Elizabeth O’Brien Service-Learning Coordinator Seattle University 901 12 th Ave Seattle, WA 98122 April 2, 2015 To whom it may concern: Amy Bergstrom has been the Graduate Assistant for Service-Learning in the Center for Service and Community Engagement since September 2013. Among Amy’s many contributions to our office, three stand out as notable: her creation of a new service-learning orientation model, her management of systems for students in service-learning classes, and her implementation of the Service-Learning Leaders program. Amy’s first assignment as a graduate assistant was to facilitate presentations in service-learning courses to improve students’ understanding of key issues in service-learning and prepare them for success. She was also responsible for training her fellow GA’s, as well as full-time staff members, in assisting with these presentations. She learned the new material quickly, and I was impressed with her ability to adapt it to the needs of different classrooms. Seeing a need to engage students more deeply in the trainings, she revamped the presentation model to make it more interactive. The approach she developed involved guiding students through facilitating the training for each other. Faculty members have reported back that they are pleased with the new format, as it engages students more deeply in the training and gives them a sense of ownership over the material they present to their classmates. Amy came into her position with very strong organizational skills. When our service-learning database broke down during her first quarter, she adapted quickly and efficiently. She put together new spreadsheets, an online evaluation form, and created a Canvas site that dovetails well with the system students already use for their coursework. Most of the systems we now have in place owe their success to Amy’s ability to create clear and straightforward solutions. She consistently thinks through possible outcomes and tests out alternatives before putting her plan into action. I have come to depend on Amy’s good sense about any proposed plan of action. This past year, Amy took on management of a pilot program for service-learning student leaders, guiding four students through a somewhat ambiguous process of developing their own position descriptions and duties. She provided especially strong leadership in the weekly meetings with students, taking on the bulk of planning and facilitating activities to help students gain the skills they need to be effective leaders. One of Amy’s many strengths is thinking through what will be most useful to student leaders
Professional letter of promise written by my GA supervisor, Elizabeth O'Brien.
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Elizabeth OBrien Service-Learning Coordinator Seattle University
901 12th Ave Seattle, WA 98122
April 2, 2015
To whom it may concern:
Amy Bergstrom has been the Graduate Assistant for
Service-Learning in the Center for Service and Community Engagement
since September 2013. Among Amys many contributions to our office,
three stand out as notable: her creation of a new service-learning
orientation model, her management of systems for students in
service-learning classes, and her implementation of the
Service-Learning Leaders program.
Amys first assignment as a graduate assistant was to facilitate
presentations in service-learning courses to improve students
understanding of key issues in service-learning and prepare them
for success. She was also responsible for training her fellow GAs,
as well as full-time staff members, in assisting with these
presentations. She learned the new material quickly, and I was
impressed with her ability to adapt it to the needs of different
classrooms. Seeing a need to engage students more deeply in the
trainings, she revamped the presentation model to make it more
interactive. The approach she developed involved guiding students
through facilitating the training for each other. Faculty members
have reported back that they are pleased with the new format, as it
engages students more deeply in the training and gives them a sense
of ownership over the material they present to their
classmates.
Amy came into her position with very strong organizational
skills. When our service-learning database broke down during her
first quarter, she adapted quickly and efficiently. She put
together new spreadsheets, an online evaluation form, and created a
Canvas site that dovetails well with the system students already
use for their coursework. Most of the systems we now have in place
owe their success to Amys ability to create clear and
straightforward solutions. She consistently thinks through possible
outcomes and tests out alternatives before putting her plan into
action. I have come to depend on Amys good sense about any proposed
plan of action.
This past year, Amy took on management of a pilot program for
service-learning student leaders, guiding four students through a
somewhat ambiguous process of developing their own position
descriptions and duties. She provided especially strong leadership
in the weekly meetings with students, taking on the bulk of
planning and facilitating activities to help students gain the
skills they need to be effective leaders. One of Amys many
strengths is thinking through what will be most useful to student
leaders
and figuring out how to deliver the information in the most
engaging way. She has set this new program on solid ground for next
year!
As a service-learning professional, Amy shines in her ability to
manage complex systems with great skill and foresight. As a
coworker, she consistently demonstrates diligence, commitment to
collaboration, and a genuine care for students. It is with
whole-hearted enthusiasm that I would recommend Amy Bergstrom for
any position she feels moved to apply for. Please feel free to
contact me for further details at [email protected].
