The Office of Community Engagement supports CSUN’s mission to cultivate civic responsibility among students, faculty, and staff by facilitating service learning classes, promoting co-curricular engagement activities, implementing community based research, and fostering sustainable community partnerships. Students who participate in community engagement will be tomorrow's leaders: committed to soci
al improvement through civic participation, dedicated to ensuring the rights of all persons, and capable of providing solutions to address local, national and global issues thus working toward a more humane world community. Through Service Learning, Community Engagement is inspired by a commitment to active learning, and aims to develop student awareness of civic responsibility while addressing social and economic needs defined by the larger community. Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Faculty choose a limited number of meaningful partnerships with the goal of providing students with different, but consistent off-campus learning experiences. Through service learning, students-from kindergartners to college students-use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. They not only learn the practical applications of their studies, they become actively contributing citizens and community members through the service they perform. Community-based organizations and faculty wishing to explore ways to work with students on projects that benefit the community are invited to contact the office. Many community engagement projects are affiliated with the Corporation for National and Community Service and provide opportunities for Work- Study and AmeriCorps students to serve in community programs serving under-served populations.
