Miami Student

Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Campus

Students work on service projects in Cincinnati's Over-The-Rhine neighborhood. --Contributed/For The Miami Student

Designing, building, and interacting with the Over-The-Rhine community are just a few of the activities some Miami students are experiencing this fall semester by participating in Miami's Over-The-Rhine Residency Program.

The service program, offered to juniors and seniors in all majors, gives students the chance to live in Cincinnati for a semester and while taking classes, participating in service activities throughout the Over-The-Rhine area.

"The program has been very successful," said Thomas A. Dutton, director of the Center for Community Engagement in Over-The-Rhine and a professor in the department of architecture and interior design at Miami. "The students learn an awful lot and find out that there is really an attempt to build community there."

According to Dutton, the housing projects that the 11 Miami students will work on throughout the semester are related to their respective majors. The architecture majors are finishing up an apartment unit and will then switch to a storefront design and build, while others work with different institutions or groups in the community. This year, roughly half of the students come from a variety of other majors.

Dutton said that every week, students perform 15 hours of community service within the Over-The-Rhine community. Each student keeps a journal to document his or her experiences in addition to taking classes in the community to keep his or her status as a full-time student.

Dutton added that although students take classes required for the program in Over-The-Rhine, from time to time some do have to commute to Oxford for a class that may be required for their major, which they usually can take at night. Whether or not a student commutes is based entirely on his or her major and which requirements he or she still need.

The students share apartments located next to Washington Park and are also able to interact with the residents on a regular basis through various service activities, as well as leisurely activities the residents are invited to participate in.

"The students become part of the community." Dutton said. He added that two students that participated in the program last year and have now graduated are actually employed and working in Over-The-Rhine.

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