LSC offices to merge over summer
Civic engagement may be a new term for some people, but for the
members of two offices at CSU, it will be a big part of their
future.
The Office of Service Learning and Volunteer Programs and the
Office of Leadership and Diversity Programs will be merging at
summer’s end to form the Office of Student Leadership and Civic
Engagement.
The two offices will retain their entire staffs, except SLVP
Director Victoria Keller, who will be retiring March 30 to spend
more time with her family. The merged office will have one director
selected from a nationwide search.
Michael Ellis, executive director of the Lory Student Center –
where both offices are located – said the merger is not a
cost-cutting move. The move is more about eliminating overlap
between the two offices and improving efficiency and recognition
for the new office.
In addition to a new director, the merged office will also have
three assistant directors or coordinators, one of whom will be
Glenn DeGuzman, currently assistant director of Campus Activities
for Leadership and Diversity Programs.
“We’re creating a potential to become a very large resource
center for the entire campus,” DeGuzman said.
The new center will have four broad program types, according to
a December draft proposal from Ellis. These include connecting
academics and service, developing student leadership, engaging with
communities and community-based research.
Annalyn Cruz, a graduate assistant in the Leadership and
Diversity Programs office, said the new office will bring more
recognition to her office’s programs, but she does have one
concern.
“The one thing that I personally feel worried about is the lack
of the word diversity in the name, and I hope the programs that we
still do here that are about diversity will still be around next
year,” Cruz said. “And that’s something that I’ll personally push
for as one of the graduate assistants in the office.”
And this staff effort, DeGuzman said, will be the key to
maintaining the program’s emphasis on diversity.
“I think the challenge is, anytime you remove a very key word
from something like that, the staff needs to work hard to one,
believe in diversity and the positive impacts of it, and (two)
demonstrate it,” he said.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.