FSU Student Civic Engagement

The Civic Engagement and Service Learning Center provides mini-grants to support student engagement with the local community. The projects described below were funded for spring 2019. These projects met the goal to engage students in mutually-beneficial partnerships with local, regional, or national communities.  

• The FSU Center for GIS Outreach (CGO) implemented a pilot project to assess the utility of geographic information systems (GIS) in assisting a local food bank with student-led geospatial data analysis and support. The students applied their GIS knowledge to assist a non-profit organization while learning the value of community outreach and service learning.
• Students enrolled in a Portuguese class from FSU selected linguistic elements of Portuguese to create childhood literacy material. The learning connected the classroom with real life problems, promoted language classes as spaces for building knowledge, and engaged the students as citizens aware of the social realities surrounding them.
• In the Nonprofit Giving course, students learned about philanthropy by doing philanthropy. Students took field trips to local organizations under consideration for funding through a grant provided to FSU for this purpose. Students became engaged by leaving their classroom and meeting individuals from these organizations in order to make informed funding decisions.
• Students participated in the legislative process through a simulation created and administered by the staff of the Kennedy Institute. The purpose of this project was to enhance student civic engagement in the national and local political communities.
• A student provided data analysis and research for the proposed Chris Walsh Educator and Family Resource Center of MetroWest that will help local families and educators in learn about resources for students with disabilities. The proposed center will provide opportunities for students to engage in research relating to their honors theses and independent studies. 
• Nursing students collaborated with the Latino Health Insurance Program (LHIP) of Framingham to provide health education and health screenings. The population served by LHIP is 95% low-income and speaks Spanish or Portuguese as a first language. Students had the opportunity to apply classroom learning to a clinical situation where they performed assessments and provide health screenings to an under-served population in Framingham.
• Students traveled with faculty for a Border Awareness Experience (BAE) and engaged with and learned from residents, workers, and volunteers at Annunciation House, an immigrant-serving organization, and from government officials to develop an in-depth understandings of the complexities of U.S. immigration.
• Students from the Branding + Identity design course collaborated with the City of Framingham to develop a visual identity and logo system for Framingham's proposal to be designated as a Common Cultural District by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.