120,000 hours of community service is an impressive accomplishment by any means, but for students at California State University, Stanislaus, that number was surpassed as of 2013, more than doubling the total five years prior.
From child development to Greek life and anywhere in between, students all around campus are responsible for making a difference.
As a way to spotlight service learning and community outreach, the Carnegie Foundation was implemented in 1905 to advance the performance of educational systems across the United States.
Turlock is no stranger when it comes to the Carnegie Foundation.
CSU Stanislaus has yet again been recognized by the policy and research center, this time for the Advancement of Teaching for the 2015 Community Engagement Elective Classification (CEEC).
This honor is awarded to less than 15 percent of universities nationwide, according to the Turlock City News.
“[The CEEC is] a well-deserved recognition of the work that our faculty, staff and students do in the region,” campus president Joseph Sheley said to the Turlock Journal. “It is not an overstatement to say that they are changing lives.”
CSU Stanislaus launched their Office of Service Learning in 2000 and continues to support the faculty’s outstanding development of service learning possibilities.
Office of Service Learning director Julie Fox reported to the Turlock Journal that an estimated 36 percent of the university’s students are actively involved in community outreach.
“We see this as an incentive to do more – to engage more faculty, staff and students in service learning,” Fox said. “For many of them, this region is their home, and they’re dedicated to making it better.”
Service learning is an educational approach that combines the act of teaching with the participation of meaningful community service experience. According to the department, students strengthen their understanding of “course content, sense of social responsibility, general knowledge, self-awareness, and commitment to the community.”
Out of 361 colleges recognized by the Carnegie Foundation, 11 have been a part of the CSU system, according to the Turlock Journal. Only three have been awarded to a CSU since 2008.
CSU Stanislaus was also among those acknowledged that year, honored for its outstanding efforts in both Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnership.
Just weeks before this year’s Carnegie Foundation recognition, CSU Stanislaus had also earned a place in the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, which is considered to be the highest federal award given for a university’s commitment to civic participation and service learning.
