IPFW College of Arts and Sciences Awards First Regional Engagement Award<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(March 23, 2011) – The Indiana University-Purdue University Fort\u00c2\u00a0Wayne (IPFW) College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) recently awarded the\u00c2\u00a0Regional Engagement Award to Andrew Downs. Downs is the director of the\u00c2\u00a0Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics and an assistant professor of\u00c2\u00a0political science. The COAS Community Board established the new award to\u00c2\u00a0recognize and celebrate members of COAS who are committed to outstanding\u00c2\u00a0and high-impact engagement with northeast Indiana<\/p>\n
Ann Livschiz, assistant professor of history, nominated Downs. “Downs\u00c2\u00a0embodies the principles of regional engagement, and we can think of no\u00c2\u00a0other COAS faculty member more deserving of being the recipient of the\u00c2\u00a0First Regional Engagement Award. He is an exemplar of someone in the\u00c2\u00a0College of Arts and Sciences, who is able to combine service, teaching,\u00c2\u00a0and scholarship into a coherent plan of action, with tremendous impact\u00c2\u00a0on his students, his colleagues, the university, and Fort Wayne\u00c2\u00a0community.”<\/p>\n
As director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, Downs helps\u00c2\u00a0the people of Indiana understand the role of government, politics, and\u00c2\u00a0civic involvement in their lives and encourages participation in public\u00c2\u00a0and political processes. This includes conducting political polls to\u00c2\u00a0produce data for the Fort Wayne community, local, and national media.\u00c2\u00a0Also, Downs uses his expertise to provide outreach to local schools to\u00c2\u00a0help them refine their curriculum. He is the administrator of the\u00c2\u00a0Certificate for Civic Education and Public Advocacy at IPFW and offers a\u00c2\u00a0Foundations of Community Advocacy course to provide the necessary skills\u00c2\u00a0to students and community members interested in this field.<\/p>\n
“Two of IPFW’s goals are to contribute to the development of\u00c2\u00a0northeast Indiana and to foster learning and create knowledge. I take\u00c2\u00a0these goals very seriously and try to integrate them into my teaching,\u00c2\u00a0service, and research. I also work to incorporate the research and\u00c2\u00a0service I do with what happens in my classes. Doing this does three\u00c2\u00a0things. It serves as an example to the students of how the research the\u00c2\u00a0scholars at IPFW are doing can be applied in our community. It prepares\u00c2\u00a0the students to apply what they have learned in the classroom in other\u00c2\u00a0situations. Finally, it helps these current and future leaders see how\u00c2\u00a0IPFW can contribute to the development of northeast Indiana. I see it as\u00c2\u00a0a way to build a productive connection between IPFW and our community.\u00c2\u00a0I’m honored to be chosen for this award and look forward to many more\u00c2\u00a0years of doing the work that this award recognizes.”<\/p>\n
The COAS Community Advisory Board will give the award to a COAS faculty\u00c2\u00a0member annually. The award will recognize faculty who use the\u00c2\u00a0intellectual capital and resources of IPFW to assess, plan, implement,\u00c2\u00a0evaluate, document, and disseminate results from collaborations with\u00c2\u00a0partner organizations such as businesses and corporations; local,\u00c2\u00a0regional, or state government; or non-governmental, not-for-profit
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
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