For a third consecutive year, Michigan State University has been named No. 1 among public universities for service-learning by U.S. News and World Report, rising to No. 6 overall. This recognition for service-learning, known as community-engaged learning at MSU, shows the university’s commitment to integrating community partnerships with classroom instruction to enrich the student learning experience, teaching civic and social responsibility, and strengthening communities. As one facilitator of community-engaged learning on our campus, CCEL is proud to celebrate this accomplishment with all of the students, faculty, and staff who earned this award.

In 2025-2026, CCEL had several opportunities to share our work with campus and national colleagues. Starting in the fall, Executive Director Renee Miller Zientek and Assistant Directors Stephanie Brewer and Michelle Snitgen co-facilitated “Evaluating Community Engaged Activities.” This learning community, open to members of the Campus Compact national coalition, explored strategies used in the Community-Engaged Learning Index to present data as stories of dedication to civic and social responsibility. Miller Zientek also co-facilitated a network action group developing metrics of accountability through The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN), a Campus Compact affinity network.

At the Campus Compact national conference on March 16-18 in Chicago, the CCEL team shared several projects and programs with our colleagues at other colleges and universities committed to public purpose. Brewer and Miller Zientek presented how mindfulness practices promote stronger community partnerships in the Community Engagement Scholars Program (CESP); Brewer, Snitgen, and Assistant Director Tina Houghton discussed their work in piloting learning outcomes for community-engaged learning; Houghton, Program Coordinator Sam Rothwell, and Communications Coordinator Catherine Anger led a workshop about how CCEL connects with our community partners as co-educators; Assistant Director K.C. Keyton presented a poster detailing the positive impact of Day of Service participation on students; and Miller Zientek co-presented the work of her network action group in a roundtable discussion. At the conference, Miller Zientek also received the Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award.

Our national engagement this year wasn’t limited to our staff. CESP scholar Roberto Marcos Garcia was named a Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, joining a national network of engaged student leaders who can support one another in advancing partnerships between campuses and communities. Through this fellowship, Garcia earned a mini-grant to fund a CESP cohort project that created 100 resource kits for the Tenant Resource Center to distribute to unhoused neighbors in Lansing. On June 2, 2026, he presented the cohort project in a virtual session featuring Newman Fellow mini-grant recipients. For his commitment to volunteerism and community partnership, Garcia received one of four Student Leadership Awards at the Campus Compact conference.

On campus, the CCEL team also brought visibility to our work. At the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation’s annual Teaching and Learning Knowledge Sharing conference for MSU educators on May 6, 2026, Brewer and Miller Zientek once again presented on mindfulness in community partnerships, and Brewer, Houghton, and Snitgen discussed their pilot framework for community-engaged learning outcomes. On May 7, Miller Zientek co-presented at the Student Success Summit about progress on the MiLEAP Learning Goals Project, for which she serves as the strategic co-curricular lead in updating the university’s learning goals.

The Center for Community Engaged Learning is honored to uplift community-engaged learning as a key component of higher education at MSU and beyond. Thank you to all of our colleagues who invited us to present our work!