Batten professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and John Holbein were two of the five University of Virginia faculty members to be recognized with 2020-21 Public Service Awards for their dedication to work that enhances student experiences and engages communities nearby and around the world. 

Five University of Virginia faculty members recently received 2020-21 Public Service Awards for their dedication to work that enhances student experiences and communities nearby and across the world. All found ways to make adjustments during the pandemic, some of which they’re choosing to continue along with resuming in-person activities soon.

Sponsored by UVA’s Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, the Public Service Awards recognize faculty members’ commitment to service and to sustaining community partnerships. The winning efforts involve students who’ve worked on the various projects.

Due to COVID, this is the second year an in-person event to recognize the winners has been cancelled.

“This particular class of awardees demonstrates how far-reaching and varied community-engaged scholarship can be,” said Louis Nelson, vice provost for academic outreach. “By building relationships in our communities and with community partners who are integral to the investigative and teaching process, these faculty make real, positive impact.” 

2020-21 Public Service Award Recipients

Excellence in Public Interest Research: Kirsten Gelsdorf, professor of practice, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Gelsdorf leads applied research and policy development projects for organizations such as the American Red Cross, United Nations and Save the Children International. She also finds projects and ways to use her global research and expertise in Charlottesville, extending these opportunities to students.

“The kinds of community-impact research and engagements projects I have been involved in have ranged from large-scale meta-evaluations and systematic reviews to small-scale, joint research projects with civil society [non-governmental organizations],” Gelsdorf wrote in a reflective statement. “Each project rests on invaluable support and work from different incredible faculty, student and community collaborators.”

Jefferson Trust Award for Early Career Excellence in Community Engagement: John Holbein, assistant professor of public policy, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Holbein studies the gap between young people’s interest in politics and their presence at the ballot box; the U.S. has some of the lowest youth turnout rates in the world. His recent book, “Making Young Voters: Converting Civic Attitudes Into Civic Action,” has been heralded as a potentially paradigm-shifting book.

“Rather than being satisfied with simply publishing research on this topic in academic outlets,” Holbein wrote in his reflective statement, “I have made several efforts to help translate the lessons I have learned in my research to the public and to a policymaking audience. … In all of my research I seek to engage in a way that helps improve our democracy and our society more generally.

Advice and Observations on Public Service

One indication of the significance of their public service is the coverage each of these faculty members and their work has received in external media or in UVA Today – see the links on their names above. We asked the recipients for their observations and for some advice about succeeding under difficult circumstances and in trying times.

Q. What advice would you give to colleagues about making the best of virtual community engagement?

Holbein: I’ve found a lot of success in building semi-structured, but still classroom-related, interactions with my students. During the 2020 elections, for example, we had a debate watch party, which the students loved. I think many students crave these types of events or gatherings that happen naturally when we are in-person, but require some thoughtful planning when we are not in person. 

Gelsdorf: To find the bright spots. This year has been incredibly challenging in terms of pivoting research and programming to try and find ways to contribute to also supporting the unexpected COVID-related needs of an already vulnerable population caught in various humanitarian crises around the world.

However, these challenges also forced us to not only work, but also ‘think’ in new ways. For example, we had to step out of our silos of addressing only one challenge and instead try more multidimensional programming, making sure to constantly think of all the needs – education, health, socio-economic, information, displacement, etc. We also had to form new kinds of relationships with different global actors, bringing more diverse expertise into our projects. Finally, the virtual environment also allowed us to have larger forums to be able to disseminate findings and discuss and debate results and policy developments.

Q. How best did you keep students, teachers or participants involved? 

Holbein: We use a team-based learning approach in my “Politics of Public Policy” class. At the beginning of the semester, students are assigned to teams that they’ll work with during the rest of the year. Then, throughout the year, they work on solving applied problems in class. These range from researching the key stakeholders in a policy area, learning about the interest groups that shape the policy process, or thinking like a candidate for political office.

Gelsdorf: Thanks to the support of Batten, given the challenges many students faced with internships, we were also able to hire many more students to work on various research and engagement projects, which has resulted in longer-term relationships for them with the work.