Examples of Good Practice from Widener University

Disaster Recovery Relief Center: Chongqing China

In response to the devastating earthquake in May 2008 in Sichuan province, China, Widener’s social work faculty and clinical psychology faculty have collaborated with partners at Chongqing Technology and Business University (CTBU) and East Shanghai Normal University to provide training for disaster recovery counseling for the hundreds of thousands affected by the loss of family, friends, homes, historic and cultural sites, and businesses.

Experienced in first responder trauma counseling, the Widener faculty led the videoconferenced exchange of information, strategies, and role playing exercises with psychologists in Chongqing and Shanghai who are now training others in counseling methods. Their work will be bolstered by a partnership grant from Pacific Millennium Corporation to fund a recovery counseling center in Chongqing. With 40 initial trainers, the subsequent conference had more than 70 participants, including physicians, nurses, helping professionals, and CTBU students and faculty. Over 40 Chongqing hospitals sent staff to the trainings.

The Widener Partnership Charter School: Chester, PA

Chester, PA is an economically and educationally “at risk” city, with a school district that consistently ranks 501 of the 501 school districts in Pennsylvania. Although Widener’s faculty and students have long tried to work with the school district, the turmoil of politics, multiple and divisive participants in district decision-making, and low expectations for student achievement have culminated in an abysmal outlook for the children of Chester.

In response, Widener has opened its own charter school, building on collaborative relationships with parents that hold them accountable for their role in their children’s education and welfare, just as the school holds its own faculty and staff responsible for children’s success. At this point—in just its 3rd year of operating—the Widener Partnership Charter School’s students are performing at the top of their grade levels, explaining the continuation of maximum enrollments and waiting lists for admissions.

Debating for Democracy: College Students & Social Networking

In a multi-institutional initiative sponsored by Project Pericles to encourage college students to debate issues affecting democracy, Widener students have designed multiple activities to solicit opinions about the intersections of censorship, free speech, individual and group responsibility, and Facebook, the popular social networking site that has effectively re-engineered the social culture of college life. At issue is the desire for individual expression that sometimes challenges or even jeopardizes the security and civility of its participants.

In a two-year project, students have brought expert panelists to campus, have encouraged free-form poster “blogging,” and initiated information sessions for student organizations, athletics, and Greek Life to discuss the impact of Facebook postings on individuals, groups, the institution, and society as a whole. Students have shared personal experiences and participated in helping to shape understandings of expectations and norms for postings as part of our campus culture.

This page is part of a series of Examples of Good Practice.