At North Dakota State University, we believe in the importance of our role as a land-grant institution to foster collaboration between the university and the larger community by engaging the university’s academic resources in the enrichment of civic and community life. This is achieved throughout the institution, including the implementation of valuable civic engagement programming.

According to NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education), the purpose of civic engagement is to “strengthen our communities and democracy [by] developing students for lives of active citizenship” (2013).

Additionally, civic engagement means:

Working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivations to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political process. (Ehrlich, 2000, p. vi)

Civic engagement emphasizes active participation in efforts, by members of a community, to work together to make informed public decisions and take action towards addressing social injustices. NDSU helps achieve this by connecting students, faculty, and staff with civic engagement experiences in a variety of ways, including:

·      Connecting the NDSU community to Volunteer Network co-curricular volunteer opportunities.

·      Developing programming to facilitate civic learning including:  Poverty Simulation, Engagement Wall, Tapestry of Inclusion.