OSU faculty and partners honored for community engagement and engaged scholarship

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Winners of Oregon State University’s 2024 Engagement Awards were honored during the OSU Engagement Conference Dec. 6 at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on the Corvallis campus.

At Oregon State, community engagement is collaboration that generates co-created knowledge and impact benefiting OSU and its partners. Community partners can include social and cultural organizations; nonprofits; business, industry and entrepreneurs; government agencies; individuals; and other higher education institutions across Oregon, the nation and the globe.

The awards recognize and celebrate faculty, staff and community partners for their efforts to develop programs or projects that adhere to the principles of community engagement and engaged scholarship.

The 2024 winners were:

Community Engaged Scholarship Team Award: Promoting and Advancing Training of High Desert School Counselors (PATH-SC) partnership, led by Lucy Purgason, associate professor of counseling in the OSU College of Education and Oregon State University-Cascades.

The PATH-SC partnership is tackling a crucial and increasing need in Central Oregon by ensuring that rural, high-need schools have access to qualified and culturally responsive school counselors. This initiative, a collaboration between OSU-Cascades and four school districts, uses funding from a U.S. Department of Education Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grant to provide graduate students with tuition remission, training stipends and mentorship during their internship year.

PATH-SC’s unique its innovative Professional Development Schools (PDS) practicum model places trainees alongside faculty in high-poverty schools. This practical, community-based learning experience equips future counselors with the skills to provide evidence-based mental health prevention and intervention services while enhancing their multicultural and social justice competencies. The program aims to develop school counselors who are deeply committed to serving the region after graduation.

In addition to Purgason, team members on this initiative include:

  • Molly Moran, clinical assistant professor of counseling, OSU-Cascades
  • Jim Boen, regional director of mental and behavioral health, High Desert Education Service District
  • Jennifer Hauth, director of social, emotional and mental well-being, Bend-LaPine Schools
  • Tami Nakamura, director of student support, Redmond School District
  • Kevin Gehrig, director of student services, Jefferson County School District
  • Joel Hoff, assistant superintendent, Crook County School District

OSU-Community Partnership Engagement Award: This year’s recipient is an outstanding transdisciplinary team led by Leigh Torres, associate professor in OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute and Oregon Sea Grant Extension marine mammals specialist.

In response to community partners' needs, Torres led research initiatives to better understand the interactions between whales and fishing gear. This co-created knowledge directly informed timely policy and management decisions, highlighting the project's commitment to practical outcomes. This project has not only helped protect Oregon's iconic whales but also ensured the sustainability of the state's commercial fishery and coastal communities.

The project united a diverse group of collaborators, including OSU experts, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, commercial fishermen from all major Oregon coastal ports, the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, whale advocates, marine mammal scientists, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Through inclusive working groups, the team identified challenges, addressed key knowledge gaps, and raised awareness about the complexity of the issue and potential solutions.

In addition to Torres, team members on this initiative include:

  • Amanda Gladics, assistant professor of practice and Oregon Sea Grant Extension specialist
  • Solène Derville, research associate, Marine Mammal Institute
  • Lindsay Wickman, marine research technician, Marine Mammal Institute
  • Craig Hayslip, aerial survey lead, Marine Mammal Institute
  • Troy Buell, Kelly Corbett and Brittany Harrington, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

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