Recap: 2023 Purdue Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

The 2023 summit brought hundreds of Purdue faculty, staff, students, and community partners from across the state to the West Lafayette campus to celebrate the impact they’ve made together in their communities.

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND – On March 2, 2023, the Purdue Office of Engagement hosted the 2023 Engagement & Service-Learning Summit. The summit brought more than 200 Purdue faculty, staff, students, and community partners from across the state to the Discovery Learning Research Center on the West Lafayette campus to celebrate the impact they’ve made in their communities. The event included lightning talks, a networking happy hour, the student engagement showcase, awards, and more.

The afternoon kicked off with words of welcome from Provost Patrick Wolfe and Associate Provost of Engagement Steve Abel. Six TED-style lightning talks followed, including a student presentation from EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) ambassador Chelsea Schripsema.

Lightning talk presenters from Purdue University and Purdue Fort Wayne presented diverse engagement topics and approaches, across mission areas:

  • Finding Your Purpose, Chelsea Schripsema, Student (EPICS, PWL)
  • Cage-Free Eggs: Cracking the shell of industry partnerships, Darrin Karcher, Associate Professor (Animal Sciences, PWL)
  • Moving the Needle through Engagement: Rethinking patient access to tobacco treatment services, Karen Hudmon, Professor (Pharmacy Practice, PWL)
  • The Landscape of Possibility: Visualizing change, preparing students, and uniting people, Aaron Thompson, Associate Professor (Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, PWL)
  • Singing through Change, William Sauerland, Assistant Professor and Eileen Garwood, Clinical Instructor (School of Music, PFW)
  • My Journey of Service-Learning Interests through Different Professional Roles, Pamela Sari, Director (Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center, PWL)

The lightning talks were followed by a networking happy hour and Q&A session with the presenters in the main room.

In the atrium, the student engagement showcase highlighted the exceptional engagement work of undergraduate and graduate students, and their community partners, across the Purdue system. Twenty-five student teams made up of 115 participants from various colleges showcased community engagement through print posters and digital stories.

The top three presenters in the print poster and digital story categories were awarded cash prizes of $150, $100, and $50. Award winners, contributors, and a compilation of digital stories can be found here.