Madonna University
Presidential Statement on Civic Engagement - Sister Rose Marie Kujawa, President of Madonna University
Founded by the Felician Sister, Madonna University has promoted its core value of "education for truth and service" since its inception in 1937. As an evolving concept, civic engagement has taken various forms from tutoring and mentoring in local schools and center to health support in such arenas as health fairs and clinics. Distance, too, has increased from the local metropolitan area to the Appalachians, from major city soup kitchens to missionary fields on other continents.
Only in the past decade, however, has this concept been institutionalized in the Office of Service Learning, which now supports and promotes community-based learning opportunities for Madonna University students across all fields of study. The goal of the office is to enhance learning through active community involvement. The director advises students into service learning opportunities and also assists faculty members to design new service learning courses. Students may now earn a Community Leadership Certificate designed to enhance their leadership potential through structured community learning experiences and selected courses in sociology, management, and the Franciscan ethic of service.
With consistent encouragement from several lead officers of Madonna University, student of various disciplines have taken an active role in the community. Examples include journalism students who designed an on-line newsletter for a neighborhood center in southwest Detroit; accounting students who provided accounting assistance to the Michigan Humane Society; and sociology students who facilitated personal safety workshops for young women at risk of violence victimization.
Deeply committed to the concept of service learning, Madonna University has sought and received external funding to augment institutional efforts. This support allows the service learning director to promote long-lasting partnerships between Madonna University academic programs and community organizations, to education faculty and students about the benefits of service-learning as an integral component of course objectives, and most of all to engender a deep sense of responsible citizenship among Madonna University students and the entire campus community.