Center for Service & Social Action

Center for Service & Social Action
Abbreviation CSSA
Predecessor Center for Community Service
Established 1992 (1992)
Location
Director
 Sr. Katherine Feely, SND
Affiliations John Carroll University
Jesuit, Catholic
Staff
Nine
Website JCU CSSA

Center for Service & Social Action (CSSA) was founded at John Carroll University in 1992 primarily to further the Jesuit mission of educating men and women for others,[1] through service and advocacy.[2] The center currently facilitates activities related to social justice as course components, and as voluntary one-time or semester-long experiences.[3]

Programs

CSSA offers to students around 120 possibilities for weekly service commitments over the 10-week semester.[4] It also offers to the whole JCU community the opportunity to help with special projects like Special Olympics, health fairs, and advocacy events.[5]

Professors use CSSA to facilitate placement of a service or advocacy component in their courses,[6] which currently includes 75 academic courses as diverse as Clinical Psychology, Poverty & Social Entrepreneurship, U.S. Politics, Exercise Science, Women's/Gender Studies, Business Communications,[7] and The Carroll Ballers.[8] A grant from the McGregor Fund assisted the extension of this program into 60 poverty-related courses for better understanding of its causes, effects, and possible solutions.[9]

CSSA partners with over 75 nonprofit organizations in the area which provide service experiences,[10] including schools, hospitals, assisted living facilities, social service programs, and neighborhood outreach centers.[11] The organizations also offer numerous and varied internship possibilities.[12] Through its various programs JCU provides more than 100,000 hours of service to the community each year.[4]

The Center hosts the Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate program which sent two youth in 2012. They assisted with an emergency food center, a healthy eating program for youth, and a vegetable garden for immigrant families.[13] The office also serves as a resource for JCU's academic programs which train administrators for non—profit organizations.[14] Jesuit networking is an important part of the Center's experience.[15]

Awards

In 2015 the Center received the Higher Education Civic Engagement Award from the Washington Center for its We the People program with East Cleveland schools.[16] Organizations mention the energy that the student volunteers bring, animating initiatives that would not be possible without them.[17]

During Ignatian Heritage Week, the university presents $1000 awards to two staff members distinguished for their community service efforts. It also awards three educational subsidy awards of $1000 to $1500 to students who show promise for leadership in social policy analysis from a faith perspective. It presents an additional two group service awards and three awards to individual students. It also honors students who have received Ohio Campus Compact Awards for their service and community engagement.[18]

References

See also: Marian J. Morton. John Carroll University. Charleston: Arcadia, 2013. ISBN 9780738590745, pp. 101–103. Coordinates: 41°29′28″N 81°31′48″W / 41.491°N 81.530°W / 41.491; -81.530

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