UIU names 7 to AmeriCorps Advisory Board
FAYETTE, Iowa (February 11, 2011) — Upper Iowa University has named an advisory board to help oversee its new AmeriCorps summer camp programs for area youth. UIU received a one-year planning grant from AmeriCorps to develop a series of educational summer camps and, if planning goes well, could receive an additional $130,000 for the first year of camps in 2012. The grant would be renewable to continue the camps.
The seven member volunteer advisory panel will meet several times a year and collaborate on both planning and implementation of the program, according to Tiffany Berkenes, who joined UIU as the AmeriCorps Coordinator.
“The advisory board will provide insight and suggestions that will help make this program a success.” Berkenes said. “We are currently surveying various organizations in the community about their needs and ideas for summer camps. We are receiving great feedback and seeing significant interest from groups who want to help or serve as host sites or sponsors. We are very grateful that the community is responding so warmly to this program and look forward to working with these organizations on a camp program that will be fun, educational and encourage more positive, active lifestyles for area youth.”
Members of the advisory board are:
- Duane Willhite, Superintendent of North Fayette Schools
- Nancy Everman, UIU Foundations and Corporate Relations Director
- Vicki Rowland, Fayette County Supervisor
- Daryl Grove, UIU Executive Director of Student Leadership and Adventure
- Dr. Gail Moorman Behrens, UIU Director of Teacher Education and Assistant Professor of Education
- Dr. Adriel Hilton, UIU Executive Assistant to the President and Chief Diversity Officer
- Pastor Stacey Nalean-Carlson, Youth Pastor, Zion Lutheran Church of West Union
Berkenes hope to bring in AmeriCorps members next fall who will develop summer camps, potentially organize after-school programs, and participate in National Days of Service and service-learning within the counties. Additional AmeriCorps members will be hired in Spring 2012 to run the summer camps.
“Right now, we are still discussing a variety of possible topics for the camps including science, reading and writing, visual and performing arts, technology, foreign and sign languages, health and nutrition, as well as indoor/outdoor physical activities,” she added. “I invite UIU and community members to contact me with their ideas.”
Berkenes joined the UIU staff on January 4 as assistant director of residence life/AmeriCorps coordinator. She comes to UIU from Simpson College where she was assistant director of admissions for seven years. She also taught art in the Johnston (Iowa) Community School District. She is a graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in art with a K-12 education endorsement and also studied school counseling at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
For more information, contact Berkenes at 563-425-5928 or berkenest@uiu.edu.
Contact:
Monica Bayer Heaton
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
Phone: 563-425-5773
Cell: 515-291-2070
heatonm@uiu.edu
About Upper Iowa University
Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private, not-for-profit university providing undergraduate and graduate degree programs and leadership development opportunities to over 6,600 students—nationally and internationally—at its Fayette campus and learning centers worldwide. Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in offering accredited, quality programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems, including online and independent study. For more information, visit www.uiu.edu.