Our Sustainable Future - CSU, Chico

Program manager at Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE) since June 2002, Deanna Berg will officially begin her new position as California State University, Chico’s first director of civic engagement on January 1.

Although the decision to leave CAVE was a difficult one—Berg worked as student staff at CAVE in the 1990s, and is deeply committed to that organization—she is excited by the expansive possibilities her new job offers. She will be the first director of civic engagement in the entire CSU system, in fact, and as such will be able help define “best practices” both locally and statewide.

“This is exciting for me, but also for our campus,” Berg says. “I see the job description as recognition that the responsibility of higher education is not just the curriculum we teach, but also includes how we interact with one another and the communities in which we reside. I can’t wait to begin!”

As the university’s director of civic engagement, an Academic Affairs position, “my task is to implement high quality service-learning, sustainability, and civic engagement activities campus-wide,” Berg says. Her particular focus will be on the university’s fourth and sixth strategic priorities—service to the northern California region and sustainability, respectively.

Berg’s work at CSU, Chico has prepared her well for her new position.

CAVE engages student volunteers to address pressing social and environmental needs in Chico and beyond, and to help students develop effective citizenship skills. In addition to her CAVE management duties, Berg has also worked locally with the American Democracy Project (ADP), dedicated to increasing student involvement in public life. Her pilot project was to create “seamless engagement” between community colleges and four-year institutions.

Looking at improving engagement between CSU, Chico and Butte Community College, it soon became clear that sustainability was one area in which both institutions and their faculty and students could coordinate their efforts.

“Both colleges have impressive assets in this area,” Berg says, pointing in particular to strong mutual commitments to agriculture, natural resource conservation, and construction technology at both colleges.

Before returning to CSU, Chico, Deanna Berg served as graduate research assistant for community-based learning at Portland State University’s Center for Academic Excellence. She also worked as event manager for Hands on Portland Day 2000, promoting the power of volunteerism, and project coordinator for Portland’s Northwest Service Academy. Previously she served as service-learning coordinator for the Office of Community Service Learning at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Berg is currently completing her master’s degree in sociology (thesis in progress) from Portland State University. She graduated from CSU, Chico in 1995 with a liberal studies major and a business administration minor.

 

Search Sustainability