Imagining America Media Kit

Beth Clayton [email protected]

Taylor Cockerill [email protected]

Blake Menke [email protected]

Elizabeth Zelley [email protected]

Feb. 23, 2012

Imagining America Auburn University Auburn, AL 36849 Dear Dr. Giovanna Summerfield, Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to help promote Auburn’s new Imagining America chapter. We have enjoyed learning about the organization and have gained valuable experience in public relations writing. We are proud to offer you a promotional media kit that includes a print news release, e-mail news release, backgrounder of the organization, two biographies, fact sheet, feature story, FAQs and a brochure. We appreciate that you have taken the time to work with us. This experience has been valuable in teaching us how to work with a client in a real-world setting. We have learned so much, and we are excited to put this knowledge, as well as our knowledge of civic engagement, to work in our future careers. We truly believe that this chapter of Imagining America will be a great benefit to the Auburn community for years to come, and we are excited to have been a part of its establishment. Again, thank you so much for the opportunity and good luck with all your future endeavors. Sincerely, Beth Clayton Taylor Cockerill Blake Menke Elizabeth Zelley

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY Auburn, AL 36849

(334) 844-4000

News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: April 19, 2012 Dr. Giovanna Summerfield CLA Director of the Arts and Faculty Initiatives 334-844-2890 [email protected]

Auburn University jumpstarts Imagining America program targeting graduate students

AUBURN‒Imagining America is piloting a local chapter on Auburn University’s

campus. Giovanna Summerfield, Auburn Imagining America Representative, is excited about

having the opportunity to bring this creative program to Auburn University.

“It’s about what Imagining America does not only for Auburn, but for the community in

general,” Summerfield said.

Auburn has been a part of IA’s consortium of 90 schools for three years. Summerfield is

excited to advance Auburn from a member school to an active chapter, hoping to host an IA

conference within the next five years.

IA brings a unique opportunity for graduate students by granting fellowships with

opportunities for growth in professional development and networking at national conferences.

Program targeting grad students 2--2--2

IA has established a new fellowship program, Publicly Active Graduate Education, which

is unique because it is exclusively for graduate students. PAGE fellows attend a day-long summit

including seminars for discussion, small-group exchanges and feedback from peers about their

research.

IA’s website states their mission is to animate and strengthen the public and civic

purposes of humanities, arts, and design through mutually beneficial campus-community

partnerships that advance democratic scholarship and practice.

Imagining America was launched in 1999 at the White House Conference by the White

House Millennium Council, The University of Michigan and The Woodrow Wilson National

Fellowship Foundation. The goals of IA are to combine academic and community knowledge

and to develop professional advancement as well as achieving sustainability and cultural

diversity. IA consists of 90 college and universities across the nation and continues to expand its

reach to future affiliates.

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To: [email protected] Subject: Imagining America Program Targets Graduate Students AUBURN UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release April 19, 2012 Imagining America Program Targets Graduate Students Auburn University has started a local chapter of Imagining America. Giovanna Summerfield, Auburn University’s Imagining America representative, is excited about having the opportunity to bring this creative program to Auburn University. Imagining America brings a unique opportunity for graduate students by granting fellowships that provide opportunities for growth in professional development. IA has established a new program, Publicly Active Graduate Education, which is unique because it is exclusively for graduate students. PAGE allows graduate students to attend a day-long summit including seminars for discussion, small-group exchanges and feedback from peers about their research. Imagining America’s website states their mission is to animate and strengthen the public and civic purposes of humanities, arts, and design through mutually beneficial campus-community partnerships that advance democratic scholarship and practice. “It’s about what Imagining America does not only for Auburn, but for the community in general,” Summerfield said.

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For More Information: Dr. Giovanna Summerfield CLA Director of the Arts and Faculty Initiatives 334-844-2890 [email protected]

AUBURN UNIVERSITY Auburn, AL 36849

(334) 844-4000

Backgrounder

Imagining America is a consortium of 90 colleges and universities around the nation

along with countless community partners. IA was established “to advance public and civic

purposes of humanities, arts and design,” (website).

IA was formally established at a White House Conference that included the White House

Millennium Council, the University of Michigan and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship

Foundation. This conference became the initial base for IA as it grew into an association of

colleges and universities around the country.

The White House Millennium Council theme, “Honor the past-- Imagine the future,” gave

Imagining America inspiration for its name.

IA’s main focus, along with promoting participation, dialogue, cultural diversity, and equality,

is to use academic knowledge to solve real-world problems. Doing this, they are able to sustain

public scholarship through local and global conversations about campus-community

collaboration. IA hopes their work will help integrate knowledge to develop our communities.

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IA currently sponsors five research groups on topics ranging from civic professionalism

to tenure and promotion. One of the groups is seeking to change university policies to have

engaged art and scholarship recognized as legitimate activities. IA also sponsors collaborators

more-on community knowledge and arts, culture, and community development in an effort to

expand work that may turn into research projects.

Each year IA holds a national conference that brings together individuals from all

disciplines around the country. The conferences explore various situations that may be social,

cultural, political, or physical, that are unique to the host city and align with IA’s mission. This

year the conference’s theme is “What sustains us,” and was held in Minneapolis and St. Paul,

Minnesota, on Sept. 22-24, 2011.

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY Auburn, AL 36849

(334) 844-4000    

AUBURN FACULTY MEMBER BRINGS IMAGINING AMERICA TO AUBURN

Giovanna Summerfield, Auburn’s associate dean of educational affairs, has been working

with Imagining America to bring her passion to our campus by starting an Imagining America

chapter at Auburn University.

Summerfield brought her passion for community and civic engagement with her when

she moved to the United States from Katanya, Italy, in 2002. After working on a US military

base in Italy, she moved back to the United States with her husband to pursue her doctorate in

romance languages and literatures at the University of Florida. Summerfield also has a master’s

degree in French and a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

“Because of my interest and also my preparation in social science, art, philosophy, and

religion, that gives me sort of a different way of looking at things from a many points of view

and many perspectives,” Summerfield said.

Being raised and educated in Europe puts Summerfield in a unique position to bring

Imagining America to Auburn. As colleges and universities are adopting civic engagement

curriculum across the country, “it’s a part of life” in Europe, Summerfield said. Children are

raised with a sense of empowerment to change their communities, either through service learning

or through political engagement, and they continue to apply these values throughout their lives.

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Summerfield has been working with the university to engage students through a minor in

interdisciplinary studies, accommodating 35 students, as well as adding a capstone course to the

minor. Through the capstone project, students are able to take on a project to become involved

and find a connection with their campus and community. One student is currently leading a

mentorship program for at-risk students in the community. “It’s very uplifting for her and for us

also to see how she’s growing as an adult and having an impact on the kids,” Summerfield said.

Summerfield hopes Imagining America conferences will help students, especially

graduate students, find a medium to develop and present their research. At Imagining America

conferences, the focus is really on diversity and engagement with community partners.

Audiences participate with presenters in an ongoing, collaborative conversation at the

convention and through the website to give feedback and build upon others’ ideas. “They’re

trying to empower everyone,” Summerfield said, to explore possibilities and develop them.

“That’s why I’m excited about the possibility of a chapter.”

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY AUBURN, AL 36849

(334) 844-4000

AUBURN FACULTY MEMBER TAKES INTEREST IN CIVIC PROFESSIONALISM

This past September 2011, Brigitta R. Brunner, Ph.D. attended a consortium in

Minnesota in which she met with other research members to learn about other universities’

cultures. Her research has a focus in civic engagement, as well as other fields. “My favorite part

of Imagining America is being a part of this group that allows me to meet others I never would

have met and that our group includes so many institutions working towards the same goal,”

Brunner said.

Prior to the conference, Brunner had been working on a research project with members

of Imagining America. The research founders include Amy Koritz from Drew University and

Paul Schadewald from Macalester College. Other members of the research committee are faculty

members from institutions such as Syracuse University, University of Miami, Fordham

University and Millsaps College. “As we complete this project, we can add to literature in ways

others have not been able to and spread this concept of civic engagement across the nation,”

Brunner said.

Brunner has been a member of the Auburn faculty since 2002, where she teaches public

relation courses for both graduate and undergraduate students. She is currently the director of the

public relations program and is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and

Journalism.

Being involved in the Auburn graduate student program, Brunner is determined to ensure

students have an ethical foundation, similar to a doctor’s code of ethics. To achieve this goal, she

plans to host workshops for faculty. These workshops will give faculty members the opportunity

to listen to speakers and rework their syllabi to include ethical practices for future graduate

students.

Brunner received her B.A. in marketing communications at Juniata College in 1993, and

in 1995 she received her M.A. in communication from Auburn University. She went on to

receive her Ph.D. in mass communication with a concentration in public relations in 2000 from

the University of Florida.

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 Imagining America Auburn University Auburn, AL 36849

IMAGINING AMERICA AND CAPSTONE PROGRAM EMPOWER AUBURN

STUDENTS TO BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE COMMUNITY

Auburn University has recently added a minor in Civic and Community

Engagement to its curriculum, a program that Dr. Giovanna Summerfield, the associate

dean for educational affairs, hopes to expand over the next few years. Presently, Auburn

has about 35 students in the program.

Last year, for the first time, the minor also included a capstone class that required

students to explore their own projects for engagement in the Auburn community and

present it to other students and faculty. This semester, three Auburn students are doing

their capstone project, and “they are doing things amazingly well organized,” said

Summerfield.

One student’s capstone project made a connection between the incoming

freshmen and interest in the Auburn community. “This new generation is coming in with

a higher expectation and higher interest,” Summerfield said.

Students, particularly the students within the learning communities, have an

interest in becoming a part of this new Auburn community and “they are really interested

in joining organizations, working for the community, and finding a connection with

community partners,” Summerfield added.

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After conducting the research, the students were paired with new organizations—

Campus Kitchen and the Big House Foundation—to put their inspiration to work and see

how the freshmen find their role in their new community apart from Auburn University.

Another student has taken the opportunity to explore the impact of a civic

organization with which he worked when he was very young. He researched the students

who participated in the organization and found out how they are applying the civic

engagement learning in their professional lives years later.

A third capstone student has taken the opportunity to partner Auburn students as

mentors to youth-at-risk who don’t have exposure to role models. Many of these students

may think coming to the university is impossible because of their social or economical

backgrounds and she is working to help empower those kids. “It’s been very uplifting for

her and us also to see how she is really growing, not only as an adult, but also having an

impact on these kids,” Summerfield says.

As Auburn University grows it’s minor in Civic and Community Engagement,

hopefully more students will get involved and learn how to use their discipline to give

back to the community. These capstone projects can be developed in conjunction with

Auburn’s chapter of Imagining America and the national organization’s PAGE

fellowship program.

Each year, Imagining America hosts a conference to allow both students and

faculty to present their ideas for research and develop those ideas with people from

around the country. By developing the capstone program and Auburn’s Imagining

America chapter, much more great work should come from Auburn students in the next

few years.

Fact Sheet

• Imagining America was formally launched at a 1999 White House Conference initiated by the White House Millennium Council, the University of Michigan and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

• Imagining America is currently comprised of 90 college and university members and a myriad of community partners.

• Imagining America emphasizes the possibilities of humanities, arts and design in knowledge-generating initiatives.

• Imagining America’s website was launched in December 2011.

• Auburn University has a three-year membership with Imagining America.

• Imagining America’s action-research adds to campus-community partnerships in local and national civic life, while furthering the recognition of public scholarship’s value in higher education itself.

• Imagining America has partnerships with many organizations including Campus Compact, the New York Council for the Humanities, the Center for Institutional & Social Change and the Nathan Cumming Foundation.

• Imagining America’s vision is to realize the democratic, public and civic purposes of American higher education.

• The values of Imagining America are: o Reciprocity and mutual benefit in campus-community partnerships, scholarship

and teaching. o Participation, transparency, dialogue and pluralism. o Innovation and integration of knowledge to improve our communities. o Cultural diversity and social equity.

Frequently Asked Questions

 What is Imagining America?

Imagining America is a consortium of over 80 colleges and universities committed to public scholarship and practice integrating humanities, arts and design.

What is the mission statement of Imagining America? Imagining America’s mission is to animate and strengthen the public and civic purposes of humanities, arts and design. It is a mutually beneficial campus-community partnership that strives to advance democratic scholarship and practice.

Are there opportunities for graduate students? Yes, Imagining America has a graduate program, Publicly Active Graduate Education, for graduate students in which they can attend National Imagining America Conferences and have opportunities for mentorship and collaboration with peers and scholars.

Where will the Imagining America Convention be held in 2012?

The 2012 annual convention will take place in New York City. “Annual national conferences are sites of collaboration, active dialogue, and problem solving around national issues. Each conference reflects the national agenda that Imagining America’s board and membership have defined in any given year,” (website).

What is being done at Auburn University to enhance this program? Dr. Brigitta Brunner, associate professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism,

was chosen to be a member of a research project for Imagining America based on civic professionalism and engagement.

Who can I contact for more information about getting involved?

For more information, contact Dr. Giovanna Summerfield, Associate Dean for Educational Affairs, [email protected]. Summerfield’s office is located at 315A Tichenor Hall; (334) 844-2890.  

Blake Menke Elizabeth Zelley Taylor Cockerill Beth Clayton Dr. Waters Public Relations April 17, 2012

Explanation of Brochure Requirements

1. Importing at least three different texts into brochure I imported text from our biographies, fact sheet and frequently asked questions.

2. Importing at least one picture into brochure I imported five pictures into the brochure from both Auburn and Imagining America’s website.

3. Resizing and moving an image within a frame All five images had to be resized within their frames to fit within the brochure panel measurements.

4. Applying colors to objects and/or borders I applied colors to the stripes I created throughout the brochure.

5. Applying color to text I applied color to headlines for the bios, the contact information and “Auburn University Chapter” on the front panel.

6. Applying feathering to an object I applied a feathering effect to the back red panel.

7. Changing the opacity of an object I changed the opacity of the grey panels to mimic the color scheme of Imagining America.

8. Creating a drop shadow I applied a drop shadow to the headlines of two inside panels and the three images on the middle inside panel.

9. Adding a glyph character I added glyph characters in the form of bullets to the About Imagining America panel.

10. Creating a headline and applying a style I created a style for the headlines used in the About Imagining America and Frequently Asked Questions panel.

11. Exporting to Adobe Acrobat PDF files I exported the brochure to a PDF file format and printed using this format.