Program Overview
The Certificate in Civic Engagement is an outgrowth of the Wagner Plan. Wagner College embarked on a new direction of civic engagement with a curriculum reform in 1998. The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts: Reading, Writing and Doing, views a liberal education as both pragmatic and idealistic. Dr. Guarasci, President of Wagner College has stated: “To reach its mission, liberal education requires of its students a particular approach that includes both the acquisition of knowledge and the habit of critical thinking. This approach necessarily involves students and faculty in continual engagement with the world around them. Liberal education always asks students to integrate ideas and experiences as a means to create, while critically assessing, new knowledge. In the larger sense, liberal education always has been pragmatic – testing the value of ideas against the tapestry of human experience.” The Wagner Plan consists of three learning communities required of all students. The first year and senior learning communities include a Reflective Tutorial that requires 30 and 100 hours respectively of experiential learning in the community. Our commitment to civic engagement has been expanding yearly since the beginning of the Wagner Plan. The College was invited to join 20 other institutions in Project Pericles and is a member of NACU and New York Campus Compact. All of these partnerships strengthen the culture of civic engagement on our campus.
Program Objectives
As planned and implemented the Civic Engagement Certificate Program will:
• provide students with an opportunity to experience leadership and civic accomplishment.
• serve as a tool of empowerment that encourages students to think critically, seek knowledge, and become change agents.
• relate service and professional ethics to civic engagement.
• tap into student idealism, fostering interest and investment in civic matters.
• develop a deep understanding of the issues faced by the Staten Island community, and to relate them to a larger global context.
• to recognize student involvement and achievement.
• Promote the importance of diversity, civic engagement and community-based learning in creating a well-rounded, informed and empathetic body of student citizens. ..
For more information, please contact Cassia Freedland, the Program Coordinator and the Director of the Center for Leadership and Service, at: cassia.freedland@wagner.edu