As Taken from a De Anza College News Release

De Anza College is one of seven U.S. community colleges selected to share in a $270,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation, a New York-based institution dedicated to improving undergraduate student learning. The Institute of Community and Civic Engagement (ICCE) at De Anza will will use the funding to create the Civic Capacity Scholars Program, designed to build students’ commitment to civic and moral responsibility.

The other community colleges involved in the project are Kapi’olani in Hawaii; Delgado in Louisiana; Mesa in Arizona; Raritan Valley in New Jersey; and Kingsborough and Queensborough in New York. The colleges will work collaboratively on the three-year project, “Student Learning for Civic Capacity: Stimulating Moral, Ethical and Civic Engagement for Learning that Lasts.”

“We’re proud to receive this grant, and very pleased that we’ll be working closely with fellow colleges committed to civic engagement,” said De Anza President Brian Murphy. He noted that De Anza, Mesa, and Kingsborough colleges are members of The Democracy Commitment, a national organization to engage community college students in civic learning and democratic practice.

Grant funds will be used to develop 70 courses in the humanities and related disciplines; create communities of faculty, staff, students, and administrators on each campus to build institutional commitment to civic and moral responsibility; develop an assessment methodology for campus use and national dissemination; and leverage additional resources from various sources. The goal is to build commitment to civic and moral responsibility to foster diverse, equitable, healthy and sustainable communities. De Anza’s ICCE is currently recruiting faculty members to participate.

“This grant will help with our work to develop civic capacity in our students,” said Cynthia Kaufman, faculty director of the ICCE. “We will be able to support faculty in developing strategies for growing a sense of moral agency and a belief that they can make a difference among our students.”

De Anza College, established in 1967, is located on a 112-acre site in Cupertino, the heart of Silicon Valley. The college provides more than 22,000 students each quarter with outstanding general education and vocational courses, including online classes. The college is committed to equity, social justice and multicultural education, as well as civic and community engagement. There are more than 80 student clubs at De Anza and an active student government. Sustainability is a hallmark of the campus, which features seven LEED-certified buildings, including Platinum and Silver. The college’s Institute of Community and Civic Engagement was established in 2006 to empower students to become agents of change in their communities and beyond. For more information, visit www.deanza.edu and www.deanza.edu/communityengagement.