listserv: News Release For Release: 31 October 2012 Contact:  Jordan Ames Phone: (303) 871-2781 E-mail: jordan.ames@du.edu

 

Colorado Trans on Campus coalition releases study, policy recommendations for Colorado colleges and universities

Study examines barriers to full inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming students, staff, and faculty

 

 DENVER—The Colorado Trans on Campus coalition – a coalition of transgender and ally students, staff, and faculty from a number of different institutions of higher education in Colorado – has released the final report from a qualitative research study examining barriers to full inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming students, staff, and faculty on Colorado college and university campuses. 

The report, Invisibilities, Uncertainties, and Unexpected Surprises: The Experiences of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students, Staff, and Faculty at Colleges and Universities in Colorado, presents findings from in-depth interviews and provides policy recommendations deriving from those findings.

The study is believed to be the only published research specifically examining this topic for universities solely within the State of Colorado. The sample of 30 represents a multitude of departments and offices on campus, both academic and administrative, at 10 different colleges and universities in Colorado.

“The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the barriers to full participation in campus life faced by transgender community members and to provide concrete recommendations for administrators and advocates on campuses of higher education in Colorado,” says Eugene Walls, associate professor in the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, and the study’s lead researcher.   “We specifically chose to have a sample that included trans-identified staff and faculty, as well as students, because of the sheer lack of information about staff and faculty in the scholarship—this project adds useful data about these subgroups that have not been previously captured by other researchers”

The study found that while campus experiences are impacted by the identities, roles, and expectations people bring with them, there are various aspects of the campus itself and the actions of people who make up the campus community that also affect a transgender individual’s experience. These “Contributing Factors to the Campus Climate” include:  the campus environment;  the use & abuse of power by staff, faculty, and administrators on campus;  policy communication & implementation; campus resources; the sense of community on campus; and the degree to whichtransgender people are tokenized and/or allowed to self-define their own boundaries and roles.

The stories of the 30 individuals interviewed for this project reveal ways that colleges and universities in Colorado (and beyond) can take concrete actions to better include and affirm transgender and gender non-conforming people and to welcome their presence on campus.

The report’s recommendations are organized by campus departmental areas (e.g., student services, student/staff/faculty organizations, campus housing).  Recommendations range from supporting faculty efforts to infuse content about the transgender community and issues related to gender identity and expression in classroom curricula to developing  a map of campus that points out the location of single-stall and gender-neutral bathrooms in each building.

“This study validates the anecdotal stories my colleagues and I have, and will motivate and focus needed improvements on our campuses,” says Thomas Walker, director of Educational Programs & LGBTIQA Services at DU’s Center for Multicultural Excellence. “With state law and many institutions’ policies guaranteeing equal access to all gender identities and expressions, I look forward to working with campus and state counterparts to implement the study’s recommendations in pursuit of our commitment to Inclusive Excellence.”

The research project was funded, in part, by the University of Denver’s Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, along with faculty time by the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. Additional staff and volunteer support was provided by the Colorado Anti-Violence Program and the University of Denver’s Center for Multicultural Excellence.

Copies of the full report and the executive summary have been mailed to Chief Operating Officers and Chief Diversity Officers at Colorado colleges and universities. An executive summary as well as the full report can additionally be downloaded fromhttp://portfolio.du.edu/ewalls2.  Questions regarding the report can be submitted toEugene.Walls@du.edu.

- 30 -
The University of Denver is committed to improving the human condition and engaging students and faculty in tackling the major issues of our day. The University ranks among the top 100 national universities in the U.S. For additional information, go towww.du.edu/newsroom or follow the University on Facebook and Twitter.

Plant Trees at UC Blue Ash Campus - Nov 15th & 16th!

From UC Sustainability:

Volunteer Opportunity: Tree Planting

On Thursday, November 15 and Friday, November 16, we will be planting trees on UC’s Blue Ash campus as part of an effort of the Green Partnership for Greater Cincinnati. 

Volunteers are needed on Thursday the 15^th from 10am – 3pm and Friday the 16^th from 9am – 2pm.

Transportation to UC Blue Ash is available via the Campus Transit System shuttle, and students may volunteer for the entire event or just a couple hours!  Lunch will provided.

Please RSVP to green@uc.edu.