Spring 2008 produced many successes for the WVU Center for Civic Engagement. Growth in our overall GOLD (Get Out and Learn by Doing) program through student, faculty, and community partnerships demonstrates the commitment to learn and serve outside the classroom through innovative experiences is real. Additionally, the MVP (Mountaineer Volunteer Programs) student numbers rose to new levels as well. What does all of this mean for WVU and the surrounding communities? It means that the CCE is providing the necessary collaborative supervision for excellent educational programs with accountability. It means that our community partners are doing the best that they have ever done in educating, grading, and supervising our students. It means that more faculty are finding both the time and the desire to couple educational learning outcomes with real community needs to provide meaningful service in our communities. And finally, it means that our students are developing in ways that exemplify why civic engagement belongs in the higher education curriculum. Problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, critical and creative thinking are all skills that are valued both inside and outside the higher education classroom.

Through teaching elementary foreign language, coordinating food drives, educating children about health issues, and developing a website, or by fulfilling special project requests like developing a roller hockey league and documenting a local artisan, our students demonstrated the academic prowess to meet and exceed our communities? expectations and desires. With a little ingenuity, WVU students prove that their investment in education is also an investment in the betterment of our communities. Educate. Engage. Empower. WVU students make it happen!