Campus Compact is a 25-year old nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service-learning in higher education.
Campus Compact is a non-profit organization consisting of 1,200 member colleges and universities, representing some 6 million students. The organization includes members from all 50 U.S. states as well as some campuses located internationally. Members are represented by the presidents or chancellors of their respective college or university.
Campus Compact works with presidents and chancellors to promote the civic mission of higher education by providing funding, resources, knowledge sharing, and legislative support for civic and service learning. The organization works to teach students the skills and values of democracy, to help campuses build strong community partnerships, and to give faculty members the tools they need to integrate themes of public interest and service-learning into their research, teaching activities, and syllabi.
The result is a coalition of colleges and universities working to educate citizens through inclusion of service and civic engagement in the curriculum, and through the adoption of socially-responsible policies and practices.
Campus Compact’s member campuses work on a wide range of initiatives, from providing services to local schools and community organizations, to sharing resources with their communities, to local and overseas economic development. Problems/issues addressed include poverty, hunger, homeless, illiteracy, health care, environmental sustainability, voting issues, college access and success, and issues of race, ethnicity, and gender.
Campus Compact has a national office and 35 state offices, which assist member campuses by providing training, resources, and funding for community-based work. Member campus students, faculty and administration work to incorporate service and civic engagement into curricular and extracurricular activities across campus. Examples include partnerships with local community and government agencies to provide service; projects to provide technical know-how in areas such as engineering and health care; and large-scale anti-poverty and tutoring efforts to thousands of cities and towns. In all of these activities the goal is to be a careful listener to our community partners, providing services and/or resources identified as necessary by the community.
Campus Compact’s goal is to advance the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life, and by helping to educate students to live lives of civic and social responsibility.
Campus Compact provides national, regional, and local programming, including training for students, faculty members, administrators, staff, and community members. Training encompasses such facets as service learning, establishing effective community partnerships, building sustainability within community services, and funding community-based work. Campus Compact also publishes a range of books, periodicals, and online guides to help campuses implement effective community programs. In addition, the organization works on policy initiatives to support campus-based civic engagement on a national level and offers grants and other funding opportunities to help universities implement programs. State, regional, and national communication networks allow campuses to share effective practices and programs.
In 1999, Campus Compact issued the Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education, which outlined a vision for higher education’s commitment to the public ideal. Written by Thomas Ehrlich and Elizabeth Hollander in conjunction with a group of distinguished leaders including the presidents of Harvard University, Morris Brown College, Tufts University, Connecticut College, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, and Miami Dade College, the Declaration has since been signed by more than 570 college and university presidents. These presidents have committed to making education for democracy a priority.
Campus Compact’s annual membership surveys have shown that students at member colleges and universities provide approximately $7.4 billion in service to heir communities each year. More than 98% of member campuses have at least one community partnership; on average, members have 30 such partnerships each. Members increasingly offer service-learning courses, reward faculty members for community work, offer service-based scholarships to students, and create campus-based programs to address issues such as poverty, illiteracy, health care, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
Campus Compact has been able to achieve this level of impact through a combination of its unique structure, its reach within higher education, and its innovative vision and programming. The organization’s foundation as a coalition of college and university presidents has given Campus Compact access to all campus constituent groups, which has allowed its mission to permeate all aspects of campus life. In addition, securing a commitment from the highest level ensures the sustainability of campus efforts. The diverse focus on training, resources, community building, and policy work has also helped the organization create change by generating conceptual and financial support for campus-based service while providing hands-on guidance in implementing programs.
Finally, the organization’s strong network of 35 state offices has given Campus Compact the ability to work directly with campuses to help them build sustained community programs. These offices offer a wide range of programs, including state and regional congresses, education programs, individual consultancy, grants, awards, hands-on resources, and scholarships, among others. State offices also work to connect campuses with local community and government organizations, and recruit and serve all types of member campuses.
Those responsible for Campus Compact believe that creating a coalition among higher education leaders has led to a deep and sustained impact on the practices of their member campuses. The ability to share models, best practices, and resources has been key to their success.
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