Metric 5: University in Action
5.1 Campus Narratives
Western Carolina University
Summer 2014
Dr. Betty Farmer
(with edits by Drs. Tim Metz and Carol Burton)
(July 23, 2014)
1. Economic development
WCU Helps Small Mountain Tourist Town Survive and Revive
Hope. That’s what Western Carolina University gave the small tourist town of Dillsboro, North Carolina when it partnered with town leaders and merchants in 2009 to help bring the town back from the brink of economic disaster.
“What WCU gave us in very desperate times was the hope to hang on a little bit longer. There was a lot of us that wondered how long we were going to be here,” said a Dillsboro merchant participating in a March 2014 focus group to evaluate the impact of the Dillsboro/WCU Partnership. “They tied a knot at the end of the rope,” another participant concluded.
In fall 2009, WCU entered into a formal partnership with Dillsboro in response to two events occurring simultaneously: 1) The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR), which had attracted approximately 50,000 tourists annually to Dillsboro, moved its headquarters to a neighboring town approximately 17 miles away in a different county and 2) the national economy tanked. It was the perfect storm. Town leaders described the situation in Dillsboro as “dismal.” Many businesses had closed their doors and many that remained struggled.
A faculty member was appointed special assistant to the chancellor for Dillsboro and asked to chair the Dillsboro/WCU Partnership Committee, a group comprised of Dillsboro merchants and leaders and faculty and staff. The goal of the Dillsboro/WCU Partnership is to match WCU expertise/resources with Dillsboro’s challenges and opportunities to help the town survive/revive.
Since January 2010, WCU has collaborated on numerous projects involving dozens of faculty/staff and hundreds of students across many departments and disciplines. These projects have ranged from small business counseling to an interdisciplinary effort to create/promote a mobile web application to the expansion of existing special events, a critical element of the town’s tourism-based economy. WCU has provided thousands of volunteer hours and generated, through grants and sponsorships, thousands of dollars to support projects. Additionally, “in-kind” donations of professional services–like graphic design work through WCU’s Office of Creative Services/Print Shop; radio announcing and airtime on WWCU-FM; video production, editing and delivery to online and broadcast media—are also worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Although the recovery is far from complete, in addition to “hope,” the Dillsboro/WCU partnership has resulted in numerous economic benefits to date, including:
•In spite of rain and high winds, more than 700 people attended “WCU Night at the 2013 Dillsboro Lights and Luminaries,” an event planned and implemented by WCU faculty and students in Communication/Public Relations, Hospitality and Tourism, Music and Dance and supported by funding from the Office of Undergraduate Studies and the A.K. Hinds University Center. Dillsboro Mayor Mike Fitzgerald concluded that WCU’s work “led this festival to unprecedented growth, resulting in several merchants reporting December 6, 2013 as their most successful day since the economic downturn.”
•Professors from the departments of Economics, Hospitality and Tourism and Communication/Public Relations continue to assist the town in its effort to bring the train back to Dillsboro. A 2013 WCU economic impact study projected that the GSMR’s proposal to once again originate steam service out of Dillsboro could generate $26 million annually in revenue for Jackson County. This study served as the foundation for a communication campaign to persuade Jackson County Commissioners to help fund the GSMR’s return. Efforts on behalf of the train are ongoing and Dillsboro leaders are optimistic an agreement can be reached.
•Three new businesses opened in Dillsboro in 2013, a craft brewery is expanding its operations to the town, and a Business Plan Competition, co-organized by WCU and Southwestern Community College in spring 2014, generated proposals from six hopeful entrepreneurs. Significantly, a new principal investor in the town’s anchor, The Jarrett House Inn and Restaurant has renovated the restaurant, is opening a new gift shop, and plans to extensively renovate and expand the historic property, which was established in 1884 and is on the National Register of Historic places.
The Dillsboro/WCU partnership has been identified as the “engine” driving this recovery. As a Dillsboro merchant surmised during the focus groups, “…people are viewing Dillsboro as a place to reinvest in. And that is what WCU has done for us.”
In addition to the economic benefits, there have been other important outcomes, including improved working relationships among the town’s merchants. As one focus group participant put it, the partnership “has brought us together. We have leadership now. And it’s teamwork.” Participants agreed this was not the case before WCU became involved. “It created a new mindset. We pulled together with WCU. It pulled us together.”
Perhaps, most importantly, however, is the conclusion that WCU has helped the town build its own capacity to thrive. “WCU prepared us to continue. They’ve left the building blocks for what we need to keep going forward,” another focus group participant surmised.
While this partnership has significantly impacted Dillsboro, it also has helped WCU realize its mission as a regionally engaged university. Dillsboro has served as a learning laboratory for students from numerous disciplines enabling them to develop portfolio materials and to parlay their real-world experiences into actual jobs. Surveys of public relations alumni who worked in Dillsboro as students indicate that they continue to serve their communities, suggesting that the emphasis on citizenship and social responsibility, a key component of WCU's Quality Enhancement Plan, has “stuck.” As Katie Wiegel, a public relations student, put it: “Being linked with the merchants of Dillsboro for an entire semester helped build relationships where it didn’t necessarily feel like an obligation or just another class project. It became very real and we began to genuinely care about the success of the community and our campaign.”
Although the formal phase of the Dillsboro/WCU partnership is winding down, given the strength of the relationships that have been developed over the last five years, individual faculty
members will undoubtedly continue collaborating with Dillsboro merchants. For more information about the Dillsboro/WCU Partnership, contact Dr. Betty Farmer, professor of communication and public relations, at 828-227-3804 or .
Links to selected publicity about the Dillsboro/WCU Partnership:
http://wncmagazine.com/feature/hometown_spirit_0
http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2013/06/events-students-faculty-and-staff-helped-plan-win-international-awards/ View video of mobile website app launch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6R2y5HLnqY
Visit mobile website at: http://mobile.dillsboroplaces.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVWWf2ltolI
http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2013/12/wcu-night-contributes-to-strong-opening-weekened-for-dillsboro-festival/
http://www.thesylvaherald.com/top_stories/article_22f04388-5cf3-11e3-9da6-001a4bcf6878.html
http://www.southwesterncc.edu/news/burrell-rabbit-creek-pottery-wins-town-dillsboro-business-plan-competition
http://mountainlovers.com/Blog/Jackson-County-Chamber/Town-of-Dillsboro-2014-Business-Plan-Competition-kickoff--/)
http://ashevillealetrail.com/42414-heinzelmannchen-brewery-celebrates-ten-years/#.U6CILRzQa9E
http://www.thesylvaherald.com/top_stories/article_fb9cfef4-a1ed-11e2-8133-0019bb30f31a.html
http://www.thesylvaherald.com/top_stories/article_d26c8670-be80-11e3-9114-0017a43b2370.html
http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2013/03/wcu-study-return-of-dillsboro-train-would-mean-26-million-for-local-economy/)
http://thedillsborodish.wordpress.com/
http://magazine.wcu.edu/2011/09/banner-day/
http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2011/12/dillsboro-merchants-donate-555-to-care-from-wcu-night-sales/
http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2012/04/student-named-president-of-national-pr-association/
2. Co-Curricular
WCU/Jackson County Gleaning Initiative Combats Hunger and Strengthens Community Collaboration through Co-Curricular Gardening Initiative
An AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer serving at Western Carolina University, a student club dedicated to promoting gleaning and organic gardening practices, and a community group dedicated to gleaning have combined forces to help meet the environmental and nutritional needs of the local community in Western North Carolina.
The collaboration between the WCU Campus Kitchen Garden Club and the Jackson County Glean Team, which was facilitated by AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer Willie Jones, has resulted in student and community volunteers collecting and distributing nearly 25,000 pounds of produce valued at approximately $35,000 from local farmers and gardeners through gleaning.
While gleaning--the process of recovering leftover items after farmers have harvested their crops--has been practiced since ancient times, the WCU initiative gives the concept new meaning by combining learning opportunities outside the classroom with service opportunities in the community.
The WCU gleaning initiative is important for both students and the community. The program has two main foci: learning and serving and environmental sustainability, through gleaning and gardening. Environmental sustainability is made relevant through the increased awareness and education of volunteers, food recipients, and publicity to the wider community. Students take what they learn both in and out of the classroom and apply it to real-world situations. Students also are able to practice everyday values such as compassion, collaboration, tolerance, perseverance, and patience.
For Kristen Metcalf, a rising sophomore from Waynesville, NC majoring in Psychology, working with the Jackson County Glean Team is where she found herself. “I really didn’t know who I was when I did the first gleaning project. I learned so much about the people in this area, their stories, what they’ve gone through, and how they are coping now. I found that I really loved serving people. That is when I am at my best. To help and serve people—that is what I am supposed to do,” she concluded.
While 62 WCU students and community members were organized as volunteers for gleaning projects in summer 2013, 165 students participated in the Fill-the-Bag (winter gleaning) initiative, which generated 441 delivered bags of supplies and non-perishable food items for the local community. The Fill-the-Bag initiative takes the place of gleaning in the winter months.
Instead of being wasted, the produce and non-perishable food items are donated to community organizations serving individuals battling food insecurity, including: The Community Table, United Christian Ministries and The Market in Jackson County; and The Open Door Soup Kitchen, housing developments, food pantries, families in need and other gleaning organizations in Haywood County. These community partners serve low-income community members, the elderly on fixed incomes, the unemployed/underemployed, veterans, recovering addicts, and the mentally and physically disabled.
As a result of the high rate of poverty in Western North Carolina, food insecurity/hunger is an important focus area for WCU. The gleaning initiative has identified new sources of quality food and connected that resource to those who need it most (pantries and the community). “The Community Table is thankful for those taking time to rescue this valuable resource, as access to this type of food tends to be low among our most vulnerable clients. Unfortunately, healthy produce can be cost-prohibitive for those on fixed incomes,” said Amy Grimes Sims, executive director of The Community Table, which serves meals and provides a pantry in Jackson County.
The initiative already has accomplished one of its objectives: to expand WCU’s partnerships with social service agencies across WNC. The long-term goal is to create a more proactive community that is environmentally sustained, educated, and connected. Ultimately, the goal is to increase awareness of the issue of food insecurity/hunger and to ameliorate it simultaneously through green practices and sustainable efforts.
The project organizers expect to provide increased opportunities for both students and community members to glean and experience meeting local growers, learn how to garden organically, learn how to can and/or dehydrate foods, or know ways to find these resources. The vision is to expand these efforts throughout all of Western North Carolina and to have glean teams organized in every county.
The WCU/Jackson County Glean Team is a mutually beneficial and reciprocal partnership providing both community and institutional benefit and impact. While the partnership contributes to meeting the basic needs of the people of Western North Carolina, it also exemplifies WCU’s 2020 Vision, specifically Strategic Direction #2, To Enrich the Total Student Experience and Strategic Direction #3, To Enhance our External Partnerships.
“We have also seen how this initiative connects students to their larger community off-campus, opening their hearts and minds to new perspectives and instilling the desire to serve others,” Sims added.
For more information about the WCU Campus Kitchen Garden Club and The Jackson County Glean Team, please contact Willie Jones at or 828-227-2592 or visit: http://www.wcu.edu/about-wcu/leadership/office-of-the-provost/ugstudies/center-for-service-learning/service-learning-for-students/campus-kitchen-garden.asp and http://jacksoncountygleanteam.wordpress.com/
To read sample publicity about the partnership, visit:
http://mountainx.com/living/why-i-grow-five-questions-on-gleaning-with-willie-jones/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_campaign=hootsuite
http://nccampuscompactvista.blogspot.com/2014/02/wcu-vista-cultivates-community-gardens.html
3. Helping Hands: WCU Physical Therapy Faculty and Students Address Musculoskeletal Issues in WNC’s Farmworkers
When Western Carolina University’s Karen Lunnen, an associate professor of physical therapy, observed farmworkers doing their jobs in the fields in 2008 she saw more than the average passerby sees. She saw the bending and lifting through the lens of her own profession, and she wondered and worried about the musculoskeletal impact of those repetitive movements on the farmworkers’ health. This observation led Lunnen to embark on a service-learning and research agenda to determine the incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among farmworkers and to identify ways to address and, ideally, prevent these problems.
It is estimated that there are over three million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States who support a multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. The farmworkers typically work “sun up to sun down” executing physically demanding, repetitive tasks in difficult conditions. Wages are low, housing is often sub-standard, and access to medical care is limited. “I was overwhelmed with the vulnerability of this population and determined to learn more to find a way to help address their needs,” said Lunnen.
To that end, Lunnen and colleague John Carzoli, assistant professor of physical therapy, have partnered with Vecinos Farmworker Health Program. The mission of Vecinos is to improve the lives of farmworkers and their families by providing free primary and preventative medical outreach, health education, and case management services. Vecinos also advocates for farmworkers and their families and facilitates connections between farmworkers and existing community resources.
Connecting the farmworkers with WCU physical therapy faculty and students has proven beneficial for everyone involved as faculty conduct and disseminate applied research, students gain real-world clinical experience while developing civic mindsets, and, most importantly, the farmworkers receive care.
Lunnen and Carzoli’s research contributes to the profession’s understanding of the incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the farmworker population, as well as the impact of particular types of movements/activities on their health. They have identified common injuries that might be related to repetitive movements, such as back injuries that could be linked to long hours spent bending or stooping to pick fruit/vegetables or wrist and hand injuries that might be related to pruning Christmas trees or uprooting strawberry plants.