Office of Community Engagement

Related Resources:

Contact Us:
Gail Gunst Heffner, Ph.D.
Director of Community Engagement
Spoelhof Center 329
Calvin College
3201 Burton St. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

616.526.6940
616.526.6503 (fax)

Our Mission

Calvin College has a long commitment to connecting its educational mission to the strengths and grnightneeds of the local community.  Ernest Boyer, former President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, argued in 1996 that in order for higher education to advance intellectual and civic progress in this country, “the academy must become a more vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic and moral problems.” He called for higher education to broaden the scope and understanding of its academic mission to include the scholarship of engagement so that the rich resources of the university or college will be linked to addressing societal problems.

In 2004 the college created a new position within the Provost’s Office charged with the mandate ‘to coordinate and envision for the purpose of academic engagement Calvin’s efforts within the community in which it resides.’  Identifying strategic priorities, facilitating collaboration between college and community, challenging academic departments and encouraging faculty to use their teaching and research in focused ways to serve a larger community are significant pieces of the work being done by the Office of Community Engagement.

News & Announcements:

Research Initiatives:

  • Strengthening Liberal Arts Education by Embracing Place and Particularity
    Funded by the Teagle Foundation (2005-2007)     eoppostcard
  • Teagle White Paper Now Available

    This paper describes research undertaken by Calvin College to explore the intersection of the liberal arts and the particulars of place.  This research posed several key questions for exploration: How can the liberal arts tradition serve the common good in a particular place?  How will liberal arts be seen as an important resource for members of a particular community? How can we use our city as text to strengthen liberal arts education for our students and to strengthen engaged scholarship/ research for our faculty? In other words, how could a particular place inform and shape the teaching that occurs in liberal arts classrooms as well as the research undertaken by faculty?

Activities:

Focus the Nation (January 2008)

Focus the Nation, January 2008Calvin was one of over 1,450 universities and colleges which participated in a national initiative called Focus the Nation. Its purpose was to provide a day of focused discussion on global climate change and solutions for the future.

At Calvin, a series of events were hosted during the first week of Calvin's spring semester culminating on January 31, 2008 with a teach-in, discussion with elected leaders, and a celebratory concert. The main goal of this initiative was “to move America beyond fatalism to a determination to face up to this civilizational challenge, the challenge of our generation.”

 

 

Embrace our Place (April 2007)

Embrace Our Place Festival, April 2007

In April 2007, we celebrated Calvin's connections and partnerships in our local community April 16-23, 2007. Over 20 special events were planned.

The Embrace Our Place festival helped the Calvin campus and our surrounding community discover the many ways students, faculty, and staff embrace our community and demonstrate their commitment to teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.

Funding Resource:

The Office of Community Engagement administers small grants to promote the scholarship of engagement at Calvin College.