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Augsburg receives Carnegie classification

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Students work on a renovation project wearing gloves and gogglesAll first-year students spend an afternoon during September Auggie Days working on community projects—painting, gardening, cleaning up, or whatever needs doing in the neighborhood with Augsburg’s community partners.

Augsburg was recently selected by the Carnegie Foundation as one of 119 colleges and universities in the nation to receive the classification for Community Engagement. This affirms that the school has institutionalized community engagement in its identity, culture, and commitments. It also affirms that the practices of community engagement are aligned with the institution’s identity and form an integral component of the institutional culture.

The classification has three categories—curricular engagement, outreach and partnerships, and a category for both engagement and outreach—and Augsburg received the latter, comprehensive classification.

In a letter to Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow, Jim Scheibel, executive director of the Minnesota Campus Compact, congratulated the College on this recognition. Scheibel wrote, “As a country that faces an economic crisis, and as a community that witnesses division and strife across the globe, we need students, faculty, and campuses that are fully engaged. This recognition says you are doing your part and acknowledges that you are serious about fulfilling the mission of the College.”

Augsburg has included “student engagement” as one of nine specific academic goals for the institution. The Augsburg Experience signature curriculum requirement encourages direct involvement with people and organizations external to the College, first-hand discovery and application of knowledge, self-awareness through reflective and critical thinking, and exploration of what one is called to do in the world.

Augsburg is a committed partner to particular nonprofit and educational groups within the nearby urban neighborhoods, including Cedar-Riverside, Seward, and Phillips.

In addition, the College has instituted programs and policies that support community engagement for the campus community. All staff members receive two days of paid leave time for community service.

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