History
Campus Compact was founded in 1985 by the presidents of Brown, Georgetown and Stanford Universities and the president of the Education Commission of the States. In the mid-1980s, the media portrayed college students as materialistic and self-absorbed, more interested in making money than in helping their neighbors. The founding presidents believed this public image was false; they noted many students on their campuses who were involved in community service and believed many others would follow suit with the proper encouragement and supportive structures.
Campus Compact was created to help colleges and universities create such support structures. These include offices and staff to coordinate community engagement efforts, training to help faculty members integrate community work into their teaching and research, scholarships and other student incentives, and the institutional will to make civic and community engagement a priority. Today more than 98% of Campus Compact member campuses have one or more community partnerships, and more than 90% include service or civic engagement in their mission statements. These campuses are putting their knowledge and resources to work to help build strong communities and educate the next generation of responsible citizens.
Connecticut Campus Compact (CTCC) was established in 1998 and is proud to be celebrating its fifteen-year anniversary in 2013. During that time, the organization has grown from fewer than ten members to its position today with twenty-eight members (90% total), including fifteen public nonprofit colleges and universities, UConn, Yale University, and eleven independent colleges and universities. As demonstrated in our organizational chart, governance of the organization has undergone significant growth and capacity, including the establishment of two advisory committees (Engaged Scholarship and Community Advisory Committees) and the undertaking of a 2011-2014 Strategic Plan.
Our most recent operational review (2011-2012) shows that we are hitting our targets. Our most significant growth and impact is demonstrated in our AmeriCorps VISTA Project which has expanded from one volunteer in 2009 to fifteen VISTA volunteers in the current 2012-2013 cycle.
As another highlight, CTCC serves as co-director of the Eastern Region Campus Compact (ERCC) conference. ERCC is dedicated to fulfilling the civic mission of higher education. ERCC has identified a special focus, however, on strengthening institutional cultures and aligning institutional incentives to be consistent with the letter and spirit of the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. Its resource blog (www.ercompact.org) gives a history of both the 2011 and 2012 conferences as well as plans for the 2013 conference in PA.
