Why University Engagement Matters to Students and Community

The recent Inaugural ceremonies have caused me to reflect on the fact that, for the first time in a generation, our society needs us to do more for the common good of all citizens. What better place to instill this sense of civic engagement than in a university? For as long as I have been in academia, I have worked within this great university, in large part, to prepare students for active citizenship and to produce knowledge that serves the needs of our society.

At a time when many have argued that colleges and universities have strayed from their broad civic mission—instead focusing on the narrow expectations and demands associated with departmental and professional associations—it is important in this dawning age of collective responsibility that faculty members and their students renew their focus on direct engagement with local communities. Otherwise, these institutions risk losing one of the cornerstones of their central identity and purpose—their service missions (Bok, 2003; Boyer 1994: Check way, 2001; Newmann, 2000).

In recognition of this important function, a primary activity of the Rutgers Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership is to convene faculty and students from different academic departments and disciplines to engage in service learning opportunities. And perhaps the most visible evidence of our University’s investment with the local community is the one that led to the founding of LEAP Academy. From the beginning, I view LEAP as more than just an opportunity for the University to dramatically improve the educational outcomes of children and youth in Camden City—important as this is. LEAP also serves as a hub where undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and community members might engage in teaching, learning, research, and community outreach and engagement—what I call the “scholarship of engagement.”

In previous issues of the Center Bulletin, I have often written about how LEAP is improving the lives of hundreds of children and families every year. In this issue, however, I want to also draw attention to how LEAP affords the greater University community with the space, place, and context for connecting the discourse of the classroom with real people, issues, and situations. In the 2008-09 Academic Year alone, over one hundred graduate and undergraduate students are engaged in some form of service learning at LEAP, whether through a course, a work-study experience, or as a volunteer. These opportunities are made possible in large part through the efforts of programs like JumpStart, our Rutgers/LEAP Pre-College Office, the Family Support Center and the Early Childhood Program.

Every day Rutgers students can be seen engaged in authentic work with children and adults that is directly tied to their coursework in childhood studies, teacher preparation, urban studies, and psychology—just to name a few. The reciprocal relationships that are formed through these exchanges provide students with more than a “living laboratory” for applied learning—it provides then with an opportunity to contribute to the education, health, and well-being of the larger community as well. LEAP gives these students more than a place for them to earn college credit; indeed, students are being exposed to the significant problems and pressing issues of schooling and society, including: creating genuine learning opportunities for children and adults; encouraging the development of political and social capital; developing and implementing new approaches to solving problems; and cultivating an awareness of the civic, social, and cultural perspectives of others. These experiences are priceless in that they are often the turning point in people’s career paths and moral compass.

Engagement as a service learning opportunity has become the new public scholarship that is producing civic minded graduates who are well prepared to take up the challenges of our society and succeed in their professions. In our near future, I predict that our University students will be even more aware and better prepared because we insisted in providing them with an excellent service learning experience that helped them improve in their problem solving and critical thinking skills, taught them how to work with others, be effective communicators and have instilled in them a genuine passion and commitment to serve.