About the Office of Community Engagement

Community engagement refers to the concept of intentionally pursuing partnerships aimed at producing mutually beneficial outcomes. Ultimately, this work is intended to be responsive to the needs of the community and result in civic-minded approaches.

As a campus, we want to continue enriching our curriculum, research, service-learning, and internship experiences in ways that bring the students, faculty and staff together with the community to apply scholarly and service efforts to address real problems and explore the enormous opportunities in our region. The Office of Community Engagement promotes community engaged teaching, learning, research and service. It is our goal to be a one-stop shop for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community to connect, collaborate and partner.

The Staff of the Office of Community Engagement provides support to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members who seek to participate in a wide variety of community engagement activities including service learning, volunteerism, community engaged research, community engaged internships, and professional development.

Office Locations

Main Office, Suite 256 of Whiddon Administration Building, 307 University
Student Center Office, Suite 240

Please email us at communityengagement@southalabama.edu or call the main number at (251) 460-6116 to request an appointment.

Shannon Shelley-Tremblay, JD, Director
sshelley-tremblay@southalabama.edu

Ms. Shelley-Tremblay has dedicated her career to addressing critical issues including access to healthcare, access to justice, access to education, and the elimination of poverty. She is an attorney and former teacher who has served in leadership roles in higher education and in the nonprofit sector. She is proud to lead the Community Engagement Team to connect the needs and resources of our Community to the expertise and passion of USA as we all work together to advance our community.

Lee Boykin, Volunteer Coordinator
leeboykin@southalabama.edu

Ms. Boykin heads up the Student Center hub of the Office of Community Engagement. She has an extensive history of work both in higher education and volunteer recruitment capacities. She gets excited about providing an avenue for students, faculty, and staff to plug into the community through service as we work to expand to a wide variety of Community Partners.

Dr. Kern Jackson, Faculty Fellow
kemjacks@southalabama.edu

Kern Jackson, Ph.D. is the 2018-19 Office of Community Engagement Faculty Fellow. Dr. Jackson is the Director of the African-American Studies program at the University of South Alabama and distinguished tenured faculty member in the Department of English. His approach to teaching and scholarship is rooted in Community Engagement Principles. A nationally recognized expert in folklore and ethnomusicology, Jackson earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University. In addition, Jackson earned a B.A. in English and African American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Arts in African American Studies from the University of Wisconsin. Jackson is currently on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Humanities Foundation. He is the former curator of minority history for the Museum of Mobile and is a pre-eminent expert of Gulf Coast Carnival and Mardi Gras, serving as historian for the seminal documentary, Order of Myths, as well as appearing in multiple episodes of Alabama Public Television Series, Alabama Journey Proud.

Aysha Kanwal, Secretary
akanwal@southalabama.edu

Ms. Kanwal is delighted to be a part of the Office of Community Engagement team. As a secretary for the department she is pleased to apply her administrative and clerical skills in benefit to the department as we promote University of South Alabama’s commitment to serve the community. Ms. Kanwal is happily married, having recently moved to Mobile from California.