| SFSU Public Affairs Press ReleasePublished by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center. |
San Francisco, Ca., November 10, 1999-In recognition for his commitment to community service in undergraduate education, President Robert A. Corrigan has been named one of 50 outstanding college presidents in The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development, a guidebook that was recently released nationwide.
President Corrigan was noted for actively promoting multicultural understanding, community involvement and leadership through various programs at S.F. State throughout his tenure as president. Among the University's programs cited in The Templeton Guide were the Dialogue on Race, a program that brought leaders and experts from across the nation to explore racism in the United States; Jumpstart, which helps at-risk children build literacy and learning skills and SFSU's numerous community partnerships such as the Ethnic Diversity Training Project, Bay Area School Development Program, and the Child Study Center.
In a recent article, President Corrigan wrote that "the most exciting reform taking place in higher education today may not be assessment, accountability, or new uses of technology, but rather the rediscovery of an old mission: the transmission of fundamental social and ethical values as we prepare our students for lifelong active participation in civic affairs."
In addition, S.F. State's Office of Community Service Learning (OCSL), run by professor Gerald Eisman, has been recognized in The Templeton Guide for the benefits that it provides for the S.F. State and Bay Area communities. OCSL promotes character development by encouraging faculty to incorporate community service-learning principles into the University's curriculum, advocating the expansion of community service-learning courses, expanding community partnerships through the creation of internships for SFSU students and ensuring that community service-learning remains a part of the university's curriculum.
Through the efforts of President Corrigan and the OCSL, S.F. State's community service- learning programs contribute to students' civic and moral understanding, help create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and public service research among faculty and allow Bay Area community services to fulfill their mission with the help of S.F. State student volunteers.
The Templeton Guide profiles 405 exemplary programs in ten categories, 50 college presidents who have exercised leadership in character development and 100 colleges and universities named to the Templeton Honor roll for their comprehensive programs that inspire students to lead ethical and civic-minded lives.
Throughout 1999 the university is celebrating its centennial year of service to San Francisco, the Bay Area, California, and beyond. A highly diverse community of 27,000 students and 3,500 faculty and staff, San Francisco State is one of the largest campuses in the nationally recognized 23-campus California State University system.
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Last modified November 10, 1999, by Office of Public Affairs