Faculty Reflection: Dorlisa Minnick

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Course(s): N/A

Involvement with InTeGrate

I attended a one day trip in May to the Wilson College farm, Chambersburg Borough, and site visit to the dump. I attended because Sean Cornell directly asked me to participate. Also, I have recently become affiliated with CLUS so thought it made sense to become more knowledgeable. Additionally, our accrediting body for social work education is requiring us to integrate environmental justice and sustainability into courses, so as a department, we will be doing so in near future. Finally, I personally care about our planet and believe climate change to be real, so want to learn more about action I can take around sustainability.The Chambersburg Borough was a good contact for me as someone who places our students in graduate internships. While I have not pursued this as a possibility yet, I was happy to hear they are interested in interns from various disciplines.

The learning that took place at Wilson College farm as well as talking to the workers at the recycling plant were helpful to me, personally, as someone who is trying to expand my understanding of sustainability in my own life. My knowledge increased in understanding the importance of land use and planning when it comes to our communities – example: the dump and the Walker Rd exit (the sprawl and how that leads to environmental degradation). I plan to use this example in my Macro Practice course next semester and how we need to weigh many things when development happens in our communities.

Incorporating and Adapting InTeGrate Materials

I am becoming more involved in the CLUS as an affiliated scientist. Our accrediting body for social work education is requiring us to integrate environmental justice and sustainability into courses, so as a department, we will be doing so in near future. My first opportunity will be this spring. I will have students engaged with Cumberland County Planning office in surveying some renters around land use and services. Not sure beyond that I need to create space in the syllabus. The course, Macro Social Work Practice, gives focus to community change, so will need content on existing environmental injustices and how social workers can organize communities to address concerns. It will also involve content on participating in local community planning meetings.