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Campus's New Center for Public Service to Coordinate Civic Engagement


The SUNY Plattsburgh offices that have the most impact on public service and civic engagement will soon fall under one large, all-encompassing umbrella that will coordinate and promote the college’s activities in civic engagement.

“I am very pleased to announce the establishment of a Center for Public Service,” said President John Ettling. “The mission of the center is to create a broad-based institutional focus on the many but disparate public service activities on campus.”

Dr. Tom Moran and Dr. Becky Kasper — directors of the Institute for Ethics in Public Life and the Center for Teaching Excellence, respectively — will act as co-directors of the new center, which will coordinate the efforts of their two offices and the Center for Student Involvement. In addition, it will oversee the efforts of a new College-Community Alliance Program.

The alliance will work with community partners to enhance economic and cultural development in the region, said Dr. James Liszka, provost and vice president for academic affairs. Its purpose is to raise awareness and to give broader community access to faculty expertise and to services like those offered by SUNY Plattsburgh’s Small Business Development Center.

This meets one of the major goals of the college’s Campus Plan, the enhancement of the community-campus connection, Liszka said.

The Center for Public Service will be headquartered in the Hawkins Hall offices of the ethics institute. Meanwhile, the Center for Student Involvement will remain in the Angell College Center, the Center for Teaching Excellence in Feinberg Library and the Institute for Ethics in Public Life in Hawkins Hall. Details are still being worked out for the College-Community Alliance and its location.

Anyone looking for more information or to ask for assistance from any of the offices under the public service umbrella can contact Kasper at 518-564-3043, Moran at 518-564-3018 or Liszka at 518-564-5402.

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