Skidmore College
EN-13: Community Service

Subcommittee on Responsible Citizenship (SRC): In May 2008, President Glotzbach and the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) charged a task force to identify and support College efforts to advance Goal III of the Strategic Plan 2005–2015, which asked the College to “prepare every Skidmore student to make the choices required of an informed, responsible citizen at home and in the world.” This task force, the Responsible Citizenship Task Force (RCTF), was active until 2011 when it was scheduled to sunset. RCTF was then transformed into the permanent Subcommittee on Responsible Citizenship (SRC) of the IPPC, which is still active. Faculty and staff are encouraged to serve on the SRC when positions are available. SRC positions are designated for faculty, staff, and students. Arthur Vining Davis Foundation: In 2011, Skidmore was awarded a grant of $250,000 from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation (AVD) to create a comprehensive Civic Engagement (CE) program within the curriculum. The purpose of the grant was to review Skidmore’s academic programs with an eye toward increasing aspects that foster responsible citizenship and community engagement. The grant allowed the College to expand the roster of courses that entail community interaction, to provide faculty development opportunities to prepare for implementation of new forms of CE pedagogy, and to infuse CE in the First-Year Experience. Seven faculty members, designated as Civic Fellows, were identified to assist faculty in developing the new initiative. The faculty on this project collaborated closely with the members of the SRC. Project Pericles: In 2015, Skidmore accepted an invitation to join Project Pericles, a national organization of 28 colleges and universities committed to emphasizing social responsibility and participatory citizenship in their educational programs. Project Pericles was founded in 2001 by philanthropist Eugene M. Lang to combat what he saw as a growing political cynicism and civic disengagement among young people. The organization works with its member institutions to develop model civic engagement programs in their classrooms, on their campuses, and in their communities. The goal is to prepare and encourage students to become active, responsible citizens. Office of Community Service Program: The Office of Community Service Programs, in the Division of Student Affairs, supports the curricular and co-curricular civic engagement activities of individual students, clubs, athletic teams and academic departments. The Office serves as a liaison between the Skidmore community and over forty nonprofit agencies in the greater Saratoga region as well as a pre-orientation program and national and international service trips. Helping students become “informed, responsible citizens” is a priority of the Office. We do this by providing experiences that encourage students to examine their values, develop practical competencies and apply their learning to find solutions for social and civic problems. The Office supports student development by creating and sustaining opportunities for engagement and reflection both on and off campus.