By Sydney Shabacker
CSUSM has been striving for new heights this past year and has gained well-deserved recognition for its honorable initiatives.
CSUSM has many recent achievements to take pride in. The University was acknowledged as a top school for veterans, and opened a spacious and welcoming Veteran’s Center in the Fall of 2014. Last Tuesday the Jan and Esther Stearns Center for ACE (Achieving College Excellence) Scholars was also opened in order to provide former foster youth a home and place to excel on campus, and the Latin@ Center has an implementation schedule to open this fall.
Due in part to these exciting events, the University rejoined the ranks of 360 colleges in the nation that earned recognition for their commitment to the community. On Jan. 7, 2015, CSUSM received the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Originally recognized in 2006, CSUSM once again carries this prestigious distinction, valid through 2025.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is a national organization in charge of classifying all institutions of higher education. This particular classification, the Community Engagement Elective, was initiated in 2006. This classification is evidence-based, and institutions submit their evidence in two categories: Curricular Engagement, and Outreach and Partnerships. In order to be selected, CSUSM submitted a 72-page document that included data and documentation of its community involvement and partnerships. In 2006, CSUSM received classification in both categories, and has done it again for 2015.
Community involvement has always been a central aspect of CSUSM.
In President Haynes’s recent Report to the Community, she said, “Our unique culture; our agility; our forward focus on emerging regional, national and global trends; and our commitment to community engagement have enabled us to do amazing things.”
Recently evaluated by Halualani and Associates in a Diversity Mapping Project, CSUSM strives to involve all students. Across departments and divisions, CSUSM works daily to strengthen its already vibrant college community by connecting CSUSM with the surrounding communities.
“As a public university, I believe that community engagement is an obligation,” said Haynes. “…It builds on a core CSUSM strength: putting academic inquiry at the service of solving real-world problems.”
Earning this classification validates the endeavors CSUSM has taken to promote unity and engagement with all its students and the larger community.
“The Carnegie Reclassification is important for CSUSM because it recognizes our long-standing commitment to the region,” said Dr. Patricia Prado-Olmos, Vice President for Community Engagement.
CSUSM is a positive and vitally engaging force for its students, businesses and people in the community. This most recent recognition award showcases how CSUSM faculty, students and administrators all contribute to this institution’s mission of engagement.
“I wish to emphasize…that everything we do – every initiative, every project, every event – grows out of a deeply ingrained institutional culture of community engagement,” Haynes concluded.