Bowling Green State University and Owens Community College have been recognized for extending a helping
hand to their communities and giving students a chance to learn while they serve.
Both Owens and BGSU have been received Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation.

The classification designates schools that extend their teaching and service beyond the campus to assist
a wide-range of residents. Both had achieved classification in 2008 in one aspect of the program – BGSU
in curricular engagement and Owens in outreach and partnerships. In order to be recertified this year,
an institution had be qualified in both those areas
The schools join a select list of 341 colleges out of more than 4,000 nationwide who have earned the
designation.
For BGSU that service included helping those leaving correctional facilities, senior citizens, inner city
students wanting to play music, the homeless and students studying math and science.
The application process is not easy said Jane Rosser, BGSU director of service learning. Filling out the
132-page application was exhausting, she said. But the work was worth it.
The process gave the university a chance "to tell its story."
Rosser said 15 programs were selected to feature, and many more could have been highlighted.
Much of this work "is invisible," she said. Even people on campus are surprised when they learn
about some of the ways in which BGSU engages with the community.
The process gives the university a chance to highlight those entities that partner with the university.
"They are passionate about working with BGSU faculty, staff and students," she said.
"They are very much co-educators."
Krista Kiessling, Owens director of service learning, engagement and leadership, said the committee
working on Owens’ application spent 18 months on the project.
The process involves pulling information from offices around campus.
Owens highlighted providing backpacks for underprivileged kindergarten students and work with Toledo-area
food pantries. The community college also has a number of projects that help students from underserved
communities succeed in college, she said.
A major component of the college’s community outreach involves working with local companies. "We
have quite a few corporate training programs," Kiessling said. "We basically contract to
provide technical training to their employees."
At both BGSU and Owens, the biggest beneficiaries are students by connecting what they are learning in
the classroom to needs in the community.
The value extends beyond subject matter. "We’re concerned about having an active citizen and a
professional who thinks about social responsibility," said Rosser at BGSU.
The classification demonstrates, said Kiessling, "how committed we are to building strong student
citizens."
Kiessling said the classification does help in marketing and showing what Owens has to offer.
That it aligns the two-year school "with a good four-year institution" such as BGSU is also a
plus.
Rosser said the process not only documents what the BGSU has done, but also helps guide the university
into the future, showing how it can "expand and deepen" its community engagement efforts.