North State Roots

33,000 Square Miles of Opportunity: How the University & Region Strengthen Each Other

The mission of this work is to leverage Chico State students, staff, and faculty in reciprocal and interdisciplinary partnerships around the self-defined issues of the North State communities

Three goals serve this mission:

To engage North State students on campus in their home or regional communities
To educate the campus community about the assets and capacities of the North State
To provide increased experiential, community-based learning opportunities for students

North State Roots is an initiative that aims to strengthen the relationship between California State University, Chico and its service region by fostering intentional networks between Chico State students and with their home communities. These intentional connections will support the success of North State students who are enrolled at Chico State, and will also foster more formal partnerships to advance common goals, increase understanding, and promote economic and community vitality. The name comes from the idea that students from rural North State regions are likely to have deep ties to their home communities.

To nurture these deeper connections, faculty, staff and students will meet monthly to discuss the ways in which students would like to make a difference in their home community as an extension of what they are learning or doing on campus. Faculty will seek to support students in fulfilling their partnership ideas, or students may help to connect faculty to other opportunities in their home communities. Whether or not participants engage in particular partnerships, they will still benefit from the conversations about the strengths and needs in the North State’s more rural communities and will contribute to a growing culture of regional engagement.

For more information contact the office of Civic Engagement at OCE@csuchico.edu

close-up of a tree in front of kendall hall