Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) is renovating offices on Oak Street to develop a new location for the CCE headquarters. The building is located down the street from the Netherlands Complex and will provide a bridge between Hofstra University and the local community.
“The new offices for the Center for Civic Engagement in the Oak Street Center in the northwest side of campus is a welcome development for our work as an interdisciplinary center of the university,” said Mario A. Murillo, a professor and chair of the Radio, Television and Film Department.
He continued, “It’s been a long term process which, through the support of the provost’s office, has finally come to fruition, allowing the CCE to work on its wide array of projects with students, faculty and our community partners in a welcoming environment.”
Since 2007, Hofstra’s CCE has aimed to promote nonviolence, social service, sustainability, social justice and democratic practice. Recent projects involving the center include the new immigration law clinic and a lecture series on understanding President Donald Trump’s foreign and economic policy and their implications for American citizens.
In addition to being the headquarters for the CCE, the renovated building will also have spaces for other offices.
“The new headquarters of CCE are part of a larger renovation of an old Army property at Oak Street. There are several other offices which have space in the building,” said Gail M. Simmons, the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.
The CCE currently provides students with internships and a minor in civic engagement requiring 18 credits. CCE also organizes year round events, workshops, forums, debates and other campus activities to promote a local and global understanding of pertinent social and cultural issues.
Hofstra’s new headquarters for the CCE comes after the 10 year anniversary of the center. Committed to the development of socially active citizens, the center gives students several ways to connect with the community. Positions with the CCE offer varying degrees of involvement including volunteering, internships, fellowships and graduate assistants positions.
To volunteer with the center, students can attend weekly meetings promoted via the center’s Facebook page. Internships offer students one to four credits and require a final reflective research paper which varies in length with the amount of credits involved. Fellowships are paid and are open to both undergraduate and graduate students who work on CCE campus events and with the center’s community partners. At the highest end of involvement, graduate assistants are paid and have the opportunity to gain academic credit as well. There are only two positions year-round and students are expected to be capable of working up to 20 hours a week.
Robert Brinkmann, the vice provost for Scholarship and Engagement said, “We are really excited to have this new space available to the Center for Civic Engagement and other community-based organizations at Hofstra. The building went through a transformation over the last several months as it went through extensive renovations to make it suitable for its current use.”