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Get the most interesting and important stories from the University of Pittsburgh.Each year at the Community Engaged Scholarship Forum, Pitt celebrates students, faculty and staff who have significantly impacted their communities.
Winners of annual awards were announced at this year’s March 7 forum, themed “Expanding Narratives.”
Tracy Soska and John Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Award
Paula K. Davis, associate vice chancellor for diversity, equity, and inclusion for the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, won for her contributions to community collaborations and strengthening institutional knowledge.
CESF Collaboration Champion Award
Michael Glass, teaching professor of urban studies and the director of the Urban Studies Program in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, was honored for advancing Pitt’s culture of collaboration and bolstering communities through teamwork.
Partnerships of Distinction Award
This award recognizes outstanding partnerships that are exemplars of community engagement. Honorees demonstrate reciprocity, mutual benefit and significant community impact. Each winner will receive a $2,000 grant.
This year’s winners are:
The Pitt Water Collaboratory for “Measuring Up: Grading Drinking Water Quality, Affordability, and Transparency Practices in Allegheny County Water Systems”
When Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE) published “Something’s in the Water: A System Analysis on Quality and Transparency in Allegheny County Community Water Systems” in April 2021, an interdisciplinary team at Pitt partnered with the group to investigate its report’s findings.
The group investigated the availability of affordable and clean water for residents across Allegheny County’s 36 community water systems and the transparency of the community water systems practice to ratepayers. Together, WHE and the Pitt collaborators generated a report that discusses the partnership’s results and provides recommendations for moving forward.
In This Together Cambria for “Stopping the Spread of COVID-19 in Cambria County”
In This Together Cambria is a nonprofit group of civically engaged citizens, local leaders and community members who worked to help reduce COVID-19 cases in Cambria County.
The group’s advocacy committee engaged with regional leaders, sharing evidence-based, community-led solutions to slow the virus’ spread. The storytelling committee collected and shared testimonials from community members about how the pandemic affected them to promote public health and encourage empathy, action and healing.
Genius, Love, and Joy Summer Academy for encouraging high school students of color attending Pittsburgh Public Schools to consider a teaching career
Valerie Kinloch, the Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, created the Genius, Joy, and Love Summer Academy, a four-week program that inspires and encourages students to become educators.
Guest speakers from Pitt, Pittsburgh and schools around the country discussed the importance of teaching with 14 Pittsburgh Public Schools students.
— Donovan Harrell