OHIO Chillicothe Faculty Receive Experiential Learning Awards

Faculty, staff and students on Ohio University’s regional campuses received more than $25,000 in Experiential Learning Funds to support access to, and engagement in, hands-on learning.

The Undergraduate Experiential Learning Awards and Stewardship Grants are open to faculty, staff, and undergraduate students on all OHIO campuses, and are supported by the Career and Experiential Learning Fee that Ohio University adopted in Fall 2018.  

This year’s award recipients represent all five of OHIO’s regional campuses with 11 students receiving a total of approximately $7,000. While many of the spring 2022 regional campus student recipients are using the awards to help offset travel and other direct expenses related to their internship and clinical experiences, these funds were created to expand access to all six types of experiential learning; community engagement, internships, leadership, research, creative endeavor, and study away experiential learning.  

Faculty and staff from the five regional campuses were awarded more than $18,000 to support experiential learning activities for their students. 

According to Kimberly Jeffers, associate director for experiential access and engagement, the spring 2022 regional campus faculty and staff award recipients are great examples of the expansive creativity that exists at Ohio University.

“These projects and experiences perfectly align with the goals of fostering inclusive environments in experiential settings and encouraging collaboration across units,” Jeffers said.  

At Ohio University Chillicothe, Debra Nickles, associate professor of instruction in English and director of the Ohio University Chillicothe Writing Center, along with Manager of Library Services Brandi Weaver and John Payne, director of the Pump House Center for Arts in Chillicothe, will be using funds to support a project titled “Mapping the Self: Identities in Appalachia.”

Dr. Camille Leadingham received funds to incorporate Virtual Reality technology with nursing students on the Chillicothe campus.

Lancaster’s Dr. Kevin Cordi and Dr. Pamela Kaylor were awarded funds to support their project “Equity Addressed out of the Box—Allowing Voices to be Heard: Student Ambassador Social Justice Project.” 

Dr. Debra Dunning from the Lancaster campus will use the Experiential Learning grant in her “STEM and Arts/Humanities Resources and Enhancements” experience. 

Dr. Jacqueline Yahn, from Ohio University Eastern, was awarded funds to support a collaboration with community partner Building Bridges to Careers. The funds will be used in the “OHIO Junior Rural Teacher Fellows and Friends” project.

For more information about this funding opportunity and experiential learning at Ohio University visit www.ohio.edu/experiential-learning.