Contact: Patti Klein Lerner,
(818) 677-2130

CSUN Gets Grants For Student Study That Helps Community

AmeriCorps and the Getty Grant Program are giving California State University grants of up to $2.7 million over the next three years to boost community service programs in public health and the arts.

AmeriCorps, a domestic service program similar to the Peace Corps, has given the CSU system $434,000 to support the new "Service Learning for Family Health" program during the 2000-2001 academic year. The three-year proposal calls for the program to be expanded with CSU receiving up to $2.5 million total, said Nikki Maxwell, coordinator of CSUN's Volunteer Program.

CSUN will receive about $120,000 per year for three years, allowing 16 CSUN students serving as parttime AmeriCorps members to provide community service to local health and human service agencies. The students also will recruit other CSUN students and community volunteers to help organizations such as the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and the Red Cross and help coordinate activities of students in service-learning classes on campus, Maxwell said.

AmeriCorps, a federal program initiated through the Corporation for National Service, supports local, state and national organizations that involve Americans in community service. AmeriCorps members serve for a year and receive a living allowance and higher education tuition assistance. The California Commission on Improving Life Though Service and the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the California Department of Health Services are partners in the effort.

Initially, students will be recruited from CSUN and four other CSU campuses, with plans to expand the program, Maxwell said. Maxwell said students are a dynamic, enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteer force.

"It's opening up a lot of doors to allow CSUN to do more service in the community," she added. "It's an exciting time for us."

The $167,000 Getty grant will support the development of service-learning institutes for faculty at CSUN and five other CSU campuses. Art faculty will have the chance to apply for 12 service-learning scholar positions, said Maureen Rubin, chairman of CSUN's Center For Community Service-Learning. Each faculty member selected will receive a $5,000 stipend and attend classes on how to create service learning classes in the arts. The CSU hopes to expand this program to all of its campuses as well.

"We are really hopeful that some art department faculty members from this campus will apply for the positions," said Rubin. "The art department at CSUN has a fabulous tradition of working on service learning projects that bring art to the community, particularly children and at-risk teens. The commitment is there, the track record is there and I'm extremely hopeful that we will get our fair share of Getty Service learning scholarships."

The Getty Grant Program is part of the J. Paul Getty Trust, an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts. Since its inception in 1984, the grant program has given more than $89 million to more than 2,200 projects in about 150 countries.

For more information, contact Maxwell at (818) 677-3260 or Rubin at (818) 677-7395.