In 2016, Bemidji State University (BSU) signed a commitment to the Campus Compact* 30th Anniversary Action Statement of Presidents and Chancellors. This commitment calls for creating a civic action plan of community and campus engagement for institutional change and community impact.

At BSU, community and civic engagement currently takes place on campus in a variety of ways and locations (e.g., internships, practicums, individual faculty courses, student organizations, etc.). Yet no systematic organizational structure exists with regard to a unified infrastructure that centrally identifies, supports, coordinates, or collaborates such efforts. Thus, the goal of BSU’s action plan is to begin an initiative to identify the current practices, and create such an infrastructure to formalize community and civic engagement and support such opportunities and to ensure that they are sustainable.

To launch this initiative, a task force was created and the members developed a vision and mission statement for BSU as well as the overall elements of an action plan. While based in the four fundamental values of the institution, the primary focus of the plan is grounded in understandings of Community Engagement.

BSU Vision Statement – BSU will cultivate engaged leaders who facilitate transformative change in our communities.

BSU Mission Statement – BSU creates opportunities and capacities to be transformative citizens, volunteers, professionals, and co-creators of our communities.  

The mission and vision set the framework and point to the goal of providing opportunities for students (and others) to be transformative citizens, volunteers, professionals, and co-creators of our communities.

This document outlines BSU’s current status and an action plan (via Campus Compact’s criteria) in three main phases. Phase I employs steps necessary for examining current resources and opportunities within BSU and among our community partners.  During this phase, qualitative and quantitative data will be collected that will help us determine capacity for this work. It is important to understand what engagement currently takes place to build the infrastructure. Collecting and analyzing this data will allow us to effectively plan for a structure that will support the mission and vision.

Phase II involves the development of an infrastructure and implementation of mission and vision. This phase will include developmental and training opportunities for individuals (i.e., internal and external – students, faculty and community) to fully understand community and civic engagement.  It will also involve the creation, or continuation of reciprocal partnerships for learning opportunities, as well as create mechanisms for tracking and reporting engagement opportunities.

Phase III reflects the commitment and sustainability of community engagement and civic action by BSU and surrounding community members through the development of a Center. This Center will utilize the existing expertise of faculty and staff invested in the academic, student and community partnerships.

In order to demonstrate this commitment and create sustainability, this Community Engagement and Civic Action Plan needs to be included in the BSU Strategic Plan for 2017-2020.