Vision for the 21st Century: A Plan for Excellence

Fresno State has a rich history of engaging our students in meaningful community activities. Linking scholarship to service is an important way to put classroom learning to work in the real world. Even more important, it helps students understand the social context of their studies. A primary goal of the university's recently adopted strategic plan -- Vision for the 21st Century: A Plan for Excellence -- states that our university will work towards integrating a significant service-learning component into the educational experience of each student. Fresno State has made excellent progress in moving toward a community service-learning experience for all students.

• Students for Community Service Program. Through the Students for Community Service program, the university currently fosters a large number of innovative and valuable community service and service-learning programs. Documented service totals over 107,000 hours of service provided to the community each year by over 3,000 students.
• Service Learning Courses. Two years ago, the Academic Senate endorsed the development of service-learning courses and developed guidelines for the approval of service-learning courses in academic departments. According to a spring 1998 survey, the university offers approximately 51 courses each year that integrate service into the curriculum. According to a recent survey, these courses involve over 2,500 students and result in over 50,000 hours of service to the community.
• Community Service 1 and Community Service 101. The university offers two courses whereby students can receive academic credit for the community service-learning experiences gained through volunteer service activities. Students in these courses serve over 200 nonprofit agencies in the Central Valley and beyond. Last year approximately 822 students enrolled in these courses, contributing 30,000 hours of community service over the entire year.
• Community Services Scholarship Program. Through funds from the Radin Foundation, the university is able to offer a $1,000 scholarship to students who participate in this program, which requires 170 hours of community service with a nonprofit organization in our community in an area that directly relates to the student's academic major. Over 400 students have participated in this program, which has provided nearly 80,000 hours of service to the greater Fresno community. Students also receive three units of academic credit at the end of this assignment.
• Scholars Service Grants. In the spring of 1999, the university established a Scholars Service Grant program that provides high-achieving students who have a minimum unmet financial need of $1,000 with a renewable $1,000 annual grant. Students participating in the program contribute a minimum of 60 hours of service each semester to campus- or community-based organizations. During the spring 1999 semester, students in this program completed 3,420 service hours and had an average cumulative grade point average of 3.65. The program will eventually award 300 students per year with grants and service placements.
• Stone Soup/Share America. Involving over 70 faculty and 300 students, the Stone Soup project has become an award-winning, nationally recognized model for university-community partnerships. This project provides year-round services to one of the most disadvantaged communities in California, the El Dorado Park, a two-block area near campus that is home to 7,500 Southeast Asian residents, many of whom are members of Fresno County's Hmong refugee community. In 1997, the White House awarded the President's Service Award to the Stone Soup project.
• America Reads. In response to the national America Reads initiative, Fresno State developed the Fresno READS program to increase the reading abilities of elementary students in the Fresno/Clovis areas. During the 1998-99 academic year, 600 students provided over 30,777 hours of service to 2,215 local elementary school students.
• University Blood Drives. With the assistance of the Central California Blood Center, the university organizes and participates in six to seven campus blood drives each year.
• University Bone Marrow Drive. Fresno State student Chad Hathaway is one of ten CSU winners of the system's Silver Star Award that honors outstanding students in community service. This is a great tribute to Hathaway for his work on the bone marrow registry drive last year, which is believed to be the largest drive ever held on a university campus.
• Annual Kid's Day. Students organize an annual fund-raiser for Valley Children's Hospital.
• Community Service Opportunities Fair. Each year the university holds a community service opportunities fair to promote service opportunities for students. Last year, approximately 56 nonprofit and community organizations participated in the fair and 534 students signed up for volunteer assignments at the event.
• Institutional Service Award. In November of 1994, Fresno State received the first Institutional Service Award from California Campus Compact for excellence and commitment to service.