Cal State's Community Engagement Garners National Recognition

Renewing its Community Engagement Classification, Cal State San Bernardino is one of only 240 universities or colleges nationwide to successfully achieve or renew the classification from the prestigious Carnegie Foundation. First awarded in 2006, the Community Engagement Classification recognizes higher-education campuses for excellence in curricular engagement and outreach and partnerships. Institutions are selected after they have provided detailed descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement showing alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices, according to Cal State officials. Cal State San Bernardino President Tomás D. Morales said, "To be recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for our campus’s dedication to volunteer service is truly a wonderful achievement. I am extremely proud of our students, faculty and staff in their commitment to helping those in need, especially in the communities served by CSUSB. It’s what makes Cal State San Bernardino special.” “The designation by Carnegie provides important national recognition for the quality and quantity of our service to the community,” said Diane Podolske, director of CSUSB’s Office of Community Engagement. “It was an honor to be designated in 2008, and this renewal is a significant affirmation of the continued growth of our faculty, staff and students’ service.” In 2013 to 2014, over 1,370 Cal State San Bernardino students participated in the university’s 145 course selections offering a service learning component, Podolske said.Students contributed more than $2.1 million to local communities through over 82,000 service hours. CSUSB’s community outreach efforts have earned the university eight straight years of recognition on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary, campus-wide service efforts. "The importance of this classification is borne out by the response of so many campuses that have demonstrated their deep engagement with local, regional, national, and global communities," said John Saltmarsh, director of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education. "These are campuses that are improving teaching and learning, producing research that makes a difference in communities, and revitalizing their civic and academic missions." "This is the first time that there has been a re-classification process," said Amy Driscoll, consulting scholar for the Community Engagement Classification. "And we are seeing renewed institutional commitment, advanced curricular and assessment practices, and deeper community partnerships, all sustained through changes in campus leadership, and within the context of a devastating economic recession." CSUSB was among the 157 institutions successfully re-classified from the 188 campuses eligible for re-classification, of which only 162 applied. This year, out of 241 first-time applicants eligible to apply, only 133 institutions submitted applications, and 83 were successfully classified as community-engaged institutions. The successful campuses represent 33 states and U.S. territories.