Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact is a coalition of college and university presidents committed to the civic mission of higher education. Learn more about our members below and contact iamncc@compact.org for more information about joining.
Member Institutions
President Jared Seliger
Allen College is committed to connecting faculty, staff and students to community needs through mutually beneficial partnerships that develop civic responsibility and sustain community commitment.
President Kent Hanson
Anoka-Ramsey Community College is an open-door, comprehensive higher education institution committed to excellence in teaching and learning. Anoka-Ramsey is committed to responding to the educational needs of its changing communities and to providing opportunities for enhancing knowledge, skills, and values in a supportive learning environment.
President Kent Hanson
Anoka Technical College, with a campus in Anoka, MN, has been a leading provider of higher education and training in the North Metro since 1967 offering more than 70+ career programs accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. A member of the Minnesota State system, the college serves more than 2,800 learners of all ages as they pursue certificates, diplomas and Associate in Applied Science degrees designed to lead immediately to rewarding, in-demand careers.
President Paul Pribbenow
As a new kind of urban, student-centered university, we are educating Auggies as stewards of an inclusive democracy, engaged in their communities and uniquely equipped to navigate the complex issues of our time.
President John Hoffman
Bemidji State University (BSU) is beginning an initiative to formalize community and civic engagement. Community and civic engagement currently takes place on campus in a variety of ways and locations (e.g., internships, practicums, individual faculty courses, student organizations, etc.). Yet no systematic organizational structure exists with regard to a unified office/area or infrastructure that centrally identifies, supports, coordinates, or collaborates such efforts. Thus, the goal of this action plan is to create a process by which we can identify what is taking place and establish a unified infrastructure for BSU (to include students, faculty, staff, and administration) and the greater community. At BSU structural change needs to take place prior to creating organized opportunities for cultural and policy change.
BSU has four shared fundamental values for student learning that will guide this action plan:
- Civic engagement and leadership
- International and multicultural understanding
- Belief in the power of the liberal arts
- Environmental stewardship
President Ross Allen
Commitment: Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC)
Residents of the FSU neighborhood, FSU organizational leaders, and members of the Bethel University community have joined hands in a unique partnership of learning. The Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC) serves as a community/agency/university body. The PAC fosters longstanding and intentional relationships with the FSU communities through a partnership based on trust, accountability, and reciprocity. This unique partnership, acting as a bridge between campus and community, is building unity within a diverse society.
The mission of the partnership between stakeholders in the Frogtown and Summit-U Neighborhoods and Bethel University is to build and nurture an intentional, mutually beneficial, long-term relationship with stakeholders in the FSU neighborhoods and Bethel.
President Brian Lenzmeier
At Buena Vista University, we believe students learn best and most by doing. With this goal in mind, the Office of Student and Community Engagement serves as an excellent resource for students seeking experiential learning opportunities. Staff members and student advisory board, named Student MOVE, (Mobilizing, Outreach, Volunteer Efforts) assists individuals, groups, and faculty wanting to engage in service opportunities. Local, regional, national, and international volunteer opportunities help students realize the importance of civic responsibility and engagement.
President Alison R. Byerly
The College’s aspiration is to prepare students to lead lives of learning that are broadly rewarding, professionally satisfying, and of service to humanity. The Center for Community and Civic Engagement connects the Carleton community to its broader public purpose and contributes to students’ preparation for life after Carleton as civic-minded graduates. We are a hub for:
- Real-world learning that contributes to a more just, thriving, and sustainable community;
- Reciprocal community-campus partnerships that advance shared goals; and
- Civic agency and collaboration in the public sphere that is attentive to equity, power, and positionality.
President Mark Putnam
Central College in Pella, Iowa, is a private, four-year liberal arts college. Central is known for its academic rigor, leadership and character formation, global experiential learning, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and sustainability education, athletics and service. The Central experience is rooted in exploration and self-discovery and enhanced by life in a residential community of 1,150 students. Founded in 1853, Central values its long-standing relationship with the Reformed Church in America. The college participates in NCAA Division III athletics and is a member of the American Rivers Conference.
President David Hayes
Coe College is committed to serving as a resource for our community by working with organizations and agencies in order to create and sustain programs which benefit all members of the Cedar Rapids and Coe College communities. We strive to educate students on the value and importance of civic engagement through a range of opportunities including volunteering, service learning, and voter education. Coe also works to engage with our community partners in order to bring service learning projects into the classroom in order to provide a framework which allows students to address current challenges faced by a community partner.
President Brian Bruess
Experience & Professional Development empowers students to connect their aspirations with opportunities and translate their liberal arts education to achieve meaningful personal and professional lives. We coach students to explore, do, reflect, and connect.
President Barbara McDonald
The College of St. Scholastica’s commitment to Civic Engagement is expressed in its strategic plan and focuses on: increasing student engagement in Service Learning, Volunteerism, and Experiential Learning Opportunities. In addition, the College will serve as a catalyst for social, economic, and educational advancement in our community and region.
President William Craft
Concordia has been educating students to influence the affairs of the world and since 2004, the theme of our core curriculum, becoming responsibly engaged in the world (BREW), has ensured that a Concordia education imparts upon students the importance of meaningful engagement with local and global communities. This engagement takes the form of service-learning, community-based research and internships, volunteering (individually and with student organizations, athletic teams, music ensembles, and the like), and leadership in social justice efforts on campus and beyond. During these community-based projects our students communicate with and work side-by-side people, groups and organizations within our community to meet social and community needs. Because of these efforts, students experience enhanced learning and development, are better prepared for careers and professional experiences, and are well equipped to be future leaders in their personal, professional, and civic lives. Working collaboratively with partners in our local and global community, we ensure benefits are realized for both our students and the communities they serve.
President Brian Friedrich
The mission of Concordia University, St. Paul, a university of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, is to prepare students for thoughtful and informed living, for dedicated service to God and humanity, for enlightened care of God’s creation, all within the context of the Christian Gospel.
President Earl “Marty” Martin
Drake’s commitment to community engagement and service-learning is representative of our long-standing history of involvement and partnership with the Des Moines community. The commitment fulfills our historic mission, enhances teaching, advising, research, scholarship, outreach, and the University community as a whole. As demonstrated by our inspiration statement, “Together we transform lives and strengthen communities”, we seek to be an “engaged university” that prepares the next generation of civic minded professionals. Community Engagement and Service-Learning at Drake has been nationally and locally recognized by the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, and the United Way of Central Iowa Volunteer Award.
President Rachelle Keck
Grand View University engages, equips, and empowers students to fulfill their individual potential and serve society. Committed to the development of the whole person – mind, body and spirit – and to preparing students for successful careers and responsible citizenship both in their communities and in a diverse and changing world, Grand View offers a liberal arts education that:
- Challenges students to inquire with a disciplined and critical mind, communicate effectively, and display an awareness of the global issues that affect us all.
- Creates a community of learners where differing perspectives are welcome, where friendly interaction is the norm, and where intellectual and personal integrity is expected and modeled.
- Offers a supportive environment where students can engage in community with others, discern life purpose, and grow in leadership.
- Affirms Christian faith and ethics as a vision for life, a vision that enhances our respect for the diversity and dignity of all people, for relating to others, and for the pursuit of lifelong learning.
Informed by its Danish Lutheran heritage, Grand View is a School for Life.
President Rebecca Bergman
Gustavus equips students to lead purposeful lives and to act on the great challenges of our time through an innovative liberal arts education of recognized excellence.
- Every action at Gustavus moves students toward discovery of self-their beliefs, values, and relation to the world. We build capacity through experience. Students graduate equipped for life and career.
- Our students discern their vocation, think deeply and critically, and ignite their passions through knowledge and discover. Our students then live on purpose and with purpose. They care.
- Our students are doers. They are aware of and engage with real-world concerns. They seek to understand complex society issues, and they act on them with hope for positive change.
- Students learn boldly, stretching their minds in the classroom and beyond. Through active collaboration with faculty, alumni, and business leaders, their liberal arts education comes alive.
- We set the bar high in everything we do. And the world will notice.
President Anne Harris
When Grinnell College framed its charter in the Iowa Territory of the United States in 1846, it set forth a mission to educate its students “for the different professions and for the honorable discharge of the duties of life.” The College pursues that mission by providing an education in the liberal arts through free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas. As a teaching and learning community, the College holds that knowledge is a good to be pursued both for its own sake and for the intellectual, moral, and physical well-being of individuals and of society at large. The College exists to provide a lively academic community of students and teachers of high scholarly qualifications from diverse social and cultural circumstances. The College aims to graduate individuals who can think clearly, who can speak and write persuasively and even eloquently, who can evaluate critically both their own and others’ ideas, who can acquire new knowledge, and who are prepared in life and work to use their knowledge and their abilities to serve the common good.
President Fayneese Miller
To connect the pursuit of the common good with growth of the whole person, through compassionate action and courageous reflection,” suggests, service and social justice are equally important to the center. The Wesley Center’s programs are positioned to directly address several of the core values in its mission statement.
Interim President Joy Bodin
To provide excellence in career and technical education for employment and advancement in an ever-changing global environment.
President Michael Berndt
Voter education and engagement must be a yearlong effort at Inver Hills Community College. The IHCC Strategic Plan, vision and values provide guidance through which initiatives may be created. Strategic goal 1.1 is to “Strengthen commitment to high-quality and innovative learning experiences that prepare students for transfer, employment, and lifelong learning.” The leadership team of the Civic Engagement Action Plan and the Student Senate believe that becoming an engaged community member and voter is one of the most beneficial and critical lessons that students can learn while in college. The team will actively seek out additional partnerships to increase this learning both inside and outside of the classroom.
President Christine Plunkett
Iowa Wesleyan University is a transformational learning community whose passion is to educate, empower and inspire students to lead meaningful lives and careers.
President Lori Sundberg
Kirkwood Community College identifies community needs; provides accessible, quality education and training; and promotes opportunities for lifelong learning.
President Jim Collins
Loras College strives to deepen a spirit of social commitment and civic engagement among students, by providing high impact, experiential learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Academic and co-curricular programs support students in their quest to become active learners, reflective thinkers, ethical decision makers and responsible contributors. Community-based learning in courses, internships, study abroad experiences and other high impact practices challenge students to come to know more about themselves, their gifts and how they will make meaning and contribute to the world in responsible ways.
President Jennifer K. Ward
As a liberal arts college, Luther is committed to a way of learning that moves us beyond immediate interests and present knowledge into a larger world – an education that disciplines minds and develops whole persons equipped to understand and confront a changing society.
President Suzanne Rivera
Macalester is committed to being a preeminent liberal arts college with an educational program known for its high standards for scholarship and its special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society.
We believe that civic engagement enhances students’ understanding of issues of public concern, as well as their academic and civic development for a life of public contribution. Service to society is integral to the mission of Macalester College and thus is an institutional priority to educate thoughtful and contributing global citizens.
Interim President Thomas Leahy; President Adreain Henry (April 2023)
Mercy College of Health Sciences prepares graduates for service and leadership in the healthcare community by integrating its core values with a professional and liberal arts and science education.
President Ginny Arthur
Metropolitan State University, a member of the Minnesota State College and University System, will be the premier urban, public, comprehensive system university in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and will provide high-quality, affordable educational programs and services in a student-centered environment.
The faculty, staff and students of Metropolitan State will reflect the area’s rich diversity, build a culturally competent and anti-racist learning community and demonstrate an unwavering commitment to civic engagement.
President Sharon Pierce
Minneapolis Community and Technical College provides access to
the transformative power of education in a diverse and dynamic downtown environment.
President Carrie Brimhall
Minnesota State Community and Technical College specializes in affordable and exceptional education, service, and workforce training. We welcome all students and engage them in shaping their futures and their communities.
President Edward Inch
Minnesota State University, Mankato promotes learning through effective undergraduate and graduate teaching, scholarship, and research in service to the state, the region and the global community.
President Albert Mosely
Morningside University’s commitment to civic engagement is woven throughout the entire Morningside experience. As stated in our mission statement, this experience “cultivates a passion for life-long learning and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.” Morningside achieves this mission through curricular programs, such as our civic responsibility and experiential learning graduation requirements, as well as our co-curricular activities, which are driven by more than two hundred student organizations on campus. With the understanding that engagement occurs within the classroom and beyond, Morningside students are part of a participatory community that emphasizes civic engagement locally, regionally, and globally.
President Todd Olson
Mount Mercy University, founded by the Sisters of Mercy and rooted in the heritage of our Catholic faith, strives to provide a transformational experience for students through academic excellence and compassionate service.
President Joyce Ester
We have 4 Core Learning Outcomes. One of these is to Demonstrate Local and Global Civic Responsibility. Civic responsibility is the process of becoming informed about social, political, economic, and environmental issues within their historical and contemporary context, then responding to those issues with considered ethical, compassionate, and productive actions. Responsible citizens seek ways to improve conditions for the planet and its people, beyond their own immediate needs.
President Rolando Garcia
The goal of community partnerships is to become a trusted and valued partner in the region and state, integrated into the fabric of the community and regarded as a respected community asset.
President John Hoffman
Northwest Technical College engages, supports and prepares students for rewarding careers through innovative programs and hands-on learning.
President Marsha Kelliher
Through innovative learning opportunities, individual student attention, and an unwavering commitment to inclusive educational access, Simpson College cultivates a diverse community of learners to lead lives of meaning and purpose.
President Annette Parker
According to our Mission Statement, South Central College provides an accessible and inclusive learning environment that cultivates student success and advances regional economic development. Our Values include Learning, Integrity, Equity, Communication, Collaboration, and Innovation and our Strategic priorities include Just 1 More, Regional and Cultural Partnerships and Innovation, Curricular Pathways, and Institutional Effectiveness. Included in our Institutional Core Competencies, which are campus-wide competencies taught, supported, practiced, and assessed through curricular and co-curricular programs, include Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility, and Cultural Competence.
President Kumara Jayasuriya
Southwest Minnesota State University prepares students to meet the complex challenges of this century as engaged citizens in their local and global communities. Our comprehensive degree programs, taught in the liberal arts tradition, are dedicated to connecting students’ academic and practical professional development experiences in southwestern Minnesota to the wider world.
President Rebecca Koenig Roloff
The Center for Community Work and Learning facilitates meaningful community engagement through course-based work, scholarship, and student employment. Through these, we provide students with opportunities to practice critical and creative thinking, living out St. Kate’s values of social justice and leadership.
Each year we connect more than 100 Twin Cities organizations with students and faculty across departments, disciplines, and degree levels. These mutually beneficial partnerships foster the learning goals of our students, faculty, and staff, in collaboration with the expressed priorities of our community partners.
President David Anderson
St. Olaf College challenges students to excel in the liberal arts, examine faith and values, and explore meaningful vocation in an inclusive, globally engaged community nourished by Lutheran tradition.
President Barbara Wilson
University of Iowa Strategic Plan, 2016-2021, “Our goal is to engage with Iowa and the world to broaden education, improve health, and enhance economic development.”
Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause
The University of Minnesota Crookston delivers educational programs that build upon a broad academic foundation and combine theory, practice, and experimentation in a technologically rich environment. We prepare students for career success, advanced study, and engaged citizenship in a diverse world. We integrate teaching and learning, research and scholarly work, and outreach and engagement to serve the public good.
Interim Chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen
The University of Minnesota, Morris provides a rigorous undergraduate liberal arts education, preparing its students to be global citizens who value and pursue intellectual growth, civic engagement, intercultural competence, and environmental stewardship.
As a public land-grant institution, the University of Minnesota, Morris is a center for education, culture, and research for the region, nation, and world. University of Minnesota, Morris is committed to outstanding teaching, dynamic learning, innovative faculty and student scholarship and creative activity, and public outreach. Our residential academic setting fosters collaboration, diversity, and a deep sense of community.
Chancellor Lori Carrell
The University of Minnesota Rochester is the newest campus in the Minnesota system, with an emphasis on innovative education in the health sciences. Information on the University of Minnesota Rochester’s commitment to civic engagement can be found in the Vision, Values and Strategic Framework.
The strategic approach of the civic action plan focuses on three goals:
Deepening and expanding our platform partnership with the Mayo Clinic.
Leveraging the expertise of faculty in the scholarship of teaching and learning to deepen and expand service-learning and community-based research opportunities for students.
Developing systems and processes to increase awareness of how our campus is engaged in the community, and assess the impact of that engagement.
President Joan Gabel
The University of Minnesota’s system-wide Office for Public Engagement (OPE) was established in 2006 to further the integration of public engagement into the University’s research and teaching functions. As an academic support unit, OPE works to secure the University’s status as a leading engaged public university of the 21st century.
President Mark Nook
The University of Northern Iowa is a Carnegie Classified Institution for Community Engagement. Building on the strengths of community engagement work at the university, UNI’s Civic Action Plan (CAP) enhances high-impact practices and outlines how community-engaged activities can “…help students achieve the essential learning outcomes that both educators and employers endorse” (Kuh, 2008) to become civic-minded professionals. UNI’s CAP provides purposeful pathways for students to connect their academic coursework and experiential learning opportunities to build their sense of civic engagement and responsibility while enhancing the skills required in the workforce. The CAP provides faculty and staff various frameworks that bring together the university and its community (local to global) to provide learning opportunities and meet community needs. Community partners are offered opportunities to develop a formal relationship with UNI and know how to access the university. The CAP provides direction for the community, the university, its faculty, staff, students, centers and institutes where the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. The Civic Action Plan serves as the implementation plan for Supporting Goal #3 – Community Engagement, in UNI’s Strategic Plan.
President Corbin Hoornbeek
University of Northwestern – St. Paul exists to provide Christ-centered higher education, equipping students to grow intellectually and spiritually, to serve effectively in their professions, and to give God-honoring leadership in the home, church, community, and world.
President Rebecca Neiduski
Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.
President Scott Olson
The mission of Winona State University is to enhance the intellectual, social, cultural and economic vitality of the people and communities we serve. We offer undergraduate programs based on the traditions and values of the arts and sciences and an array of graduate and professional programs that are especially responsive to the needs of the Upper Midwest. We prepare our graduates to serve generously, lead responsibly and respond imaginatively and creatively to the challenges of their work, their lives and their communities. A community of learners improving our world