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Iris Phillips Receives Berger Faculty Community Service Award

Dr. Iris Phillips, associate professor of social work, has received the 2009 Sydney L. and Sadelle Berger Faculty Community Service Award. The award, given annually to a member of the faculty to recognize his or her distinguished community service, was presented at the Bower-Suhrheinrich College of Education and Human Services Honors program on Tuesday.

Dr. Julie H. Edmister, dean of the college, said, “In the seven years she has been employed at USI, Iris has engaged in significant community service by working with a remarkably large number of local agencies. More than 36 social service agencies have benefitted from her tireless efforts as friend, consultant, and passionate advocate for improving the delivery of social services.”

Phillips has targeted a wide range of social problems, investigating causes and providing tangible solutions to community leaders. She involves her students in the community through service learning projects.

Some of the projects her students have engaged in include placing more than 1,000 phone calls in two days to collect data for the 10-year strategic plan to end homelessness; raising $1,300 to provide landscaping at Kennedy and Buckner Towner senior housing, and holding a cook-out for residents when the work was through; and writing grants for learning centers at Carver Community Organization and inviting the community to view them at an open house. She serves on the board of directors of the Carver Community Organization, where she has assisted with grant proposals and helped with the Adult Day Service program, among other contributions.

David Wagner, executive director of the Carver Community Organization, said, “Iris took the lead in assisting the design team with selection of material, color schemes, and layout to develop a state-of-the-art senior services center. She used best practice program and safety models to assist Carver in developing this outstanding center. Once the center was developed, Iris assisted in program design, staffing, and research on cutting-edge industry developments, training, and fund development.”

In addition, Phillips has provided administrative training, program evaluations, and assistance with grant writing to numerous other agencies in the Tri-state area, including Evansville Psychiatric Children’s Center, Youth Build, Deaconess Family Practice, Patchwork Central, Youth Care Center, Evansville Coalition for the Homeless, Evansville Housing Authority, Evansville Black Coalition, and ECHO Community Health Care.

She’s also a member of the Tri-State Food Bank boards of directors, has served as the Evansville Housing Authority grievance officer, and works with the Vanderburgh County Day Reporting Drug Court, as well as with drug and alcohol programs in the Posey, Warrick, and Dubois county court systems.

A summary of her community service projects this academic year provide a glimpse into the level of her commitment. She recently completed a Habitat for Humanity study on the social impact of home ownership and will soon submit it for publication. She submitted an international presentation proposal regarding Rapid Repeat Pregnancy, a project with Deaconess Family Medical Practice Residency (DFMPR).

On her agenda is training at the Evansville Children’s Psychiatric Center, a project in conjunction with the University of Louisville OVAR-Geriatric Education Center to provide interdisciplinary training to USI students, and coordination of faculty and student participation in the National Hunger study with the Tri-State Food Bank. Along with other social work faculty, she also is preparing a campus suicide prevention grant proposal.

Dr. Thomas Bordelon, associate professor of social work, said, “Iris has demonstrated exemplary service to our community in both the number of agencies she serves and the extent of services provided to them. She is deeply committed to improving the quality of life in our community.”

Phillips joined USI in 2001. Previously she taught in the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. She holds a Ph.D. and Master of Science in Social Work degree from the University of Louisville, and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University Southeast in New Albany.

The Sydney and Sadelle Berger Faculty Community Service Award is made possible by the Bergers’ son Charles and his wife Leslie. Selected by the USI Faculty and Academic Affairs committee, the award winner is given a plaque and a stipend. Previous recipients are listed here.

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