Bud Warner, senior faculty fellow in Human Service Studies, has been appointed by the North Carolina Department of Social Service Commission to the Alamance County Social Service Board.

This board assists the county agency in reviewing and implementing policy, upholding standards and serving as a link between the state programs and the local community.

“I actually began my social work career many years ago working in child welfare at a DSS in Ohio.  I see this appointment as bringing my career full circle.  I look forward to being involved in serving the people of our community,” Warner said.

Warner’s term is for three years and will expire in June 2026.

While at Elon he was very involved with the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, and was a leader in the Safe Rides program. Throughout his studies at Elon, Noah had a goal of becoming a police officer. After graduating, Sakin became a patrol officer with the GPD, and within two years was promoted to detective.

During the awards ceremony, terms used to describe Sakin included “commitment,” “integrity” and “hard working”. Associate Professor Bud Warner, chair of the department, said Sakin exemplifies the core values of human service studies which emphasize respect for individuals, valuing difference and inclusion, and pursuing social justice.

“Noah is a great example of how a major in human service studies can lead someone in many different directions,” Warner said. “Noah was a great student, and it is no surprise to us that he has brought that same commitment to excellence to his career”.

The display, donated by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of North Carolina through the efforts of Elon Human Services Studies adjunct faculty member Crystal Sharpe, highlights the struggle of the women’s suffrage movement.

The Periclean Scholars 2021 cohort will host visitors Arlana Bettelyoun and Larry Swallow from Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota from Monday, Nov. 11, to Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Bettelyoun and Swallow are co-founders of the Oglala Children’s Justice Center, an organization dedicated to healing children at Pine Ridge reservation who are victims of physical and sexual abuse.

The Oglala Lakota Children’s Justice Center was established in 1999 with the goal to “ensure the safety and well being of [the] Lakota Children by providing a voice for them within the Juvenile Justice System.” On Pine Ridge Reservation, the second-largest reservation in the United States, the reality is devastating. The infant mortality rate is 300 percent higher than the US national average, alcoholism affects eight out of 10 families, the teenage suicide rate is 150 percent higher than the national average, and 97 percent of families live below the poverty line. The terrible conditions in this underserved and neglected community have contributed to a large population of youth who have been victims of physical and sexual abuse.

Swallow and Bettelyoun have dedicated their lives to bettering the conditions on Pine Ridge through social work, cultural healing, and educating the outside world on the underserved community of Pine Ridge. Swallow uses the art of storytelling and the Creation Story of the Lakota in order to connect children to their culture and allow them to heal on a spiritual level. Bettelyoun has given presentations across the country and advocated for the youth on Pine Ridge through the Department of Child Protection and her role as a juvenile officer.

Bettelyoun and Swallow will visit Global classes at Elon in a Core Forum setting on the Nov. 12 from 10:30 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. and on Nov. 13 at 9:25 a.m. in the Great Hall in Global Commons to discuss the inequality prevalent on the Pine Ridge reservation.

The Periclean Scholars program is hosting the pair’s main presentation, “Healing the Children on Pine Ridge,” on Tuesday, Nov. 12, from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium. All members of the community are encouraged to attend this presentation and the reception immediately following the presentation in Steers Pavilion.

Periclean Scholars Class of 2021 expresses thanks to the Fund for Excellence for making this event possible.

Beginning in 2012 through a grant from the Learning By Giving Foundation, students in this coursework with local social service agencies in developing and writing grant proposals. Through funding from the Learning By Giving Foundation, Alamance County United Way, the Frueauff Foundation, and now the Alamance Community Foundation, students then become a funding board. After developing the proposals, students present their ideas to the class and listen to the proposals of their classmates.  Following the Learning By Giving protocols, students must make difficult decisions about prioritizing and ultimately funding proposals. 

To date, $63,000 has been added into the local social service network through this course, including grants to agencies such as Allied Churches, Boys and Girls Club, Family Abuse Services, Open Door Clinic, and Benevolence Farm.

“This grant allows us to continue to provide an intense experiential learning experience for our students”, said Warner.  “The students are challenged to not just learn the technical aspects of writing a grant proposal, including the current focus on client outcomes, but must struggle to work collaboratively to reach consensus about which proposal to fund.  This experience carries over into their life beyond Elon as active members of their communities.”

In 2012, Bud Warner, associate professor of human service studies, received a grant from Doris Buffett’s Learning By Giving Foundation to enhance the teaching of philanthropy in HSS 411 Designing and Assessing Human Service Programs. 

51±¬ÁĎÍř was selected as one of only 43 colleges and universities in the country to receive this grant. Through this grant, HSS students work with local agencies to create grant proposals and then serve as a funding board to award real money to support community programs. To date, the students in these classes have awarded $50,000 of Learning By Giving funding into the Burlington/Alamance County community.

This past fall, Learning By Giving added a new component to the grant. Classes were asked to have students create blogs about their courses, identifying important learning and the processes through which classes made decisions about their philanthropy. Human Service Studies major Dani Baker ’17 took on this task and working with her classmates created Elon’s blog, .  

Staff at the Learning By Giving Foundation reviewed all the blogs, and selected Elon’s for second place in a national competition, and granted an additional $3,000 for the students to award to agencies of their choice. The plan is to split the additional funding between the two programs supported by the fall HSS 411 class, Classroom Closet, which is a free teaching supplies store, and Positive Attitude Youth Center’s new high school program.

After reviewing cases of domestic violence in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office, service gaps were identified.  VACA has responded by working to address the gaps and has invited Dr. Bud Warenr to conduct another assessment of the protocols in the fall to determine if improvements have occurred.

At the March 8, 2016 meeting of the Victim’s Advocacy Council of Alamance (VACA), Dr. Bud Warner and Human Service Studies senior Anna deDufour presented the findings from a comprehensive assessment of the Coordinated Community Response Protocols established in Alamance County in 2015 to ensure that victims of domestic violence received the legal and social services they needed.  Warner and deDufour, along with HSS students Meredith Berk, Lindsay Sinicki, and Matthew Sheehan, worked with the Alamance County District Attorney’s office in reviewing case files to determine the treatment victims received as compared to the ideals specified in the protocols.  VACA, which is composed of representatives from social service agencies involved with domestic violence and representatives from the various county law enforcement agencies, had requested the assessment to get an impartial view of how the system to aid domestic violence victims was working. 

Key findings presented to VACA revealed that despite improvements, gaps in the handling of domestic violence cases still existed, and that communication between various segments of the system to deal with domestic violence needed to be reviewed and updated.   VACA members have immediately begun to develop plans to address these areas, and have asked Warner to reassess the system next fall to determine if improvements have occurred.

Human Service Studies faculty members Dr. Beth Warner, Professor Sandra Reid, and Dr. Bud Warner have been involved with assisting VACA since 2012 in creating the Coordinated Community Response Protocols for domestic violence, working closely with Cindy Brady, Executive Director of the Family Justice Center, and other members of the VACA network.

12:15 Taylor Shaw and Sarah McKenna
“A service-learning approach with Special Olympics”
Faculty member: Anne Marx

12:30 Kara Cowdrick
“The power of collaboration, a library card and a community-centered tutoring program”
Faculty member: Jean Rattigan-Rohr

12:45 Erin Bradley
“Kernodle Senior Center research project”
Faculty member: Anne Marx

1:15 Elise Delmerico, Katherine Kenney, and Ashley Barnas
“BSL service-learning: small things matter”
Faculty member: Jessica Gisclair

1:30 Katie O’Dunne
“A day at Ralph Scott becomes a journey towards understanding and self-discovery”
Faculty member: Phil Miller

1:45 Jessica Dobyns
“Connecting classrooms: North Carolina to Costa Rica”
Faculty member: Glenda Crawford
 

Darby’s research will identify the issues that effect faculty, student, and community partner motivation to participate in service-learning throughout a semester long service-learning course.  She will also be identifying potential support systems to increase commitment to service-learning projects and minimize loss of motivation. 

This research will make a major contribution to understanding the long-term relationships between the university and its community partners in providing students with academic service-learning opportunities that are meaningful and beneficial for all involved.