Mission
Community Engagement at California State University, Northridge is inspired by a commitment to active-learning, developing student awareness of civic responsibility, and addressing social and economic needs defined by the larger community.
Vision
Students participating in community engagement will be tomorrow's leaders: committed to social 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.
Values
Civic Engagement: Aiming to increase student awareness of social, economic, and political inequities; as well as their ability and responsibility to address such inequities through positive social action.
Community Learning : Honoring the role of the community as co-educators and their support in providing students with professional skills. Recognizing community voices in defining needs, faculty expertise in developing projects to address defined needs, and students' voices in implementing community learning projects.
Innovation, Experimentation, & Creativity : Encouraging all members of our community to take intellectual and creative risks and to embrace changes that will enhance the quality of life within our community.
Academic Reflection & Assessment : Promoting rigorous integration of community learning into course curriculum and academic reflection of the community project; including continuing assessment of student learning outcomes, as well as the impact of the project on the community.
Respect for All Persons : Seeking to create an inclusive community that affirms the worth and dignity of all persons, we work toward a larger community which values and supports tolerance, empathy, and collaboration.
Academic Community Engagement Programs at CSU Northridge
MOSAIC provides a national model for linking college students with community after school programs for youth caught up in struggles against gang and family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, educational failure, and emotional trauma. Contact: Teresa Madden, MOSAIC Faculty Director, mosaic@csun.edu or phone (818) 677-6533
LATM celebrates its 17th year of serving youth and is the only LAUSD middle school program with a significant reach focused on mentoring. LATM's model brings together a mentoring team composed of a teacher, college student and community mentor matched with twelve middle school youth who meet once a week after school. Contact: Carmen Cabrera, Project Coordinator, Community Engagement or phone (818) 677-7395
JusticeCorps
The JusticeCorps program presents an innovative approach to solving one of the more pressing issues faced by courts around the country today: providing equal access to justice. JusticeCorps recruits and trains 250 diverse university students annually to augment overburdened court and legal aid staff who are assisting self-represented litigants in court-based self-help programs in select locations throughout California. These highly motivated and well-trained students provide in-depth and individualized services to self-represented litigants, often in their own languages. Parties are given clear information and options, and then connected quickly to the right resources. Litigants are assisted in completing appropriate and accurate pleadings, written orders, and judgments under attorney supervision and, in the process, provided with a better understanding of the court system. Contact: Angelica Delgado, JusticeCorps University Representative, Community Engagement or phone (818) 677-7395
Jumpstart is a national non-profit organization working toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. We do this through an extensive network ranging from our national board of directors, who oversee and govern our national operations, to our Corps members, who create caring, one-to-one relationships with preschoolers year after year. Contact: Danielle Watson , Site Manager or phone (818) 677-4717