Announcements and News
What's Going on In the CCE (cont.)
The Department of Anthropology developed four, new Service Learning (SL) courses this Fall. Drs. Kara Miller, Karen Quintiliani, and Scott Wilson developed new SL courses in…Medical Technologies & Human Bodies (ANTH 155), Urban Anthropology (ANTH 416/516), Historical Ethnography (ANTH 428/528), and New Media Ethnography (ANTH 431/531), respectively. These courses are designed not only to impart knowledge but also to inspire action and community engagement. By weaving community involvement throughout the curriculum, the Department of Anthropology is not only educating the minds of its students but also nurturing compassionate citizens committed to positive societal change. These courses reflect a commitment to academic excellence and community betterment, and we can't wait to see the transformative experiences they offer to students and the impact and success stories that emerge from these pioneering courses. In these courses students will have a wide-range of opportunities to: gain hands-on experience; address real-world health disparities and local challenges while collaborating with organizations dedicated to making a difference; enrich their understanding and engage directly with local community organizations; collaborate with Long Beach community partners on research projects that construct inclusive community narratives; and receive hands-on training in applied visual anthropology, enabling them to create media products that contribute to community betterment. If you are interested in teaching and/or developing a new SL course, reach out to us at CCE-SL@csulb.edu.
The Academic Internships Office kicked off the semester with the 2nd Annual Internship Jamboree, which brought together 150+ students, faculty, administrators, staff, and community partners... at the Earl Burns Japanese Gardent to celebrate the equity-anchored, high-impact internship programs across campus. This year, 63 College Corps interns from 6 colleges are completing 450 service hours with 45 community partners and 17 LBCIP student interns, across 8 majors are working with 15 Long Beach based community organizations. Through a generous donation from President Conoley and the E. James Brotman Community Service Endowment Funding, we will be expanding paid internship opportunities in Spring 2024, hosting a STEM focused LBCIP cohort of student interns, piloting micro-internships with two certified service-learning courses, offering scholarships to students completing unpaid STEM-related internships, and scholarships to students completing STEM-related internships and community service projects to offset the costs of purchasing equipment. Through this donation, we will expand academic internship opportunities to 100+ additional CSULB students.
Community Leaders from six, local community organizations participated in, “The State of Community Policy Advocacy & Organizing in Long Beach”... policy convening. The purpose of the panel discussion was to identify concrete ways for our campus community to be more involved in local policy work, and to strengthen our partnerships with local community-based organizations. Community leaders from Long Beach Forward, KGA, Sunrise Long Beach, ORALE, CFJ, and LIBRE shared critical aspects of the work their respective organizations are advancing and highlighted key examples of opportunities for CSULB students, faculty and staff to be directly involved in these efforts (e.g. community-based action and participatory research as well as community-based learning opportunities like Services Learning and Academic Internships). Those in attendance took away concrete examples on how our campus community can become more involved in positively impacting our surrounding communities. We greatly appreciated local community leaders representing their respective organizations and communities, and sharing their policy insights with our campus community at large.
Mayor Rex Richardson was at the Center for Community Engagement, where he heard from students (via video) and Executive Director Dr. Juan Benitez about how the center prepares Beach students for jobs in the community through service learning.
Service learning emphasizes learning through community service activities fundamental to course outcomes and benefits students as well as community partners by promoting sustainable campus-community relationships.
To that end, Richardson said he hopes to have a program in place soon that would bring together neighbors to discuss the challenges that face the city.
Introduction of the CSULB Policy for Service Learning
The Cal State Long Beach Policy on Service Learning, Policy Number 19-13, was passed by the Academic Senate and became effective on November 5, 2019.
"This policy establishes guidance on Service Learning (SL) for the entire campus. It addresses the approval process and the role of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE). This policy does not apply to teacher preparation placements or clinical placements in professional programs."
The policy sets forth the minimum requirements for a course to be certified as a service learning course. All existing and future service learning courses will be reviewed by the Center for Community Engagement and should reflect the definition of service learning and incorporate the requirements as described within the policy in order to receive certification.
For the full text of the policy, please go to the CSULB Policy on Service Learning (19-13).
Community Partner Spotlight: Long Beach Grey Panthers
In June 2023, the Long Beach Grey Panthers received Workforce innovation award for their Internship Leadership Program from LA County’s Los Angeles Alliance for Community Health & Aging (LAACHA).
