UAlbany Honors Public Engagement Exemplars, April 28

UAlbany's student-run Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance, shown here delivering donated goods at the holidays, is among the winners of the 2015 President's Award for Exemplary Public Engagement.

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 27, 2015) – Highlighting his commitment to advancing UAlbany as a nationally recognized, publicly engaged research university, President Robert J. Jones will honor university-community partnerships improving public well-being in the region and beyond at the 2015 President’s Awards for Exemplary Public Engagement on April 28.
Jones will recognize nine diverse recipients who address vital public issues through publicly engaged research, teaching, and service. The awards will be presented to university and community partners from 5-6:30 p.m. in University Hall on the UAlbany main campus. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. It begins with a reception at 5 p.m., followed by the program at 5:30 p.m.

“Public engagement has long been a core value at the University at Albany,” said Jones. “We can all be proud of this year’s award winners and the impact their partnerships have in addressing complex social challenges and promoting public well-being.”

The president articulated public engagement as one of the four key priorities of his administration in his September 2013 inaugural address noting, “UAlbany will redefine community engagement so dramatically that it will be hard to tell where the campus ends and the rest of our region begins.”

The 2015 winners include the following University individuals and programs, along with their many community partners:

• Edmund Russell Altone, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Public Health. Partners: Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region, Inc.; Capital Region Refugee Roundtable; Albany County Department of Health; U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants; Global Institute for Health & Human Rights.

• Center for Human Services Research, School of Social Welfare, in partnership with Healthy Families New York. Partners: New York State Office of Child and Family Services; Healthy Families Schenectady; Prevent Child Abuse New York.

• Center for Technology in Government for its work with the National Youth in Transition Database Peer Caller Program. Partner: New York State Office of Child and Family Services.

• Emerging Issues in the Nonprofit Sector, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, School of Social Welfare, and School of Public Health. Partners: United Way of Northeastern New York; Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce; the Chamber of Schenectady County; Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce; AVillage, Inc.

• Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance Service, Inc. Partners: Guilderland Emergency Medical Services; Regional Emergency Medical Organization; Albany Fire Department; Mohawk Ambulance Service; Town of Colonie Emergency Medical Services; Western Turnpike Rescue Squad; several internal UAlbany partners.

• Know Your Schools~for NY Kids, School of Education. Partners: Greater Amsterdam School District; New York State School Boards Association; New York State United Teachers; Capital Region BOCES; New York State Council of School Superintendents; several internal UAlbany partners.

• Looking at Lemon: Transforming Life Through Literature, New York State Writers Institute, Performing Arts Center, University Art Museum, University at Albany Foundation. Partners: Albany High School; Albany Fund for Education.

• Problem Gambling Research and Treatment Group, Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences. Partners: Albany Center for Problem Gambling/Capital Counseling.

• Derik Smith, Assistant Professor, Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences, for work with the Bard Prison Initiative.

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