Special Interest Research Groups
背景
The mission of IARSLCE is to promote the development and dissemination of research and service-learning and community engagement internationally. IARSLCE Special Interest Research Groups help incubate and deepen research areas and can play an important role in cultivating researcher connections, deepening individual researcher capacity and collective knowledge sharing.
Grounded in a framework of networked inquiry and knowledge sharing, the Special Interest Research Groups (SIGs) provide a forum for IARSLCE researchers to come together around a common interest. The goals of the SIGs are to provide a capacity building infrastructure for IARSLCE members to deepen existing research, foster new research, and mentor the next generation of service-learning and community engagement researchers. Participation in a SIG allows more members to assume an active role in IARSLCE between annual meetings. You can join an existing SIG or propose the exploration of a new SIG.
SIGs are housed under the Scholarship and Publications subcommittee and are supported by a Scholar in Residence. The Scholar in Residence collaborates with the coordinators of the Alliance, Graduate Student Network, Special Programming Committee, and the Global Research Agenda on areas of synergy and opportunity. SIG participation is open to all active IARSLCE members and community partners.
Benefits for IARSLCE and Members
IARSLCE members have researcher communities of practice (SIGs) they can affiliate with to support their research
Individual researchers can build and strengthen collaborative researcher networks
Networked knowledge sharing
IARSLCE members can disseminate their research through IARSLCE conference and publications
IARSLCE graduate students and early career researchers can affiliate with a SIG for professional development/mentoring/research coaching in a supportive environment e.g. an interested graduate student could co-facilitate/coordinate the incubation and development of SIGs with guidance from the Scholar in Residence
Newer researchers can collaborate with established researchers
Researchers on a promotion track receive visibility for the leadership as a SIG co-chair or researcher
History of IARSLCE SIGs Development
SIGs Model - Incubation & Development
Elaine Ward, Scholar in Residence
Elaine Ward has led the development of the IARSLCE Special Interest Research Groups and as a Scholar in Residence will help steward the SIGs toward a self-sustaining model. For general inquiries email warde@merrimack.edu.
Each SIG is coordinated by chair/co-chairs, convenes regular virtual meetings, and SIG scholars work together to advance research on the topic of the SIG. Outputs of the SIG could include: IARSLCE conference proposal and presentation, journal publication or other creative activity, book chapter or edited book.
Role of the co/chairs:
Primary point of contact for IARSLCE members who want to learn more about the SIG
Convene meetings between conferences (no required frequency)
Communicate back with Scholar in Residence with any updates and/or questions about the SIG
Support the mentoring of early career researchers/scholar-practitioners
Keep track of SIG outputs and projects
Role of the SIG participants:
Attend SIG meetings
Contribute to the scholarly outputs of the SIG
Fill out this form if you are interested in 1) joining an existing SIG or 2) exploring the formation of a new SIG.
Social Drivers of Health & Community Engagement
The purpose of the SIG is to explore work being done at the intersection of CE and SDOH. Examples of work include; aligning institution assets and community priorities; centering partners; curriculum development and service-learning that address SDOH and community-engaged research focused on systemic and structural barriers to health; experiences with federal and foundation funding to implement, research and address determinants with multiple stakeholders.
Co-Chairs: Melissa Yack Hall, University of Utah (melissa.hall@hci.utah.edu) & Dennis McCunney, East Carolina University (mccunneyw@ecu.edu)
Members: Elaine Ward, Merrimack College | Eleanor Shonkoff, Merrimack College | Tom Dahan, Rutgers University, Camden | Lizzy Curran, Creighton University | Alex Lancaster, Weber State University | Katie Barnhart, Grand Valley State University | Rose Wedemeyer, Oakland University | Eric Sung, Providence College | Katherine Feely, John Carroll University | Suzanne Buglione, Johnson and Wales | Katie Vega, University of Southern California | Nicholas Longo, Rutgers University
Oral History & Community Engagement
A growing number of community-engaged scholars/practitioners are focused on the curation of oral histories of national and international leaders who began much of the work to institutionalize and professionalize the field in the past 20 years. This SIG explores oral history as a methodology for gathering campus- and community-wide experiences of community partners, faculty, staff, students, and administrators. The SIG builds on projects that were catalyzed by a sense of urgency to document the origins of the work, people, higher education institutions and associations involved and the motivations, intentions and purposes for engaging in community-engaged work, before those stories were lost.
Co-Chairs Kristy Howell, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (khowell@uncg.edu) and Erica Wrencher, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (ejwrench@uncg.edu)
Members: Emily Janke, University of North Carolina at Greensboro | Elaine Ward, Merrimack College | Diana Coello, University of San Francisco de Quito
Faculty Rewards
This SIG will explore scholarship related to issues of faculty rewards, including promotion, tenure, and reappointment for faculty who are tenure and non-tenure track. SIG scholars seek to expand existing scholarship, including datasets, codebooks, frameworks, and research methods on faculty rewards. We will discuss writing collaborative articles, as well as potential journals for submission. Researchers currently collaborating in this group include IARSLCE members, past board members, and Alliance members.
Co-Chairs Emily Janke, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (emjanke@uncg.edu) and Lauren Wendling, Collaboratory (lwendling@cecollaboratory.com)
Members: Drew Pearl, Kansas State University | Elaine Ward, Merrimack College | Michael Rios, University of California, Davis | Timothy Eatman, Rutgers University, Newark
SIG Publication:
Pearl, A., Ward, E., Janke, E., Rios, M., & Eatman, T. K. (2025). Rewarding Faculty Publicly-Engaged Scholarship in Promotion and Tenure Policies at Carnegie Classified Community Engagement Institutions: A Descriptive Analysis. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 6(5). https://doi.org/10.35844/001c.153977
Graduate Student Preparation in SLCE
This Special Interest Research Group (SIG) welcomes scholars and practitioners who are interested in the preparation of graduate students for service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) teaching, research and practice. The SIG will provide support for scholars who are interested in conducting research on graduate-level SLCE. It will also support practitioners who are interested in building research-informed programs to train future engaged scholars and Community Engaged Professionals. Graduate students are welcome and encouraged to share their insights, interests and experience.
Chair Susan Harris, University of Southern California (scharris@usc.edu) & Emily Phaup, Campus Compact (ephaup@compact.org)
Members: Diana Soto-Olson, Loyola University, NOLA | Meghan Zulian, University of California, Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute | Lucas Diaz, University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Cammie Jones-Friedrichs, University of Southern Mississippi | Ryan McBride, Tulane University | Nicole Williams, Antioch University | Samantha Renee Bernstein, University of Southern California | Emily Phaup, Campus Compact | Elaine Ward, Merrimack College | Drew Pearl, Kansas State University | Tessa Hill, University of California, Davis | Stacey Muse, IARSLCE | Michael Rios, University of California, Davis
SIGs Webinar Series
Register for an upcoming webinar to learn more about the SIGs and get involved. Each webinar will be presented twice. Session 1 will be held at 8:00 am PDT | 10:00 am CDT | 11:00 am EDT | 12:00 pm South America | 3:00 pm Central Europe | 5:00 pm Central Africa and Session 2 will be held at 3:00 pm PDT | 5:00 pm CDT | 7:00 pm EDT | (next day) 8:00 am Sydney | 10:00 am Hong Kong | 11:00am Tokyo.
IARSLCE Special Interest Research Groups: Collaborative Research & Networked Knowledge Sharing
IARSLCE is pleased to announce the formation and launch of Special Interest Research Groups (SIGs). SIGs provide a structure for IARSLCE researchers to come together around a common interest. The goals of the SIGs are to provide a capacity building infrastructure for IARSLCE members to deepen existing research, foster new research, and mentor the next generation of service-learning and community engagement researchers. Dr. Elaine Ward, IARSLCE Scholar in Residence will share about the design and development of the SIGs and the possibilities for IARSCLE members, communities, and research on service-learning and community engagement. Speakers: Elaine Ward, Merrimack College and Stacey Muse, IARSLCE Board Chair
April 14 (Americas/Europe/Africa) / April 15 (Asia-Pacific), 2026
Register for Session 1 (11:00 am EDT | 3:00 pm Central Europe)
Register for Session 2 (7:30 pm EDT | 10:30 am Hong Kong)
Collaborative Research in SIG Panel Discussion: Social Drivers of Health & Graduate Student Preparation
Panel discussion with Chairs from our Social Drivers of Health & CE and Graduate Student Preparation in SLCE SIGs. Featured speakers include Melissa Hall, Associate Director for Community Engaged Research, Center for HOPE at the University of Utah and Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dennis McCunney, Associate Director, Center for Student Success, East Carolina University, Susan Harris, Executive Director Joint Educational Project, University of Southern California, and Emily Phaup, Senior Manager, Professional Development, Campus Compact. Moderated by Dr. Elaine Ward
April 28 (Americas/Europe/Africa) / April 29 (Asia-Pacific), 2026
Register for Session 1 (11:00 am EDT | 3:00 pm Central Europe)
Register for Session 2 (7:00 pm EDT | 10:00 am Hong Kong)
Collaborative Research in SIG Panel Discussion: Faculty Rewards & Oral Histories and CE
Panel discussion with Chairs from our Faculty Rewards and Oral Histories & CE SIGs. Featured speakers include Emily Janke, Director, Institute for Community & Economic Engagement, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), Lauren Wendling, Director of Institutional Success, Collaboratory, Kristy Howell, Associate Director, Institute for Community & Economic Engagement, UNCG, Erica Wrencher, Assistant Director, Institute for Community and Economic Engagement at UNCG. Moderated by Dr. Elaine Ward
May 26 (Americas/Europe/Africa) / May 27 (Asia-Pacific), 2026
Register for Session 1 (11:00 am EDT | 3:00 pm Central Europe)
Register for Session 2 (7:00 pm EDT | 10:00 am Hong Kong)
SIG Networked Inquiry and Knowledge Sharing Sessions
Join IARSLCE SIG members and colleagues interested in collaborating on SLCE research. These sessions will allow for informal networking and knowledge sharing about research interests in the field. Sessions facilitated by Elaine Ward.
June 30, 2026 @ 7:00 pm EDT | July 1 @ 10:00 am Hong Kong — Register
July 28, 2026 @ 11:00 am EDT | 3:00 pm Central Europe — Register
Aug 25, 2026 @ 7:00 pm EDT | August 27 @ 10:00 am Hong Kong — Register