Art expression has always been important to Katie Shumway, the Senior Director of Engagement for the Illinois School of Social Work and FRC Collaboratory member. She brings this perspective to crafting community-university partnerships, which require a creativity facility for engendering productive relationships.
"Art expression activates a part of my brain that might not otherwise be activated," she said. "It allows me to process thoughts and emotions in a different way, and it helps me learn things about myself that my everyday routine might not uncover."
In her role leading the Community Learning Lab, Shumway pairs community organizations with students interested in transformative service-learning experiences. The art of such matchmaking is finding projects that are mutually beneficial for both agencies and undergraduates.
"Of course, we have a database where we categorize organizations based on populations they serve," she explained, "but connecting organizations and students requires a human touch as well. That can be difficult to hand off to a student worker who may have only worked with me for a year or so. It takes time to know, for example, that this agency is temporarily closed or this person is on maternity leave."
Shumway described her typical day as spent out in the community—connecting, emailing, meeting and making contacts with community organizations and nonprofits. Part of the challenge of establishing relationships for service learning is conveying to community organizations the opportunity that partnership represents for capacity building. FRC Director Jacinda Dariotis noted that these abilities made Shumway vital to her professional growth when Dariotis first arrived at Illinois. "Her reputation as a community connector is very strong," Dariotis said, "and I am grateful for how she worked with me early in my time on campus to identify partners for my course."
This process can often work in the other direction in higher education, Shumway suggested.
"Sometimes a university will go into a community and tell them what they need help with rather than listening to the community's needs," she said, "but I like to emphasize service learning offers community partners an opportunity to identify their own needs."
Despite the outward focus of her position, Shumway also often finds herself teasing out the interests of various colleges, departments, and courses at the university.
"I appreciate that the university is motivated by public engagement," she said, "but if the structure of a given unit is not set up that way, it can be challenging to generate that support and excitement. I am always searching for those projects that align with the missions of community organizations."
Shumway emphasized that she frequently advises students to be true to their own missions—that is, to follow their own interests and motivations.
"At least you will have rewarding experiences while you figure things out," she said, "And really, things do emerge, and then you align in your own, truer way."
Ultimately, Shumway feels gratified when she senses she has played a small role in creating stronger partnerships between the university and the community in a way that is mutually beneficial and reciprocal.
"I get to meet wonderful people doing amazing work at nonprofits and on campus wanting to collaborate," she said. "At the end of the day, I feel good when connections between those two happen—connections that are beneficial for students and for the community. Those pieces coming together make students better able to contribute to their communities, whether in Champaign-Urbana or elsewhere after graduation, and they make our community stronger through capacity building. That is a very beautiful thing."