The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
has selected Eastern Michigan University to receive its
2008 Community Engagement Classification.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered by an
Act of Congress in 1906, is a highly-regarded independent
higher education policy and research center.
 |
FIRST CLASS: The Carnegie Foundation for
the
Advancement of Teaching recently selected EMU
to
receive its 2008 Community Engagement
Classification. |
"Eastern Michigan University has a strong tradition of
community engagement," said EMU President Susan Martin. "This
University not only helps educate great students, but understands
that those students need to be vital and productive members
of their respective communities. We take great pride in
our community and are committed to serve it."
"Throughout our history, we have promoted and supported
involvement beyond the campus as a way of improving the
lives of individuals and the community, and as a means
of enhancing learning. This Classification in Community
Engagement provides national recognition of EMU's commitment
and impact," said Bette Warren, interim associate vice
president for academic programming at EMU.
The office of diversity and community involvement, VISION
(Volunteers Incorporating Service Into Our Neighborhoods)
and the office of academic service-learning work to develop
student involvement in the areas of service, leadership,
civic engagement and advocacy. The two offices have worked
collaboratively since jointly receiving an AmeriCorps grant
in 1996.
While VISION does this directly through student development
activities, the office of academic service-learning accomplishes
this goal by helping faculty integrate service into their
curriculums, scholarship and creative works.
A hallmark of the recent revision in the university's
general education requirements is the Learning Beyond the
Classroom (LBC) component. Students may choose to meet
their LBC requirements through participation in academic
service-learning courses or community-based service through
VISION.
There are numerous examples of EMU's community engagement,
from the operation of eight charter schools to programs
such as Jumpstart, which provides EMU students as tutors
to help promote literacy in early childhood development
centers that serve low-income families in the Ypsilanti
area.
Other EMU community programs include America Reads, which
helps improve reading and writing among children, grades
1-3, and the Washtenaw County/EMU Legal Resource
Center, which provides help with legal paperwork and the
navigation of the court system.
"Those are just a few of the ways members of the EMU community,
including students, administrators, faculty and staff,
have worked and volunteered alongside local and regional
leaders to enhance and improve the lives of the people
we all serve," said Peggy Harless, EMU's assistant director
of diversity and community involvement. "Receiving the
Carnegie designation highlights these partnerships while
bringing national attention to EMU as an institution that
values community engagement, a recognition EMU truly deserves!"
EMU was one of 119 U.S. colleges and universities to receive
the designation for 2008. These institutions join the 76
identified in the original selection process in 2006.
The Carnegie Classification in Community Engagement is
a recent addition to the well-established Carnegie Classification
system for U.S. colleges and universities. It is an elective
classification that requires institutions to submit applications
with extensive documentation. Of the 217 institutions that
declared an interest in applying for the classification
in 2008, only 119 were awarded the designation.
