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Central California is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. Its diverse population
and economy is poised for dramatic and historic changes. Fresno State will power the economy
and culture of 21st century Central California - the region known as the New California.
The Central California region is one of great promise...and great need. California State
University, Fresno has made a commitment to improve and strengthen our region. We are
achieving this through the talents of our students, faculty and staff through community
engagement and service-learning. The university is transforming the traditional classroom
by partnering with the community to better educate our students while preparing them
for their future. This transformation is not only changing the lives of our students, but
significantly benefiting our region as well.
The university's commitment to the community through service and learning was bolstered
through a generous donation from Jan and Bud Richter creating the Jan and Bud Richter Center
for Community Engagement and Service-Learning. The Center is a focal point where community
partners collaborate with the university to develop community service and service-learning
opportunities and experiences, enriching the lives of our students and our community.
[Dr. John Welty] The university has a made a major commitment
to service-learning and community service and certainly as we received support from
Bud and Jan Richter to establish the Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning,
I think it was important to challenge the university community to stretch what we were
doing, to improve it and to do more.
[Chris Fiorentino] Over the years, I haven't seen any tool, any
resource, any learning experience that has been as significant for a students personal,
professional and academic development as I have when students get involved in service
and that's true across the board over the years, doesn't matter the major, doesn't matter
what the students are doing. And I think that service has a very unique way of tapping into
each person's own interests and skills and really helping that to blossom in some ways
that almost no other experience can do.
At Fresno State, faculty members are actively engaged in efforts to structure classes around
a service-learning model.
[Ellen Junn] Fresno State is an unusual institution in
that the requirements that one moves towards in securing tenure actually are based on the
Boyer Model and so many of the actual probationary plans for faculty explicitly ask faculty to
consider what can they do in the area of engagement or integration, so it's something that we're
having faculty think about early on in their career as a way of assembling a well rounded
portfolio of activities as a faculty member, so it's something that's sort of built into
the system at one level and also because we know that faculty who really make the connection
between their discipline and the students application of the discipline in the community
is a very, very rich and powerful learning experience both for the faculty member and
for the students.
[Ben Boone] When I was a new faculty member here at Fresno
State I heard the term service-learning but I really had no idea what it meant. I thought
it meant I would be providing volunteer activity but it's so much more than that. It's a synergy
between a community partner and you and your students really do benefit from it a great
deal. And after being involved with it a few years I'm confident to say that its actually
reinvigorated my teaching, its made me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile, like
I'm making a true contribution and that I truly am enhancing the education of my students.
[Sally Tannenbaum] To me the most important aspect of service-learning
is that it invigorates my teaching, it also makes my curriculum relevant to my students.
It helps them really understand how this theory really connects to the real world and for
any faculty member that has used it, and most of us across campus that have used it are
so excited about it because it really empowers our students and makes what they are learning
very important for the future.
In 2007, the university set forth a dramatic goal: to provide one million hours of service
to the region annually through the direct efforts of Fresno State faculty, students
and staff.
[William Covino] Fresno State is committed to learning and
to service, put together we have a service-learning program that reflects that dedication to bringing
our students and our faculty to the community, to do good work with everyone. We've reflected
that commitment in a marvelous achievement, over one million hours of community service
achieved by those of us dedicated to community engagement here at Fresno State. That dedication
will continue, our service will continue and it will deepen our learning and understanding
for years to come.
The university community has reached out and taken part in a diverse range of service and
service-learning opportunities. These efforts have a unique and lasting impact on those
who have participated.
[Laurie Taylor-Hamm] The service-learning component is the best
part, I think, of the course because what ends of happening is the students get engaged
with the community, they get engaged with this non-profit and what they end up doing
is they end up learning and serving in ways that they never expected. So what ends up
happening is they really get a heart for what is happening here and they end up taking their
projects sometimes even beyond the semester. They'll volunteer more hours than they have
to just because they enjoy being down here and helping because they enjoy having the
feeling of helping the community.
[Grant Crum] A service-learning program like this really
adds a real-world component, so instead of just reading out of books and having hypothetical
situations we're able to come here to the food bank, see a real organization and the
issues that it faces.
[Phaengsy Keokongmy] I'm an interior design major and part of our
curriculum is to help out the community and that's why I'm here, also to get hands-on
experience and to learn hands-on and to apply in a real-world situation. It's a gratifying
experience so I'm looking to doing more hours than necessary.
[Adrian Bourgue] It's just a great opportunity, it makes me
feel really good to be able to come here and help out and even though I don't really feel
like it's definitely not a classroom setting, but I feel like I'm learning every day, every
day I come here I'm learning something new.
[Greg Hunter] The students have been...they've been excellent.
It's been a neat thing to come together with some younger people that are interested in
learning how to do business. They're wanting to learn how to do a job and how to move forward,
not just to be maybe a good employee but also maybe a good employer some day and learn how
to be a manager and learn how to run a business.
[Ana Cardoso] I've been at Fresno State for the last two
years but I'm more of a hands-on kind of student. Like I work, I fee like I learn better when
I'm working in the field more than I would in a classroom going over notes or dealing
with a textbook so it was a different type of learning that I feel was a lot more educational
than if I would have found the same exact material being taught to me in a classroom
or even just from a textbook.
For our first 100 years, Fresno State committed itself to meeting the educational, cultural
and economic needs of our region. Now, as we enter our second century of service to
the Central Valley, we do so with a resolve to put academics into action in new and exciting
ways. By continuing to align our teaching, research and service activities to better
meet the needs of the community, we will continue to foster a culture of service at Fresno State
that is second to none. Our commitment to service-learning produces better-prepared
students, as well as faculty and staff who are more engaged in creating a stronger region
that benefits from Fresno State's service and engagement efforts.