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Strategic Plan for Civic and Community Engagement
Mission
The Civic Engagement Collective exists to increase the knowledge, skills, values and motivation of our students, faculty and staff to act on issues of personal and public concern in ways that are both individually enriching and beneficial to the community. The engagement efforts we design will be reciprocal, with the university and community working together to identify assets and solve public problems.
Vision
GVSU embraces a civic ethos made visible through our language, our support structures, our resources, and our practices. Our community-based and democratic learning is advanced through broad and deep curricular and co-curricular experiences that address the needs and interests of our community partners, energize our teaching and scholarship, and resonate with students. Rooted in a liberal education and experiential learning, our graduates are known for their broad knowledge, cultural competence, grasp of community complexities, ability to collaborate, and active commitment to civic life.
Value Statement
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Shared learning. The knowledge and wisdom we gain
from many sources (national best practices, academic disciplines,
and our communities) all inform and energize our approach and enrich
our outcomes.
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Co-ownership. We work as a collective,
actively taking responsibility for civic engagement across campus,
within and between departments, and with our community partners.
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Asset-based approach. We seek out and nurture the
knowledge, skills, and lived experience of those involved in this
work, identifying what matters most to people and then acting
together for positive change.
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Aspirational thinking. With our communities, we
ponder big questions that call us to engage over time and across
boundaries to transform whole systems.
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Reciprocity. We seek to be in a place of mutual
interdependence and exchange with our community partners.
- Social Justice. We take responsibility to examine power and privilege and address inequity in the process of our civic engagement work. This requires us to think critically and examine our implicit and explicit biases.