New center expands community engagement opportunities
On July 1, 2021, Cornell is launching a new center dedicated to advancing community-engaged learning and public service across the university. Combining the Office of Engagement Initiatives (OEI) and the Public Service Center (PSC), the center will open new pathways for Cornellians to embrace the university's land-grant mission to improve lives in New York state, across the nation and around the world.
Through the new center, we will streamline the pathways so that all students can get involved in community-engaged learning and public service, and expand options for collaboration, impact and resource-sharing.
The merging of our two groups combines more than 35 years of public service and engagement opportunities and expertise, including a legacy of strong support from alumni who have been active partners in helping to provide students with public engagement opportunities.
We'll be housed in the Engaged Cornell Hub in Kennedy Hall, where OEI, the PSC and other units supporting Cornell's mission of public engagement have been co-located since 2017.
We're grateful that the center will be endowed in part through a gift from the Einhorn Collaborative, the foundation led by David M. Einhorn '91, a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees.
Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, and Katherine McComas, Ph.D. '00, vice provost for engagement and land-grant affairs, will jointly oversee the new unit. Basil Safi, executive director of OEI, will be executive director of the new center; Krista Saleet, director of PSC, will be deputy executive director.
Two virtual town hall events have been scheduled for faculty, students, staff, alumni and the community to learn more about the center. They will take place June 8 at 7:30 p.m., and June 9 at noon.