Annual Community Engaged Learning Conference
18th Annual CEL Conference
Ending the Injustice of Generational Poverty
Saturday, February 1, 2025
8:00 am to 2:30 pm
UT Health San Antonio
Register HERE by Jan. 26
Donations, at any amount, are appreciated to help us to continue our CEL programs and keep this event free and accessible to the community. Donate here.
Keynote Speaker
Donna Beegle, DEd
President of Communications Across Barriers, Inc.
Watch a Brief (1 ½ minute) Message from Dr. Beegle
Agenda
| 8:00-8:45 am | Registration / Breakfast with Sponsors | AAB Foyer |
| 8:45-9:00 am | Welcome & Opening Remarks Melanie Stone, DrPH, MEd, CHWI, Assistant Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Director of Community Engaged Learning, UT Health San Antonio | Holly Auditorium |
| 9:00-10:00 am | Keynote: Breaking the Iron Cage of Poverty Donna Beegle, DEd, President of Communications Across Barriers, Inc. | Holly Auditorium |
| 10:00-10:10 am | Break | |
| 10:10-11:10 | Panel: Tracking Generational Poverty: Perspectives from the Field Moderator: Donna Beegle, DEd Panelists: Peggy Eighmy; Carolina Gonzalez-Schlenker, MD, MPH; Claude Jacob, DrPH, MPH; Megan Legacy, MPA; Stephanie Rubin, JD | Holly Auditorium |
| 11:10am-12:00 pm | Networking with Community Partners | Holly Auditorium Foyer |
| 12:00-12:10 pm | Break / Pick up Lunch | Holly Auditorium Foyer |
| 12:10-12:50 pm | Lunch Plenary: The Case for the Center for Health Equity in South Texas (CHEST) City of San Antonio Councilwoman Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia | Holly Auditorium |
| 12:50-1:00 pm | Poster Session Opening Remarks Sanjana Ramchandran, BA, Class of 2027 MD/MPH Candidate, Long School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio | Holly Auditorium |
| 1:00-2:30 pm | CEL Poster Session with Dessert Reception | Holly Auditorium Foyer |
Objectives
- To share best practices and scholarship in community engaged learning with a focus on creating a poverty-informed community working towards breaking the cycle of generational poverty.
- To bring together an interprofessional group of University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center students, faculty, and staff from across the state with community partners to foster service-learning collaborations.
- To highlight existing UT Health Science System community engaged learning projects and future opportunities.
- To recognize and reward excellence in community engaged learning within the UT Health Science System.
About the Conference
Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is a structured learning experience that combines community service with explicit learning objectives, preparation, mentorship and reflection. UT Health San Antonio students address community-identified needs while learning about the context in which illness develops, connecting their academic coursework to real-life situations, and reflecting on their roles as future healthcare professionals.
The Annual CEL Conference at UT Health San Antonio originated in 2008 as an opportunity to learn from the CEL experiences of students, faculty, staff, and community partners in San Antonio and across Texas. Each year, the conference focuses on a theme relevant to service-learning and hosts experts and guest lecturers, provides skill-building workshops, and showcases CEL projects through students’ poster presentations.
Presented by the Cheever Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics in conjunction with an interprofessional planning committee, the conference is free and open to the community.
