New academy helps teach faculty to connect and serve
The Engaged Scholars Academy builds networks and sparks partnerships so Buckeyes can turn research into community impact.
Optometrist and Clinical Assistant Professor Heather Bowen-Jones talks with community health worker Alex Fitting at the Lower Lights Health eye clinic in Columbus. (Photo by Jodi Miller)
As a veteran optometrist and newcomer to Ohio State’s clinical faculty, Heather Bowen-Jones ’11 OD wants to find ways to use her expertise for good in the community and make more connections in the university. A new program from the Office of Academic Affairs will help her do both.
Bowen-Jones, a clinical assistant professor in the College of Optometry, is one of 16 faculty members from around the university chosen to be part of the first Engaged Scholars Academy. The goal is to help emerging faculty members build a peer support network and learn about opportunities to serve community partners and collaborate with them, says Jason Reece ’01 MRP, ’16 PhD. He serves as vice provost for urban research and community engagement in Academic Affairs and an associate professor in the Knowlton School of Architecture.
The idea of applying knowledge for practical use in communities was a central theme in the founding of land-grant universities like Ohio State. “Community-engaged research is an opportunity to do that and do it well, so that your work isn’t just being read in journals that may be hard to access, but it’s usable in community spaces,” says another member of the cohort, Michelle Kaiser, an associate professor in the College of Social Work.
The cohort of 16 will meet regularly over the course of the academic year, hearing from university and community leaders, sharing ideas and making connections. The sessions, split between university and community locations, kicked off in September with a big-picture presentation on the state of nonprofits from the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County.
“We had quite a number of really just wonderful applicants,” Reece says. “We wanted to make sure that we had diversity in terms of the disciplines represented.” Mission accomplished: The first cohort includes representatives from Ohio State colleges or departments focused on medicine, education, dance and theatre, foreign languages, psychiatry and more.
Bowen-Jones, who leads students providing care at a community-based clinic, wants to learn how to build enthusiasm for these kinds of collaborations. After years in private practice, she also welcomes the help acclimating her skills and passions to a university setting. “I’m just excited that they chose me,” she says.
Says Reece: “Some of the best scholarship is rooted in partnership.” And as the faculty learn from community partners, it may take their passions in directions they never imagined.
