Calvin College
Presidential Statement on Civic Engagement - Gaylen J. Byker, President of Calvin College
Calvin College has a long history of engagement, a history grounded in the mission and religious tradition of the college. These words from our Mission Statement exemplify our commitments
-The outreach to an external community, moreover, will be marked by an insistence upon justice, identifying clearly the injustice in this world, refusing to tolerate it, and working to eradicate it.
-The college's involvement in society will be motivated…out of a genuine compassion toward a needy world, even toward those who profess to have no need.
-Finally, the college's mission to the communities beyond the campus will be marked by discipline. On the one hand, that discipline will be an internal one as we discipline our hearts to move away from personal satisfactions and to the needs of others. On the other hand, that discipline will require the commitment to go out into the world to engage and rectify the errors marring it.
From this foundation, the college is extensively engaged in its local community and in communities to which its reach extends. The indicators of our engagement are best understood in four areas: faculty participation, student involvement, infrastructure, and community partnerships.
Like most colleges and universities, Calvin expects from its faculty excellence in teaching, distinction in scholarship, and quality in service. Rather than competing, these expectations are inter-related and serve to link together faculty members and external partners most notably in community engagement. For example, our Community Outreach Partnership Center, a HUD sponsored program, involves faculty from a wide range of departments (Spanish, Nursing, Economics/Business, Education, English, Geography/Geology/Environmental Science, Sociology/Social Work). Each faculty member has the opportunity to use service learning as a pedagogical strategy in this project and is encouraged, through the resources of our Center for Social Research, to relate their service and teaching to their scholarship.
Such expectations have been built over the years by investing in a college-wide effort to define academically-based service-learning. We reinforce this by providing numerous faculty development efforts, from workshops to release time, so that today, academically-based service-learning is embedded in the curriculum and is a respected pedagogical approach that enhances student learning. Moreover, the range of experiential education - from internships to clinical experiences - serves as a hallmark of the Calvin educational enterprise. From our Cooperative Education program to our Off-Campus Interim and Semester Programs, we seek the contextualization of student learning which prepares and motivates students for service in their communities and around the world.
A close examination of the infrastructure of Calvin College demonstrates our commitment to community engagement. Our Service-Learning Center, nearly 40 years old, provides a resource for faculty seeking community partners for engagement that will further learning in their courses. It also provides an opportunity for students desiring opportunities for community service. The Service-Learning Center is one of many evidences of enabling mechanisms and resource allocations directed toward engagement. In various divisions and offices across our campus, key personnel are directed toward stimulating and supporting community engagement:
-In Student Life, the Cooperative Education Coordinator works with academic departments to arrange internships and practicum experiences. Each Residence Hall has a community partner-an agency, ministry, or school-with which they provide weekly service. And, our Director of Career Services links the for-profit and non-profit world to energetic and committed Calvin students.
-In the Academic Division, the Center for Social Research points our research services toward the technical support needs of community groups and agencies. The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship provides expertise and grant support to churches and ministries in communities around North America. The Paul Henry Institute provides consultation and opportunities for study to local governmental efforts. The Spoelhof Institute connects the campus to the business community, providing for an exchange of learning which also includes faculty externships in business settings.
-The Office of Off-Campus Programs leads our students to engagement in other communities, helping them develop cross-cultural skills and habits for a lifetime. And the Office of Pre-College Programs partners with 17 churches and other faith-based organizations to address the needs of at-risk youth, grades 4 to 12, in three west Michigan urban areas, on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico and in the barrios of Los Angeles.
In all of these efforts toward engagement, Calvin College strives for partnership. Our Community Partnership Team, comprised of college personnel and community members, seeks to monitor our efforts of engagement, seeking the proper balance of the college's intent and the desires of the community. The President's Multicultural Advisory Council provides opportunities for community voices, from Grand Rapids, Miami, Los Angeles, Mississippi and New Mexico, to help the President and his cabinet seek engagement in ways that are sensitive and responsive to the diverse world in which we live. Our Business Advisory Council provides similar advice to our Business program, helping the pedagogy and curriculum remain aligned with the needs of business and industry.
In a recent survey of those who had graduated from Calvin just 10 months earlier, we asked this question: How much growth did you experience as a result of: off-campus interims/semester programs, service linked to a course/professor, and service-learning upon your own initiative. The responses were astounding: 96% said they had achieved some or a great deal of growth as a result of off-campus study, 82% indicated some or a great deal of growth because of academically-based service-learning, and 76% responded they had experienced some or a great deal of growth as a result of the service in which they became engaged upon their own initiative. This data not only demonstrates that our engagement is deeply embedded into the curriculum and culture of Calvin College, but they also indicate that institutional efforts at engagement are shaping the hearts and minds of our students.