Statement of Purpose
The CCE supports & encourages students, staff and faculty in the development, coordination & evaluation of external relationships that are effective for student learning & vocational development, advance public scholarship & benefit community partners.
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Daniel Kittle, Ph.D., director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), holds a B.S. in public relations and political science from Heidelberg College, M.A. in political science, and a Ph.D. in higher, adult, learning and education from Michigan State University. In 2009, Dr. Kittle completed the Foundations of Christian Leadership program through Duke University. After coming to Wartburg in 2005 as Community Partnerships Coordinator in the Center for Community Engagement, Dr. Kittle was promoted to Director in the summer of 2008. In 2012, Dr. Kittle was appointed as the Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives. Reporting to the president, Dr. Kittle organizes and leads college-wide implementation of the Wartburg College Strategic Plan 2010-20. Dr. Kittle teaches a first-year seminar in education and social change, a second-year diversity course that explores poverty, and an upper-division course in leadership theories and practices. Dr. Kittle is deeply engaged in the community. He was a founding member of the Bremer County Recovery Coalition and currently serves as its president, in 2008 Dr. Kittle was elected to a four-year term as a member of the Bremer County Extension Council, and he serves as a Board Member on the Blue Mountain Project, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to partnering with the people of the Hagley Gap District of Jamaica to improve health, education and the economy. Prior to coming to Wartburg, Dr. Kittle served as Community Relations Associate at MSU, President of the Community Relations Coalition, and political science instructor. He has also served in communications and marketing at the MSU Food Bank. Dr. Kittle is from Warren, Ohio and is married to Ashley Kueker Kittle. |
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Jo Dorrance, internship coordinator, holds a B.A. in mass communication and English from Iowa State University. Jo serves as a resource to students in securing internships and field experiences, serves as the campus liaison for Wartburg West in Denver, CO, The Washington Center in the nation’s capitol and the pre-professional medical program with the Waverly Health Center. She is a member of the Iowa Association of Internships and Cooperative Education (IAICE) and Rotary International. Jo has one son, Sam, who attends Butler University in Indianapolis. |
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Renee Sedlacek, service-learning coordinator, holds a B.A. in sociology from Central College (’05). She is currently working towards her M.A. in post-secondary education: student affairs at the University of Northern Iowa. Since coming to Waverly, she has been active in the local community through the Jaycees, serving as President from 2008-2009, was one of the founding members of the Bremer County Recovery Coalition, and sits on both the Big Brothers Big Sisters Advisory Council and the Allen Hospital Community Advisory Board. She received the 2011 Iowa Student Personnel Association Rising Star Graduate Award, Wartburg’sOutstanding Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award in 2009 and 2010 and the 2008 Iowa Jaycees Presidential Honor Award. In her role as service-learning coordinator, she works to foster relationships and develop partnerships with local non-profits and coordinates service trips, the Volunteer Action Center and the poverty simulation. Prior to joining the Wartburg community, she served one year as an Iowa Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA in the Office of Community-Based Learning at Central College. Renee is originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. |
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Mandie Sanderman, school partnerships coordinator and director of the Office of Student Field Experiences, graduated summa cum laude from Wartburg College with a B.A. in education. She earned her Master's Degree in education from Viterbo University in 2007. Prior to coming to Wartburg, she worked for 14 years as a secondary level science educator for the Waverly-Shell Rock School District. Mandie's role as School Partnerships Coordinator allows her to place all student and field experience students into local school districts, supports the Community Builders program as well as supports any collaboration being Wartburg students and public and private school systems in our area. Her family includes her husband Dan and two children, Caleb and Caitlin. Phone: 319-352-8695 E-mail: amanda.sanderman@wartburg.edu |
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Gail Sexton, coordinator of church relations and faith community outreach, holds a B.A. in education from the University of Northern Iowa. Prior to coming to Wartburg, she was an elementary educator for 26 years at Denver Community Schools. She serves as bell choir director at Grace Lutheran Church in Tripoli. Gail supports the work of the Center for Community Engagement by connecting college resources to faith community partners and identifying new opportunities that provide student learning, meet community needs, and enrich the Wartburg mission. Her family includes her husband Matt and two sons, John and Timothy. Phone: 319-352-8699 Email: gail.sexton@wartburg.edu |
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Mary Beth Koberna, office coordinator Mary Beth Koberna, office coordinator in the Center for Community Engagement. Earned an A.A. degree at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, MI and completed her BA in Communication Arts/Interpersonal Communication at Wartburg in 2012. She worked at Albion College in Michigan for five years as faculty secretary in the Foreign Languages and Philosophy departments, and earlier in the Alumni and Parent Relations Office. MaryBeth and her husband, Tim, Head Athletic Trainer for the Knights, have two children, Lindsay, and Cameron. Phone: 319-352-8701 E-mail: marybeth.koberna@wartburg.edu |
