Excellence in Community Engagement Awards

The Department of Community Engagement awards a faculty member, student and a community partner annually for excellence in community engagement. These individuals and organizations have shown continued dedication to service, research, engagement and community partnerships.

Faculty Award

This award is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in connecting learning with community service, developing leadership and citizenship skills among students, and/or facilitating students’ abilities to meet community needs through coursework, clubs or mentoring.

2022-23

Yan Pang, Ph.D., is always working to connect students with external communities and educate people on cultures and stereotypes. Dr. Pang was a TEDx Point Park University speaker in December. Her talk “Reinventing the Future Through Music Creation” helped reset what we think of when we think of opera composers. Dr. Pang also spoke at the annual Faculty Research Symposium and received a Social impact Grant this year. Her project “Music without Borders” was a collaboration with HarmoniZing Ensemble, that aimed to break the boundaries between different cultures. Five Point Park University students collaborated with musicians from the HamoniZing Ensemble to create music about stories from the Pittsburgh refugee community and performances for the Pittsburgh general community.

2021-22

Mitchel Nickols, Ph.D., for his work launching Rising Brothers and Sisters, a mentorship program focused on academic preparedness, career readiness and character development for high school students, in the greater Pittsburgh region. Dr. Nickols is contributing Point Park’s commitment to broadening the diversity of our student body and supporting students of color.

2020

Britney Brinkman, Ph.D., for her work with Gwen's Girls and Black Girls Equity Alliance, as well as with the Ellis School on the Let's Chalk About It street harassment initiative.
Jayne Olshanski, MBA, CPA, for creating the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) course, the first Community Engaged course at Point Park.

2019

Matthew Opdyke, Ph.D., for his work with the Allegheny Land Trust in citizen science.

2018

Sarah Schulz, Ph.D., for her work in the LGBTQ community and on Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commission.

Staff Award

This award is presented to a staff member who has demonstrated a commitment to bettering the community through service, leadership and efforts that foster positive impact.

2022-23

As a Point Park staff member, Sergeant Matt Mays of the Point Park Police has gone above and beyond this year focusing on building a relationship between the Police Department and the University Community as well as the greater Pittsburgh Community. In his free time his passion project is volunteering with Western Pa Special Olympics. This year he has been instrumental in establishing a relationship between the PPU Police and Western Pa Special Olympics. The Point Park Police have raised several thousand dollars for Western PA Special Olympics between these two events. On campus, Sgt. Mays has played an active role in establishing a relationship between the PPU Police and Pioneer Pantry, volunteering regularly at the pop-up produce markets throughout the year. Additionally, Sgt. Mays created a food and clothing drive during the month of April (Hunger's Heroes) that allows students to donate unwanted items during move-out and provide those items to both a food pantry and a free store. Finally, his biggest initiative on campus has been the creation of a Citizens Police Academy. This project will help build a relationship between participants and officers, through real-life training and demonstrations that the general public would not get to experience.

Student Award

This award recognizes a student who excels in community-engaged learning, both in and out of the classroom, for showing civic commitment, community awareness and positive impact through community engagement.

2022-23

Ryan Dawson is the founder of the Horned Groundhog Fellowship student service club. He has spent his last few years at Point Park designing programs that support engagement both internally and externally. His tireless efforts toward improving the Point Park Community for his fellow students and external community members have been so impactful. He’s organized painting and clean-up projects in the residence halls and courtyard as well as external community clean up days and homeless outreach programs. He rescued unused newspaper boxes and turned them into Little Free Libraries and Menstruation Stations. His redesign of the clothing pantry into a thrift store, The Bison Exchange will continue to have a lasting impact on our campus community.

Shelby Armetta '22

2021-22

Shelby Armetta, a May 2022 graduate, for her work increasing diversity in Campus Activities Board programming and with the Staff Community Engagement Committee. She gave LGBTQ+ students forums to feel uplifted and welcomed on campus, contributing to Point Park’s sense of inclusion and belonging. She was the executive director of CAB and a Business Management major with a concentration in Entrepreneurship.

2020

Meggan Lloyd, Ph.D., for her work planning the inaugural Community Engagement Institute and work on engaging a group of higher education community engagement professionals in the Greater Pittsburgh area for continued conversations.

2019

Mary Shelly, public relations and advertising major with a minor in community engagement, for her work with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center and personal volunteerism.

2018

Veronika Panagiotou, Ph.D., for her work on the creation of Point Park University's Pioneer Pantry.

Community Partner of the Year Award

This award honors an exemplary community partner who has collaborated with the University to provide an enriching learning experience for students to allow them to meet real community needs, and who has made a difference in the lives of individuals within the Greater Pittsburgh community.

2022-23

The Benter Foundation - and both Bill and Kathy, directly - worked very generously this academic year to create the Pittsburgh Downtown Media Hub. This work started with the Foundation seeking to re-enliven the Downtown community after the pandemic. They queried the University about ideas for utilizing open space in the Benedum-Trees Building, 223 Fourth Ave. The Foundation then worked with the University's CMI to create a shared newsroom space for small media outlets, press clubs, and independent journalists. The foundation not only paid for the renovation of the space and its furnishings and equipment, but Bill and Kathy were directly involved with the CMI in building consensus for the space and ensuring that it is utilized.

2021-22

The Fair Housing Partnership for working with students in the Honors Program to teach them about housing practices in the region. This partnership contributed to a deeper understanding of housing discrimination and housing rights. Additionally, there are now additional testers available to help ensure that Western PA landlords are not discriminating against anyone based on protected class status.

2020

YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh for their continued partnership with Point Park and work in the community.

2019

Operation Safety Net for their work with the homeless community in Pittsburgh.

2018

Light of Life Rescue Mission for their continued partnership with Point Park and their work in the Northside community serving the homeless and addicted.