Uncw Otm Award Spotlight Cles

OTM Award Month and Year: April 2009 Nominee’s School: UNC Wilmington Region: SAACURH Category: Spotlight ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nominee: CLES Nominator: Scott Busiel Address: 601 S. College Road Address: 601 S. College Road Phone: (910) 962-3877 Phone: (910) 962-5821 E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On-Campus Population: 3,100 Chapter Size: 31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Description of Contribution: As the year ends down, there tends to be more apathy and carelessness towards programming and community building. While this may be the case for many individuals and organizations, it is the least of everyone’s worries for the Center for Leadership Education and Service (CLES), a leadership and civic engagement-based department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Under the leadership of Dr. Donna Chapa Crowe, Jenn Smist, and Gail Guthrie, this department has been everything but apathetic and has done an outstanding job ending the year on a high note. During the month of April, CLES has been swamped with leadership and service-related activities, making it one of the busiest departments on-campus. The first large-scale event that was put on has been an annual event for the past six years. The Cornerstone Awards Banquet honors student leaders at UNCW and student organizations for their outstanding work during the academic year. Teaming up with our Campus Activities and Involvement Center, CLES organized a professional banquet, with our Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs in attendance. And while the planning may not sound difficult, the logistics are what make this banquet spectacular year after year. Nominations for student awards went out early this year, as students, faculty, and staff were allowed to submit undergraduate and graduate student nominations for our various leadership, social justice, and community-based awards. Interviews with staff and faculty committees were then conducted for the finalists of various awards. This was a tedious process that involved a lot of administrative responsibilities. The entire office helped out during this process, making sure that certificates and invitations went out to the individuals they were supposed to go out to. Having the names spelled correctly was another task within itself!

Prior to the banquet speakers were invited to prepare little excerpts for the winners of the various awards. More logistics occur on the day of the event, as pamphlets and pins are placed at each place setting. By the end of the day, this program was incredibly successful, recognizing nearly 200 student leaders on-campus. CLES has also been busy planning a first time program for the office, National Volunteer Week. Inspired by other universities and our campus’ persistence in volunteerism and recognition, the student workers planned a week’s worth of programs. The kick-off was a trip to our local food kitchen, helping this non-profit organization cook healthy meals for those less fortunate in our own community. Throughout the week, CLES also collected school supplies in an effort to help the organization, Friends of Maiti Nepal. On Sunday, April 19, a free showing of The Day My God Died was featured in our on-campus movie theater. Students came and were further educated about issues of sexual slavery in third world countries. The Friends of Maiti Nepal organization was created based off of this movie and those affected. Later in the week, CLES invited its 900 volunteers throughout the year to a Volunteer Appreciation Social with cookies, lemonade, and a slideshow of pictures. Our department also worked with the Sustainability Committee to put on a Sustainability Fair for the campus. The closing day of National Volunteer Week had volunteers travel to Carolina Beach and participate in a beach sweep with Surfrider. There was plenty of music, free food, and giveaways. This department has been outstanding this entire year, and has really shown the campus community in April. They planned the largest student leader recognition banquet on campus and successfully planned a brand new program. With these accomplishments, I highly recommend CLES for the Spotlight Of the Month Awards. Word Count: 597 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------