Military Buildup Community Forum with GCC's Criminal Justice and Social Sciences Students

The Military Buildup Community Forum is a service-learning project coordinated by GCC's Criminal Justice and Social Sciences students. This year-long endeavor started when Fall 2008 students surveyed the public to find what they considered major concerns facing our island community. The impending military buildup in reference to the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam ranked number one. Students enrolled in the Spring 2009 semester developed and administered a survey pertaining to the topic. To share their findings, they coordinated a community forum and invited the Joint Guam Program Office (JGPO) as well as the public. JGPO officials presented an outreach session about the military buildup. Participants were then afforded an opportunity to ask questions. GCC students then took the stage and presented their findings to JGPO officials. By partaking in this service-learning project, students were able to demonstrate an understanding of ethical, civic, and social issues relevant to Guam. They were able to define quantitative issues, gather relevant information, analyze the information, and present results.