Oregon Campus Compact returns
The Oregon chapter of Campus Compact (ORCC) will reclaim its original state headquarters here at Portland State University after residing at Pacific University in Forest Grove for the past five years.
The program was implemented into several Oregon university systems in 1996 and spent its first year at Portland State before being moved to and overseen by Pacific University’s president, Faith Gabelnick.
Gabelnick will be leaving Pacific at the end of this academic year, which is one of the factors behind the relocation. President Daniel Bernstein has not yet committed to stepping in as president of ORCC, however.
Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 860 college and university presidents who are committed to bridging the gap between community and higher education by bringing the two together. In 1985, the program was inaugurated as a means of increasing campus-community partnerships, and of integrating community service and/or service learning as valued components of higher education. Portland State’s University Studies senior capstone projects work to meet that same objective.
During the 2000-2001 school year, 28 percent of students from Campus Compact member universities participated in service projects, and students at just over 80 percent of participating campuses can take advantage of courses that link community service projects with academic content. The value of this is that communities receive valuable assistance and expertise while students receive important, hands-on learning.
The ORCC serves as a vehicle for enhancing personal and social responsibility, citizenship, and awareness of societal concerns by all students and teachers who are participating in academics. It also strives to reinvigorate the system of higher education’s concern for improving the quality of life in our society.
Ginny Peckinpaugh was recently appointed the executive director of the Oregon chapter.
Peckinpaugh has almost 20 years experience working to build the capacity of communities to effectively tackle complex issues.
One of her goals as the new director is to form a system that will enable students from participating campuses in Oregon to work together on various community-based projects.
“I’m still in the settling-in phase,” Peckinpaugh said. “When I get the ORCC Web site updated and take care of administrative tasks first, I will then have time to turn some visionary ideas into practical means for students.”
Prior to joining ORCC, Peckinpaugh served as an independent consultant in areas of public involvement, leadership development, democratic deliberation and organizational development.
Her clients included the Pacific Northwest Public Policy Institute at PCC, where she promoted inclusive democratic deliberation via the National Issues Forum and Study Circles models.
Before that, Peckinpaugh served for more than five years as the director of Portland’s largest coalition of neighborhoods, promoting citizen participation and community development in 21 of Portland’s neighborhoods.
The office headquarters will be in Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 303. From there, the program will oversee projects at Portland State as well as Central Oregon Community College, Eastern Oregon University, Lewis and Clark College, Linfield College, Pacific University, PCC, Reed College, University of Portland and Willamette University.
For further information regarding the functions of Campus Compact or upcoming service projects, contact Peckinpaugh at 503-725-8140.
