California State University, Channel Islands

California State University, Channel Islands

California State University Channel Islands is a four-year public university located in Camarillo, California, in Ventura County. CSUCI opened in 2002 as the 23rd campus in the California State University system, succeeding the Ventura County branch campus of CSU Northridge...

 located in Camarillo, California

Camarillo, California

Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 65,201 at the 2010 census, up from 57,084 at the 2000 census. The Ventura Freeway Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 65,201 at the 2010 census, up from 57,084 at...

has five different academic centers, four of which are mission-based: the Center for Community Engagement, the Center for Integrative Studies, the Center for International Affairs, the Center for Multicultural Engagement, and the Center for Excellence. It currently has two institutes, the Small Business Institute and the Alzheimer's Institute. The first two centers began in 2005: the Center for Integrative Studies and the Center for International Affairs.

CSUCI has created a policy for the creation of academic centers. All centers and institutes must support the CSUCI mission. Mission specific centers are developed with the primary purpose of enabling the CSUCI faculty to support the mission of the university. Centers cut across disciplines and have co-curricular implications. Institutes and other centers are created with the intent to provide a necessary service, program, or disciplinary or interdisciplinary focus for the university and/or community.

Center for Community Engagement

In 2006-07, the Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement developed a five year plan that addresses the new Center for Community Engagement's (CCE) vision and mission for service learning (SL), civic and community engagement. (SL) or service learning, is a teaching anf learning method that links academic course content to 'real-life' experiences that focus around a community need or issue. A group of 40 people including, students, faculty, community partners, staff and administrators established a focus question that the five year plan would answer. The main focus question emphasizes, how can the Center for Community Engagement best advance the University's mission to: support student success by educating students to be civically engaged and able participants in a democratic society; build reciprocal long term-sustainable community partnerships; and advance faculty teaching and scholarship through the development of faculty expertise in service learning and community based research. CCE's mission statement is to foster a learning community that facilitates learning for civic engagement in their local and global communities; and address societal changes through long term sustainable partnerships. Service learning and civic engagement are the main focal points of CSUCI's mission. In 2009, CSUCI was named to the 2009 Presidents Higher Education Community Honor Roll, which is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement. Over the years, mini grants have allowed faculty, students, and community partners to attend service learning workshops, and develop new service learning courses and strengthen existing courses. The number of students participating in a service learning course and the amount of community partnerships have continued to expand each year. Some of the service learning courses include, Art, Business, English, Education, Environmental Science, History, Resource Management, Sociology, and Liberal Studies. Reports have shown that students learned course content better when connections to real life situations were discussed in the classroom, and would recommend a service learning course to other students. In order to support the increased participation, the Service Learning and Civic Engagement focused on partnering with Student Affairs to integrate academic SL with co-curricular activities, offering mini grants, building sustainable partnerships with the community, developing student leadership opportunities, and using technology to promote community involvement between faculty and students. The Center of Community Engagement continues to seek mutual resources, strengthen and expand partnerships, meanwhile creating a service learning program that emphasizes civic engagement and social responsibility in CSUCI students and graduates.

Center for Integrated Studies

On September 29, 2005 CSU Channel Islands announced the creation of the Center for Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies (known informally as CIS). The mission is to serve as a controlled source of information and support for integrative and interdisciplinary advances to the formation, discovery, transmission and application of knowledge.

The Committee has 5 main goals for Integrative and Interdisciplinary Studies. The first goal is to create communications for integrative and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Next, programs and curricula are designed and implemented that promote integrative and interdisciplinary understanding for students in all fields of study. Then, faculty are assisted in developing the integrative and interdisciplinary dimensions of their teaching, scholarship, and service activities. Also, academic and scholarly exchanges and partnership for students and faculty are facilitated and developed. Finally, coordinate all activities to enhance campus awareness of interdisciplinary and integrative studies and their importance to the life of the campus and local community.

The faculty advisory committee for 2008-2009 consists of:
Director: Brad Monsma, English
Tracylee Clarke, Communication
Colleen Delaney-Rivera, Anthropology
Manuel Correia, Education
Blake Gillespie, Biochemistry
Connie Kelly, Library
Kathryn Leonard, Mathematics
J. Goosby Smith, Business and Economics.

Interdisciplinary courses are a valuable focus within academic programs at CSUCI and are at the heart of the university mission statement. It is a requirement for all universities in the CSU system to have nine units of upper-division general education. Some students at CSUCI are required to take at least three upper division interdisciplinary general education courses prior to graduation and at least one of these courses must be outside the major. Dr. Dennis Muraoka believes that interdisciplinary courses broaden the students’ perspective by showing them how ideas are approached in different areas.

The Association for Integrated Studies is a supporting member for CSU Channel Islands. The Association believes that interdisciplinary study will be an essential and robust component of both scholarly research and higher education. All students will learn how and why to integrate in general education coursework, in professional programs, and especially in interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs. The integration of forthcoming lessons from different scholarly communities is be respected as a central component of the scholarly research and teaching enterprise. The Association pursues its mission by coordinating an annual conference, a scholarly journal, newsletters that provide information on events and programs, website, and an elected board that supports the various activities.

Center for International Affairs

The primary mission of the Center for International Affairs is to internationalize the CSUCI educational experience. The Center for International Affairs promotes and supports efforts to internationalize the curriculum. This is encouraged through international faculty collaboration with higher educational institutions globally, and study abroad programs. An example of this interaction is CSUCI's special partnership with Zeppelin University in Lake Constance, Germany. The goals of the Center are reinforced by the International Education Exchange Council. This is a student-run organization that connects students with international students, and former and current exchange students. Events such as discussions, orientations, and holiday festivities are hosted by student assistants of the Center to further advocate accessible international education.

Center for Multicultural Engagement

The center for Multicultural Engagement is a mission based center of CSU Channel Islands whose goal is to “…create and sustain a campus climate in and out of the classroom that values and promotes all forms of diversity.” This program is unique with consideration to other multicultural centers in that it involves both the offices of academic affairs as well as the offices of student affairs in their process of operation. The CME works on many levels. On the academic level, there are initiatives that promote faculty integration of multicultural elements into curriculum through faculty grants. On the student level, there are many areas within the center where students can be involved; including the student affairs partnership, workshops, research, and community involvement/outreach. The CME is also active at the community level; an example of this is the recent partnership with the Smithsonian to create the Bracero Program (2008–2010). This project involved an effort to collect oral histories from guest agricultural workers in the United States between 1942 and 1964 and create a venue to document this important cultural history.

External links

• CSUCI Centers and Institutes