Date: Dec. 7, 2010
Contact: Carol Connelly, Director, Media & Communication Services, ext. 5267, cconnelly@pnc.edu

 

Sarah Sanders Smith

PNC Faculty Member Earns Campus Compact Grant

Westville – Sarah Sanders Smith, Purdue University North Central associate professor of Human Resources, has earned an Indiana Campus Compact Scholarship of Engagement Grant for the Spring 2011 semester. The grant will allow Smith and her students to partner with the Town of Beverly Shores to develop human resources materials for the town.

The project evolved as several members from the PNC College of Business and the Center for Economic Development and Research (CEDaR) met with Grant Ireland, president of the Beverly Shores Town Board and other Town Board members to identify how CEDaR and the College of Business can provide assistance to the community. The board voted unanimously to engage CEDaR and the College of Business in a project that will include the review and identification of revisions to town's personnel policy manual, the development of formal job descriptions for the town employees and creation of a performance appraisal form and process.

Each of these aspects will be in developed in accordance with best practices in the field.

This project will be incorporated as a service learning component for select seniors in Smith's Human Resource Consulting class. By the end of the semester, the students will have developed valuable human resource materials for the town to implement and they will come away with essential skills in needs assessment; experience interviewing personnel, board members and employees; benchmarking and comparing jobs by utilizing the resources of various agencies, manuals and professional resources and development of a contemporary, inclusive personnel manual.

Sanders Smith served as a municipal director of human resources for the City of LaPorte and is familiar with the needs of public sector human resource management.

In addition, the students will share their best practices learned during the course with the Indiana Municipal Personnel Association for Cities and Towns (IMPACT). By sharing their information, municipalities around the state will benefit from the project outcomes and the investment made by Indiana Campus Compact.

These students also will participate in the PNC Global Youth Service: Day of Learning and Service in April, joining other students in highlighting service learning and its outcomes.

Sanders Smith will continue discussion with the leadership of IMPACT to determine how students may continue to give back and assist IMPACT members.

Indiana Campus Compact is a network of 42 college campuses across the state that support higher education's efforts to develop students into well-informed, engaged citizens.

The Scholarship of Engagement Grant focuses specifically on integrating service learning into new or existing courses or community based research, or provides professional service that engages faculty, students and community organizations in reciprocal community-campus partnerships. Through this and other programs, Indiana Campus Compact serves as a catalyst for campuses and communities to improve people's lives through service-learning and civic engagement initiatives.