Michigan State University Center for Community Engaged Learning

Today is #GiveGreenDay! If you want to contribute to community-engaged learning at Michigan State University, the Center for Community Engaged Learning is raising funds for our Community Engagement Scholars Program! This program provides students and community organizations with the opportunity to partner for at least one full academic year. These long-lasting relationships help to address community identified projects, build networks, and contribute to healthy and vibrant communities. There is a great need for additional placements in our communities and to expand the program to other areas. Give to the MSU Community Engagement Scholars Program and help fund additional scholar opportunities! $5,000 funds one scholar for a full academic year. Learn more at https://ow.ly/TXS050V8ngy. #MSUCommunity #Fundraising #CommunityEngagementScholarsProgram

Join the Center for Community Engaged Learning for these March events to support your community-engaged teaching and learning strategies! Our next Hooked on Community Engaged Learning: Consultation and Coffee sessions are on Thursday March 13th! Michigan State University faculty, academic staff, and teaching graduate assistants can connect over coffee at Hooked Bookstore with our staff to ask questions and collaboratively brainstorm to shape or enhance course-based community engaged learning experiences. Consultation sessions will run from 1:30 - 4:00 PM and may center on course design examples, community partnerships, developing syllabi, managing logistics, orienting students to enter a community, or considering diverse reflection strategies. Register today at https://ow.ly/yn5F50V8p2R! As part of our Special Topics Series, we will be hosting a virtual presentation on Community Conversations: The Elements of Community Partnerships on March 17th! This session will discuss elements of strong partnerships to effectively co-create community-engaged learning opportunities for students. Learn more and register at https://ow.ly/99fU50V8p2Q! MSU University Outreach and Engagement

#GiveGreenDay at Michigan State University is in one week! Give Green Day is a 24-hour university-wide day of giving, and you're invited to support or spread the word. Fundraising, giving, and philanthropy are some of the many ways that anyone can work toward social change. On Give Green Day, you can change the lives of Spartans by giving to funds across the university in support of student success and essential needs. If you want to support community-engaged learning at MSU on Give Green Day, help us fund additional placements for our Community Engagement Scholars Program! Our Scholars partner with community organizations across the state to address community-identified projects and learn from their own and each other's experiences and reflections. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gRKHfSjq. #MSUCommunity #Fundraising #CommunityEngagementScholarsProgram

Next week, March 3rd-7th, is Sustainable Development Goal Action and Awareness Week. This week is intended to promote awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals among students, faculty, and staff in higher education and inspire them to take action in furtherance of the goals on their campuses and in their local community. More information & the list of the goals can be found at sdgs.un.org. The Center for Community Engaged Learning encourages our students to use these goals as a framework for identifying community engagement projects with which students and faculty can align in creating social change. Next week, Alternative Spartan Breaks, one of our Registered Student Organizations, is sending 8 teams of student volunteers around the country and globe to connect with community partners through projects that each address several of these goals. To learn more about Alternative Spartan Breaks, visit asb.msu.edu.

The MSU Community Engagement Scholars Program is now accepting applications for the 2025-26 academic year. This initiative, offered by the Michigan State University Center for Community Engaged Learning and the Michigan State University Office of the President, provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with Michigan-based community organizations on meaningful projects. For information about undergraduate student scholar positions as well as an available graduate coordinator position, see: https://lnkd.in/gqCFjshQ

#FromTheIndex: As part of the Center's commitment to removing barriers that prevent students from participating in community-engaged learning, we are proud to offer Transportation Support Awards (TSAs) year-round to MSU faculty, staff, and registered student organizations. These monetary awards are generously sponsored by MSU Federal Credit Union. One student group which has been greatly impacted by the TSA is the MSU chapter of the Pearl Project, which works to empower young mothers in financially unstable circumstances. The Pearl Project depends on CCEL's TSA grants for four trips per year to support the Roseland community in the South Side of Chicago. Seohee Kim, president of the organization, said that the funds make it possible for more MSU students to participate in the trips. To read more about the Pearl Project, TSAs, and other Center program highlights featured in the Community-Engaged Learning Index, visit https://lnkd.in/ep-ri4k2. #CommunityEngaged #MSUCommunity #StudentSupport #StudentVolunteers #PearlProject Image Description: The MSU chapter of the Pearl Project hosted its first Spring 2024 informational session in January 2024 to recruit new members.

Our next Hooked on Community Engaged Learning: Consultation and Coffee sessions are on Thursday, February 20th! Michigan State University aculty, academic staff, and teaching graduate assistants can connect over coffee at Hooked Bookstore with Center for Community Engaged Learning staff to ask questions and collaboratively brainstorm to shape or enhance course-based community engaged learning experiences. Consultation sessions will run from 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM and may center on course design examples, community partnerships, developing syllabi, managing logistics, orienting students to enter a community, or considering diverse reflection strategies. Register today at https://lnkd.in/gxFjXU2f! MSU University Outreach and Engagement

#FromTheIndex: Since 2023, the Love, ComArtSci program has been supporting Communication Arts and Sciences students, faculty, and staff by providing them with community-building and self-care opportunities. When the program began, space was held to allow students to connect with faculty and community members through therapy dogs, Squishmallows, food, art, and a variety of donated items from local businesses. As time passed, Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences extended the programming as a way to continue supporting students, faculty, staff, and community members. Read the full story at https://lnkd.in/djFejbfp. The Community-Engaged Learning Index is our annual report on community-engaged learning and activity across Michigan State University's campus. Read the 2023-2024 edition at https://lnkd.in/guV2etgp. #CommunityEngaged #MSUCommunity #CommunityBuilding Image Descriptions 1. A Love, ComArtSci program participant posts an encouraging note on a wall 2. Students, faculty, and staff participate in a community-building coloring activity as part of Love, ComArtSci. 3. Staff welcome participants to a Love, ComArtSci event.

For a second year in a row, the MSU Center for Community Engaged Learning recognized a record number of students who logged 100 hours or more of community service and engagement in a calendar year. The 7th annual Spartan Volunteer Service Awards (SVSA) Ceremony took place on January 24, 2025, to recognize student volunteers for dedication to their communities between November 14, 2023, and December 8, 2024. This year’s 205 recipients surpassed the Center’s previous record of 130 recipients in one year for volunteerism in 2022-2023. These 205 students logged 42,243 collective hours of community engagement for the year, creating the equivalent of $1,414,727 of financial impact in communities served based on Independent Sector's current estimated national value of volunteer time. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/g_AQ6Q6P. #CommunityEngaged #SpartanVolunteerServiceAward #MSUCommunity #GoGreen #GoWhite

With Black History Month coming soon, the Stuff the Library fundraiser and book drive are still underway! As a part of the 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Celebration, the Center for Community Engaged Learning is collaborating with the MSU Alumni Office and MSU Student Food Bank to host this campaign to benefit Lansing School District. The campaign aims to fill school libraries with books on topics of social justice and with characters representing diverse backgrounds. Improving children's access to books, especially those that share diverse perspectives, is a great way for anyone to affect social change. Through giving to this campaign, you directly address the goals of quality education for all through promotion and support of youth literacy and reduced inequalities through building of cultural understanding among young readers. We're nearly 3/4ths of the way to our goal of $5,000 raised! With your help, we can reach our goals of $5,000 and 1,000 books donated by February 28. Learn more about supporting this campaign at https://lnkd.in/d_vjvHVJ #CommunityEngaged #StuffTheLibrary #MSUCommunity #MLKDay #BlackHistoryMonth #DiverseRepresentation