2015 MacJannet Prize Winners!

On behalf of the MacJannet Foundation and the 2015 Selection Committee, the Talloires Network Secretariat is pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship!

First place winner, receiving $7,500:
NCSC Education for Empowerment, National University of Sciences and Technology (Pakistan)
The NCSC Education for Empowerment program was established in 2007 at the National University of Sciences and Technology. The program focuses on community education needs and empowering the community by providing basic education, career counseling for better employability, collecting and distributing textbooks, improving existing education quality and imparting skills for employment and poverty reduction, as well as contributing to educational infrastructure improvement.
 
There are approximately 6,000 students who participate in the Education for Empowerment program, either by taking a module class or by joining the program as a volunteer. There is a faculty advisor who coordinates the annual budget, transportation, supplies, space, security and provides administrative support. The university students design and implement all of the community projects with the support and guidance of faculty and local NGOs. When students start new projects, they are required to train a cohort of students to carry on the program once they graduate. There is a wide-range of programs and services provided by the Education for Empowerment program, including tutoring, parent counseling, career counseling, skill development workshops, and vocational training.
 
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Second place winner, receiving $5,000:
UTS Shopfront Community Program, University of Technology Sydney (Australia)
The UTS Shopfront Community Program was established at the University of Technology, Sydney in 1996 by academics who saw the need for a program around engaged learning, advocacy and social justice that would enable community access to the university. The main program is curricular, with the Shopfront facilitating projects and internships available to final year undergraduate and postgraduate students across all disciplines. The students use their ‘work ready’ skills to support community organisations with capacity-building projects that their budgets would not normally accommodate.
 
In 2013, to complement its community engagement activities, the Shopfront launched the SOUL Award. SOUL (Social Outcomes through University Leadership) is an extracurricular program, wherein students complete 12 hours of training in community relevant skills development and a minimum of 90 hours of volunteering in community based organisations during their degree. The program started with 200 students and has grown to 2,000 students in just two years.
 
Through both the curricular and extracurricular programs, Shopfront aims to create lasting partnerships with communities and the organisations that support them. Additionally, the Shopfront Program prides itself on sharing knowledge between the university and the community. All work is initiated by community partners and at the completion of all projects, evaluations by all stakeholders are completed to inform the future directions of the program. While directed by university staff, the Shopfront Program also maintains an open door policy, allowing community members and students to approach them at any time, for any reason.

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Third place winner, receiving $2,500:
I DEAL Sudan, Ahfad University for Women (Sudan)
The I DEAL Sudan program at Ahfad University for Women was established in 2012, as a result of a grant and collaboration with War Child Holland. I DEAL Sudan provides psycho-social support for children in primary schools in the Khartoum region of Sudan. The program especially emphasizes work with vulnerable children, which includes those who are affected by war, internally displaced peoples, children with special needs, drop outs and children living in extreme poverty.
 
When the program first began, psychology students at Ahfad were trained by War Child Holland on the specific I DEAL methodology and worked directly with children in primary schools. The students also took part in a “Trainer of Trainer” model whereby they trained at least two other people in the I DEAL methodologies. In 2014, the collaboration with War Child Holland completed and the I DEAL methodology was incorporated into the curriculum for all psychology majors at Ahfad.
 
Students continue to implement the methodology during their mandatory internships in the community during their fifth year. Approximately 120 students per year participate in the program, working with six different schools. The I DEAL Program gives psychology students the opportunity to practice the skills they are learning in the classroom, while addressing an important local challenge.
 
In addition, three programs were awarded Honorable Mentions:

• CLiCNews, Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland)
• Diplomado en Educacion para el Desarrollo Sustentable, Universidad Santiago de Chile (Chile)
• Voluntary Tuition Program (VTP), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

As in years past, the quality and the diversity of the projects that have been nominated by member universities is truly remarkable and demonstrates the global reach of the community engagement movement in higher education. The MacJannet Prize recognizes the winning programs as models of excellent global citizenship and civic engagement for universities worldwide and will continue to raise awareness and encourage community engagement within higher education.

Thank you to all of our members who nominated a program. We received 61 nominations from 48 universities in 17 countries around the world, and the Selection Committee was highly impressed by the quality and scope of all of the programs.

Please visit our website to find out more information about this year’s winners as well as the other finalists, and keep an eye out for next year’s MacJannet Prize competition.