Connecting Co-Curricular Resources
Featuring: Laura Martin and Taylor Robertson
February 13, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CT
This training webinar is a special opportunity open to anyone looking to learn more about the EPIC-Network and its offerings to its member programs! To improve the support offerings provided to EPIC-N Member Programs, EPIC-N hosts a Training Webinar series. The webinars host expert guests and occur when speakers are available. All other EPIC-N Training Webinars are available to EPIC-N Members only.
Webinar Description
EPIC-N and its programs strive to unlock unimaginable potential by uniting university resources with community-identified needs. The EPIC Model requires that existing courses—their faculty and participating students—are the backbone of this collaboration. There are some EPIC programs, however, who have unlocked connections between co-curricular groups on campus to offer partnering towns, cities, counties, and community groups access to even more resources and value.
The “Connecting Co-Curricular Resources,” webinar featuring University of Mississippi’s McLean Institute Associate Director, Laura Martin, and M Partner VISTA, Taylor Robertson. The conversation focused on case studies from M Partner’s first two years of operation at the University of Mississippi. Laura’s management of the program led to over 60 discrete projects, special events and programs, and national service partnerships across three M Partner communities.
Resources from Presentation
- Slides from Webinar
- Community Day Resources Folder (lots of great information in this folder!)
- M Partner Community Summary Reports
- EPIC-N Project Tracking Tool Example (new version and trainings coming soon)
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Presenter Bios
Laura Martin brings over 15 years of experience working on poverty alleviation programs at the grassroots and public policy levels. After college, she facilitated service-learning trips and managed a community development project in rural Nicaragua. Subsequently, she worked in a number of public policy and advocacy roles in Austin, Texas, focusing on immigrant rights, human trafficking, privacy and surveillance, juvenile justice, and health policy.
At the McLean Institute, Laura works to engage faculty, staff, students, and community partners in mutually beneficial efforts to improve quality of life in Mississippi. She directs M Partner, a university-wide community engagement initiative, and supervises staff and graduate assistants leading the North Mississippi VISTA Project and LOU Saves.
Laura holds dual undergraduate degrees in Hispanic Studies and International Relations from Brown University, where she graduated with honors. Additionally, she holds a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed a Portfolio Program in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies. Currently, Laura is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, where she studies the impact of community engagement on student development and community partner capacity.
Taylor Robertson is an Americorps VISTA serving with the M Partner program, a university-community engagement initiative at the University of Mississippi. Taylor supports the work of M Partner by helping build the bridge between University professors and campus organizations to enter Mississippi communities.
Taylor completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Environmental Studies at the University of Mississippi in May of 2019. During her time as an undergraduate, she worked extensively with the Office of Sustainability on campus on a variety of topics ranging from sustainable transportation and waste reduction to outreach and data collection. Working with the M Partner program has allowed Taylor to couple her passion for environmental sustainability with her dedication to improving the quality of life in Mississippi communities.