MEDIA RELEASE

CSUN Receives Presidential Recognition for Its Service to the Community

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Feb. 20, 2008) — California State University, Northridge has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Northridge is one of 12 California State University campuses to receive national honors from the White House and the Corporation, an independent federal agency tasked with fostering an ethic of volunteerism and service in America for work done in 2007.

Merri Whitelock, managing director of Community Engagement, which evolved from Northridge’s Center for Community Service-Learning and now is part of the Center for Innovative and Engaged Learning Opportunities, said the award recognizes CSUN’s commitment to incorporate community service in every aspect of campus life, from the classroom to student initiatives.

"This honor really celebrates a collaborative effort between the academic affairs and student affairs divisions of the university to highlight community engagement throughout the campus, whether it’s community service-learning in the classroom or volunteerism by our faculty and students," Whitelock said. "This campus is truly committed to reaching out to the community."

Whitelock said examples of students, faculty and staff volunteering in community abound throughout the campus, with some efforts more structured than others.

The more formal efforts include the hundreds of students who work each year with the Wayne and Robert Colmer Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that provides free tax return assistance primarily to low-income individuals, senior citizens, non-English-speaking individuals and the disabled.

There also are the 80 University Ambassadors who provide mentoring and guidance to at-risk youth while giving the young people opportunities to realize that a college education is within their reach.

Students, staff and faculty with CSUN’s Gear-Up program work with low-income middle and high school students and their families, providing academic support and counseling, mentoring, parent workshops and other services designed to discourage school dropouts and instead foster the philosophy that college is possible.

There are also a handful of peer-educator programs in which students work to increase campus awareness of date/acquaintance rape; promote a more accepting attitude toward body image, shape and size and healthy lifestyles; combat depression and suicide; and provide free volunteer paraprofessional counseling, emotional support, information and referrals through a hotline to empower individuals to take control of their lives.

Whitelock pointed out that this sample does not take into account the dozens of faculty members, from music and theatre to political science, engineering and business, who have students applying the concepts they learn in the classroom to real-world situations while working with local businesses or community-based organizations and their constituents.

There also are hundreds of students who individually volunteer with community-based organizations through the Matador Involvement Center.

"Students who participate 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," Whitelock said.

California State University, Northridge has more than 35,000 full- and part-time students and offers 64 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.