Eckerd College St. Pete Center for Civic Engagement and Social Impact: Building Connection Among Students and the Community

At Eckerd College, students engage with the community through experience-based learning thanks in part to the work of the Eckerd College St. Pete Center for Civic Engagement and Social Impact (ECSPC).

The Eckerd College St. Pete Center for Civic Engagement and Social Impact gives students opportunities for knowledge through real-world experience via faculty-led projects that address current issues in the community. The center sponsors up to five Faculty Fellow projects each year and develops collaborative projects through its Community Affiliates program — all designed to offer research, teaching, and service opportunities and to build meaningful relationships that bridge the gap between campus and community.

David Gliem, Ph.D., Eckerd’s associate vice president for strategy and director of the ECSPC, explains that the center intends to expand and deepen Eckerd’s long tradition of community engagement. The idea for the center sprang from the College’s recent strategic planning process, led by Eckerd’s previous president, Damián Fernández. As a passionate advocate for place- and problem-based learning and teaching, Dr. Gliem is a natural leader, championing the center’s growth. He points out that they wanted to create a program that would “expand learning by activating the liberal arts and engaging students in the community in ways that are meaningful and reflect their academic work.”

Last academic year, two Faculty Fellow projects did just that. Environmental Studies Instructor David Himmelfarb, Ph.D., led Harnessing People Power, a project focused on food justice and urban agriculture solutions. Students connected with local food security organizations to build a knowledge hub, identify common goals, and initiate structured conversations. They then aggregated and analyzed collected information and formed next-step proposals for local urban food security initiatives. In addition to working on real-world agricultural problems, students connected with a number of local organizations and met the people involved.

Hilary Flower, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental studies, in collaboration with Michel Fougéres, director of digital strategies and communications, led Planting Seeds for Environmental Justice in St. Pete. For this project, students worked with urban forestry groups to identify the areas in St. Petersburg with the lowest tree coverage. They created plans to reforest those neighborhoods and got hands-on experience implementing environmental solutions through local government.

Eckerd College students, staff, faculty and alumni volunteer with the St. Pete Youth Farm during the 2022 Day of Service.

With four Faculty Fellow projects planned for 2023-2024, the center’s impact will only continue to grow. The St. Pete Center also is starting new conversations through events, guest speakers, and panel discussions that pique students’ interest and raise awareness of civic engagement opportunities on campus. Last April, it worked with two student leaders to host Rita Colwell, Ph.D., former head of the National Science Foundation, to discuss navigating sexism in STEM and empowering women in those departments.

Dr. Gliem says the St. Pete Center’s initial mission was to enhance student learning, but the projects have far-reaching impacts for everyone involved. The students are “learning, they’re getting something, and then they’re also giving at the same time.” Students get to help local organizations, make new connections, and learn the value of giving firsthand.

Beyond supplementing their education, this experience sparks passion within students. “I’ve never seen students light up more than when they’re doing this kind of outward-facing work,” Dr. Gliem says. “You know, they really light up; they have those aha moments, like, ‘Oh, I get it.’”

That spark stays with them, he adds. If this is a student’s first experience with civic engagement, it’s rarely their last. “Once the assignment is done and the project is over, they want to keep doing it. They look for other opportunities to get involved, and not always because it comes with some sort of reward, you know, a grade or fulfilling a requirement for graduation. They do it because they want to do it,” says Dr. Gliem. The center isn’t just supplementing classwork; it’s preparing students to be good citizens.

Eckerd College campus with the James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences in the background.

Dr. Gliem hopes that the St. Pete Center inspires even more Eckerd faculty to think about how they can connect their coursework to opportunities for engagement. “I hope to be able to reach them and sort of pull them into the fold, to think about ‘How can my courses connect to doing something in the community?’” The main role of the ECSPC is to foster meaningful and lasting relationships between students, faculty, and local organizations.

In addition to giving students hands-on learning opportunities, the Eckerd College St. Pete Center for Civic Engagement and Social Impact creates citizens who think about how they can engage and have experience with the process. Eckerd is curating a culture of caring that starts on campus and blossoms into the community. Dr. Gliem hopes to expand the center’s reach to every student at Eckerd College. “I understand the impact that place- and project-based experiences have on a student’s education and in their development. So I’d like to see every student have that kind of experience.”

A four-year liberal arts experience at Eckerd College teaches students to think for themselves and expand their compassion. Pinellas Community Foundation applauds the St. Pete Center for Civic Engagement and Social Impact for paving the way for more connection in the community and creating pathways for the next generation of philanthropy.