Just Whose Side is She On?

So deliberately has Vida Huber blurred her private, public and professional personae that it's not always obvious whose side this James Madison Citizenship Award winner is on. Which makes her educational philosophy all the more clear and effective.

Because of her work on so many fronts and in so many capacities -- as private citizen, registered nurse, educator and as community advocate -- Huber has been called "visionary" by those she has inspired.

"A visionary thinker and planner," says Merle Mast, head of the nursing department, "Huber has fostered the mission of JMU in developing service-learning programs that are responsive to the needs of the community and that provide excellent learning experiences for students. ... She has a genuine passion and commitment to promoting health care to the underserved."

The nursing professor and associate dean of the College of Integrated Science and Technology received the citizenship award on March 15 at the James Madison Day Convocation. Created last year to celebrate the 250th anniversary of James Madison's birth, the award recognizes an individual who demonstrates the spirit of Madison's commitment to the public good, says James Madison Center Director Phil Bigler ('74, '76M).

Jane Hubbell calls Huber "a true visionary in trying to create a bridge between the university and the community." Hubbell is director of the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Office on Children and Youth, which Huber helped establish.

The children's agency, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Free Clinic, the Valley AIDS Network, the Community Health Council and the Mind-Body Task Force are among Huber's most visible community endeavors. She has served on boards for many grassroots health-care initiatives; and most recently, her involvement with the Blue Ridge Area Health Education Center has brought more than $1 million to bear on community health needs.

These activities are over and above her many university and professional service activities, Mast points out. Huber has worked diligently to extend collaboration across campus. She is director of JMU's newly formed Center for Innovation in Health and Human Services, "designed as a catalyst for developing new programs in health and human services that are responsive to the community's needs," says Doug Brown, vice president for academic affairs.

"I personally have filled a lot of roles as a volunteer in the community. ... For this reason I'm involved, not in an official university capacity, because these are the kinds of things I need to do," the citizenship award winner says matter-of-factly. "But a university can't be separate. I feel very strongly that, particularly in areas like health care, the university needs to be intimately connected to the community it serves. We have an obligation to offer our expertise."

Huber's educational philosophy is not as charitable as it might sound, however.

"I also strongly believe that partnerships in general are the way to go. ... We can't have [JMU] programs without [this connection to the community] because our programs are applied. We need that hands-on component," she explains. "In addition, many of our students come from sheltered, affluent parts of our society. They must learn about life from the perspective of a large portion of the community. ... We need to work with students to help them to understand how much they have to learn from people who are different from them."

Huber says serving the public good starts with the faculty. "If we expect [students] as professionals later to get involved in their communities, then we need to be involved."

Read about Huber's philosophy on service learning. Go to www.jmu.edu/montpelier and click on the Full Monty icon.

-- Pam Brock