Reasons to Join
Sharing learning and impact
Our members fulfill their public purposes by educating students for informed and responsible citizenship, advancing research to address public challenges of all kinds, and building local communities through partnerships and institutional action. Through the Compact network, institutions gain valuable information about how their peers are creating impact on student civic learning and community goals and have the opportunity to share efforts of their own. More than 1000 colleges and universities working together can advance the public good in ways no institution can alone.
Comprehensive engagement planning support
Campus Compact provides training and resources for institutions working to leverage existing community and campus assets for maximum impact on shared campus and community goals. This includes our Campus Civic Action Planning initiative, knowledge hubs focused on specific areas for exploration, access to coaches and individualized planning assistance, and funding through projects focused on specific aspects of campus action.
Support for community-based teaching and research
Campus Compact provides essential resources for faculty including our syllabus collection, The Research University Engaged Scholarship Toolkit, and a wide variety of publications focused on course construction, department-level alignment, assessment, and more. Campus Compact’s Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award recognizes excellence in engaged scholarship, raising the profile of community-based teaching and research.
Opportunities for student civic learning
Our newly redesigned Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports community-committed students from Campus Compact member institutions. The fellowship emphasizes personal, professional, and civic growth. The fellowship experience includes a national conference of Newman Civic Fellows in partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, along with online learning opportunities and periodic regional gatherings. Newman Civic Fellows have special eligibility for scholarships and post-graduate fellowships.
Professional development and networking
Our national network provides ongoing professional development for faculty, staff, and administrators working to build partnerships with community-based organizations through state, regional, and national conferences and events. We are preparing to launch a credentialing program for Community Engagement Professions to provide best-practice education, access to the latest resources, and a stronger professional identity for those advancing the public mission of higher education.
Hands-on technical assistance
Member institutions receive hands-on technical support through our national office, as well as our state and regional Compacts. Campus Compact professionals support member institutions in devising and implementing curricular and co-curricular student programs, building community partnerships, shaping faculty and staff professional development programs, and more.
Visibility for the role of higher education in delivering public value
Campus Compact serves as a national megaphone to raise awareness about the civic mission and public purposes of higher education. Our national, state, and regional staff work with leaders in the public, private, philanthropic, and citizen sectors to share information about the impact of engaged teaching and research and the role of colleges and universities anchor institutions. We connect with communications and assessment staff on campus to bring data and stories to traditional and new media.
“I consider Campus Compact to be one of the most enlightened and farsighted ventures that American colleges and universities have undertaken in recent years. It provides evidence that there are, in the world of higher education, people more than willing to pitch in, people of vision and commitment.”
John Gardner, Former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and Former President of the Carnegie Corporation
“Campus Compact is inspiring a new era of civic engagement within higher education, and more importantly, introducing a new dimension of learning into our students’ lives.”
Eduardo J. Padrón, President, Miami Dade College
“I know of no other educational organization that has a track record like Campus Compact’s over the past 20 years… It is a phenomenal success, not just in terms of growth in numbers, but in terms of the impact it’s had on communities, on campuses, and on individual lives.”
Frank Rhodes, Former President of Cornell University
“Campus Compact has provided invaluable support for service-learning at our institution, particularly the website, resource materials, syllabi, conferences (including regional conferences), program development tools, publications, model program information, newsletter, calendar of service events, and annual statistics.”
Tidewater Community College (VA)
“Thanks for your continued outstanding leadership at Campus Compact.Your publications and programs are always top-notch. I sincerely appreciate all you have done for us in the trenches.”
William F. Moeller, Director, Center for Civic Education and Service, Florida State University (FL)
“One of the best supports for developing civic engagement in higher education is Campus Compact, and one of my first steps as President of Florida Gulf Coast University was to ensure FGCU became a member.”
William C. Merwin, President, Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)
“[Campus Compact] has helped foster a network of people involved in the public interest at institutions of higher ed, which has been a great resource.”
Harvard University (MA)
“[Campus Compact] connects the campus with the city formally and informally, which is very useful in a variety of ways, from name recognition for service-learning and the university to developing and funding a new position that will foster relationships between schools, universities, and city offices.”
Hamline University (MN)
“Hope and faith are contagious, and thanks to you [Campus Compact] our hope is renewed and dreams are kept alive. It is inspiring to participate with a community that lives what it says.”
YWCA Of Helena (MN)
