Coastal Carolina University will host its fourth annual Campus and Community Research Collaborative Luncheon on Friday, Oct. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Kline Hospitality Suite of Brooks Stadium. The event connects faculty members with community organizations as partners.

Anne Wolf of the S.C. Lieutenant Governor's Office on Aging will discuss "Opportunities to Engage: Programs of the Lieutenant Governor's Office on Aging." This presentation will highlight collaborative opportunities for community partners and faculty to work toward strengthening existing programs. It will also address nurturing innovative concepts into new program initiatives. Areas of work include policy writing, advocacy and social justice, grant writing, and an array of existing community partnerships and endeavors. Wolf is the supervisor for the Community Resources Division of the Lieutenant Governor's Office on Aging, the State Unit on Aging for South Carolina.

The event combines an interactive "speed dating" format that brings together representation of community organizations with members of the CCU faculty. The program coincides with a complimentary luncheon that further facilitates networking. The Campus & Community Research Collaborative is a faculty-centered initiative to engage community organizations as collaborative research partners.

Stephen Firsing, for instance, an assistant professor of public health at CCU, had a conversation with representatives from Tidelands Health at an earlier collaborative luncheon; that dialogue turned into a service project for his students.

"My relationship with Tidelands Health quickly grew into a collaborative partnership with representatives from the South Carolina Lt. Governor's Office on Aging and the Department of Health and Environmental Control," said Firsting. "Since then, that partnership has yielded five grant proposals (three funded projects) in three years. In other words, meeting people at the Campus and Community Research Collaborative has been instrumental in me developing my professional networks and scholarly research agenda at CCU."

Wolf is a graduate of Emory University and has worked for the state of South Carolina since 1994. She joined the team at the Lt. Governor's Office on Aging in 2007. She has served as the project director for multiple federal grants during her tenure with the Office on Aging. She also served as the program manager for the Alzheimer's Resource Coordination Center, which provides grants to organizations for dementia-specific respite or education programs. She co-authored "Conquering the Specter of Alzheimer's Disease in South Carolina," a state plan to address the disease. She was also co-author of "Take a Break SC! Sustaining South Carolina's Caregivers through Respite."

This program is jointly presented by CCU's Office of the Provost and the Office of Vice President for Research and Emerging Initiatives. Pre-register at www.coastal.edu/healthsciences/registration/.

For more information, call Amy Edmunds at 843-349-2441 or email at aedmunds@coastal.edu.