We appreciate the governor's desire to promote a service ethic in our students and we support his intention to increase opportunities for students to be actively engaged in solving the problems of their communities. We believe such a goal is consonant with our mission. Here as on other CSU campuses, many of our students and faculty are already so engaged.
Many departments offer community outreach and service programs as part of their curriculum.
Our Center on Disabilities and Center for Southern California Studies are two examples of several campus-wide initiatives. While this goal is not limited to community service it demonstrates our commitment to developing alliances with our surrounding community. Such resources are necessary to develop a range of community service opportunities and a system to manage them. It will also require a significant commitment by campus faculty, staff and administrators in research and discussion among ourselves and with our communities. To begin with, we need to determine our current level of community service activity and consult with our surrounding communities to determine their needs and their ability to accommodate students who must meet this requirement.