The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected Judson College to receive the 2015 Community Engagement Classification. Judson is one of only 361 colleges and universities in the nation, and the only independent college in the state of Alabama, to hold this important designation.
As recipient of the 2015 Carnegie Engagement Classification, Judson College successfully documented its many achievements in civic engagement and academic service-learning. In its report, the Carnegie Foundation of Stanford, Calif., states that Judson College has demonstrated that its mission, culture, leadership resources, and practices support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement.
Community projects specifically noted in Judson’s application include the college’s ongoing partnerships with Albert Turner Elementary School; its decade of work in Perry Lakes Park; and its continuing involvement with local community development organization Sowing Seeds of Hope.
In partnership with Sowing Seeds of Hope, Judson’s students, faculty, and staff have helped staff community health fairs, registered children for state-sponsored free health insurance, helped build new homes through the self-help housing program, and built handicapped access ramps at the homes of elderly and disabled people in the community. They’ve also been involved in putting books in the hands of hundreds of children in Perry County and helping churches coordinate a Thanksgiving food distribution project each year.
Furthermore, Judson graduates active in the Faith-Based Service and Learning program as students now serve as AmeriCorps VISTA team members in Washington, work with vulnerable women in Uganda, improve health in rural communities across the Southeast as medical professionals, and impact the lives of children in schools around the nation.
Only 5% of colleges and universities in the United States have achieved the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. Only four in Alabama hold the honor: the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Judson College.
“Judson College was founded as a place to prepare young women for service through education. A full 176 years after our founding, we are still doing just that. We are proud to provide our students with opportunities to integrate the skills that they learn in the classroom with needs in our community in ways that are beneficial not only to our neighbors, but also to student learning and development. Our reclassification with the Carnegie Foundation confirms that we are among the best schools in the nation for young women who desire to make their lives about serving others,” said Vice President and Dean of Students Susan Jones, who served as Director of Faith-Based Service and Learning when Judson received the initial Carnegie Foundation designation in 2008.
Anthony S. Bryk, President of the Carnegie Foundation, made the following remarks regarding Judson’s community engagement: “It is heartening to see this level of commitment and activity. Clearly, higher education is making significant strides in finding ways to engage with and contribute to important community agendas. There is much to celebrate.”
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an education and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress.
For additional information about community service, civic engagement, and academic service-learning opportunities at Judson College, contact Claire Feazel, Director of Faith-Based Service and Learning, at 334-683-5437 or cfeazel@judson.edu.