Stanislaus State’s ongoing commitment to building and maintaining strong community partnerships again has been recognized at the national level, with the University being named to the 2015 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Stan State, which has been on the Honor Roll each year it has been compiled since its 2006 inception, was recognized in the categories of general community service, economic opportunity and education. In all, 14 California State University campuses earned spots on at least one of those three honor roll lists, but Stan State and Cal State San Bernardino were the only CSU members to be named on all three.
“This award is evidence of the commitment of our faculty, our students, our administration and our staff to improving the quality of life in our region,” said Julie Fox, Stan State’s director for service learning. “And we know our dedication in these areas is important to developing strong reciprocal relationships between the University and our community.”
During the 2015-16 school year, more than 3,400 Stanislaus State students participated in service learning courses, logging more than 184,000 hours of community service with an estimated volunteer time value in excess of $4.3 million.
“I’m so pleased that our entire University community is dedicated to public service, and delighted that year after year our service is recognized on a national scale,” said Stan State president Ellen Junn. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of volunteering as a component of a well-rounded college education.”
Here’s a partial list of Stan State’s ongoing community service efforts:
- The Pathways to Success Mentor Program pairs 327 University students with more than 327 at-risk K-12 students through collaboration between Stanislaus State criminal justice faculty members and the Turlock Unified School District.
- The Stanislaus State science faculty and student volunteers engage in monthly Science Saturdays to encourage young students to explore STEM disciplines and careers in healthcare. An annual Science Day event brings more than 2,300 families and individuals to campus to learn about the variety of sciences offered by the University. Additionally, science faculty and students go into local elementary schools to present grade-specific science activities.
- Annually, more than 200 students volunteer hundreds of hours at our local food bank and homeless service providers, and participate in the annual Legacy of Hope community outreach effort.
- Stanislaus State teacher education faculty and students volunteer as teachers and aides at more than 30 local school sites.
- Stanislaus State business faculty, students and University alumni help low-income seniors and families file tax returns and learn about potential tax credits.
- Staff members from Stanislaus State help organize the Turlock Community Collaborative meetings that bring local non-profits together to coordinate their efforts to address community challenges.
In addition, Stan State is one of 14 CSU campuses designated with the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, a five-year classification process last performed in 2015 that recognizes colleges and universities’ commitment to service learning and alignment of community engagement efforts with their institutional mission, culture, resources and practices.
The CSU was the first higher education system in the nation to establish a system office supporting service learning and community engagement. Statewide, nearly 68,000 CSU students had the opportunity to participate in service-learning courses across the system in 2015-16.
“CSU campus community engagement programs have played a critical role in helping the university prepare students to be successful, informed, active and committed leaders,” said Judy Botelho, CSU’s director of the Center for Community Engagement. "We are honored to continue to be recognized by the Honor Roll for our commitment to service-learning, engaged scholarship and civic engagement.”