Excellence in Community Engagement Awards
The Center for Civic and Community Engagement awards a faculty member, a 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.
2024
Dr. Robert McInerney, Professor of Psychology, for his work with the Mobile Thriving Respite. His nominator said: “Dr. Bob has always been a champion for community psychology and experiential learning, but this year he is doing amazing work with the mobile thriving respite, a program that serves the local street homeless community of Pittsburgh. Dr. Bob, along with several undergraduate psych students, leads the grant-funded "mobile thriving respite," which is a community action initiative that seeks to help members of the street community "thrive instead of merely survive." Dr. Bob’s work has contributed to improving community/university partnerships, training students to be community-engaged scholars, and helping the homeless community of Pittsburgh to thrive."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.
2024
Nicole Chynoweth, Editorial Content Manager, for her work with the Staff Assembly
Community Engagement Committee & Play it Forward Pittsburgh. Her nominator said: “Nicole always displays a commitment to community engagement and project work. As co-chair for the Community Engagement committee, Nicole organizes volunteer opportunities with the Red Door, Planting and De-Planting at the Point, and others. She has also organized monthly staff happy hours which give staff time to connect after work hours enjoying a beverage and some apps! Nicole also offers her time during the holidays at Play it Forward, which is a toy drive that aims to provide toys to families for free. Nicole displays such a commitment that it’s hard not to recognize that she has a huge commitment to Point Park's community. Nicole's sense of community allows staff to engage in activities not directly tied to their day-to-day office jobs. It allows staff to give back to the community as a group, which gives me a sense of Point Park pride every time!”
2022-23
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 WesternPa Special Olympics. This year he has been instrumental in establishing arelationship 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.
2024
Bradley Dietz & Rebecca Bivona, for their work with the community of Bellevue.
Their nominator said: “I’m so excited to nominate Bradley Dietz and Rebecca Bivona for the 2024 Excellence in Community Engagement Student Award! Their work in 2024 has been nothing short of incredible, making a lasting impact on the Bellevue community through their independent study projects with Bellevue Forward, a nonprofit dedicated to economic development and community engagement.
Bradley’s 2023-2024 project focused on creating dynamic graphics for Bellevue’sinaugural Halloween Celebration. His work not only brought visual excitement tothe event but also included designing a standout t-shirt that raised over $2,000 to support Bellevue Forward’s initiatives. This was Bradley's FIRST professionally produced and distributed work! Bradley’s ability to craft visuals that resonate witha community resulted in a hugely successful first-time fundraiser that exceeded everyone’s expectations and created a strong foundation for future events. On top of all this, as a Bellevue resident, Bradley's talent was seen first-hand in his hometown. His whole family saw the impact his work was having on the community.
Meanwhile, Rebecca’s project in 2023-2024 focused on producing original illustrations for the Bellevue Spotlight Series, a program that celebrates local individuals making a difference. She created three stunning portraits of women who were chosen for their contributions to the community. These illustrations were printed as posters and distributed throughout Bellevue and online, creating a wave of positivity and recognition. Rebecca’s work didn’t just highlight these women—it inspired the entire community and left a lasting emotional impact on those involved. Each illustration took 8-16 hours to produce! Similar to Bradley, Rebecca's illustrations were her first professionally produced and distributed work. 
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.
2024
Pittsburgh Human Resource Association, for their work with Rowland School of Business HR students. Their
nominator said: “PHRA supports students' development through mentoring opportunities, education and networking. PHRA also supports DE&I and veteran initiatives in the community. They work with students year-round through career path sessions, mentoring, internships and shadowing programs. They have dedicated the month of August to diversity education and networking and another month to increase the visibility of veterans and develop supportive networks for employment. Their initiatives increase visibility, provide education and networking to enhance student development, the employment and career paths of veterans and identify the critical need to address DE&I in all organizational and community outreach.”
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.