Office of Community Engagement

To support Youngstown State University’s mission and core values, the goals of the Office of Community Engagement include:

• Working with community partners to identify needs in the community and strategies for addressing such needs
• Tracking the community impact of our students, faculty and staff via YSU PenguinPulse, our community engagement platform
• Incorporating community engagement and experiential learning into the YSU curriculum
• Communicating the value of community engagement for all participants
• Pursuing and securing funding in support of university and community priorities
• Leading the institutional goal to achieve the Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement
• Developing the framework to optimize, coordinate, and manage community engagement

YSU Definition of Community Engagement

YSU has adopted the Carnegie Foundation definition for community engagement:

"Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching, and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good."

Further, at YSU, community engagement is the collaboration between YSU and the larger community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources; most often service with a community partner or nonprofit organization.

There are four criteria that serve as standards in which courses submitted for CEL designation are reviewed and evaluated. They include:

1. Engagement - The engagement component meets a public good through a collaboration between faculty and community partners.  Students’ engagement has community impact.  The course’s intent for the community is clear and valuable.
2. Reflection - There is a mechanism for students to link their learning to course content.  There is an opportunity to reflect upon the importance of the engagement.
3. Reciprocity - Reciprocity is evident in the engagement component. All participants are in the role of teacher and learner, allowing mutual benefit for the student, the organization, and the community. Community partners involved in planning, evaluating & assessing.
4. Public Dissemination - The engagement experience is presented to the partner/public or allows the opportunity for the community to engage in public dialogue.

In contrast, YSU defines community outreach as the effort of extending university resources, services, or expertise to meet the needs of the community that is one-directional in nature. Community outreach is done “for” an organization or the community, while community engagement is done “with” an organization for shared ownership and benefit.

And finally, university service, for students, is defined as unpaid time helping YSU areas/departments execute programs for the benefit of the YSU community and its students.

YSU PenguinPulse is the university’s platform for finding and tracking community engagement opportunities. All students, faculty, staff, and community partners use this online space to collaborate on volunteer activities and service-learning.

Community partners may request a free account for volunteer management by reaching out to communityengagement@ysu.edu or by using the link below. 

Community Partner Assistance Request

Getting Started

Additional FAQs

How do I promote a community engagement opportunity on YSU PenguinPulse?

•  Go to ysu.givepulse.com, log in, then click on the "Submit Opportunity" button to fill out a form for your event, OR
• Click on the "Subgroups" tab, search for your YSU college/dept./office/center page, and click on it. Find your page's administrator and click "Message" to tell them about your event to get it added to your area's YSU PenguinPulse page. 

As a faculty member, how do I track impacts from my courses? 

If you'd like to add several impacts for multiple users (i.e., for a community-engaged learning experience in your course), you can bulk import the impacts:

1. Create a spreadsheet that includes columns for student first names, last names, YSU emails, semester, hours completed, organization served, and course.
2. Save as a .csv file.
3. Email the .csv file to communityengagement@ysu.edu, along with a description of the community engagement activity and student reflections, and we will upload the impacts into YSU PenguinPulse. 

What counts as an "impact" in YSU PenguinPulse?

 An impact can be added for any community engagement activity or university service.

YSU has adopted the Carnegie Foundation's definition of community engagement. The full definition can be found here.

Further, at YSU, community engagement is the collaboration between YSU and the larger community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources; most often service with a community partner or nonprofit organization.

e.g., Packaging food for families at United Way's Satur-Day of Caring event, serving on the Guinathon team to benefit Akron Children's Hospital, tutoring local grade school students, etc.

University service, for students, is: Unpaid time helping YSU areas / departments execute programs for the benefit of the YSU community and its students.

e.g., Volunteering for Penguin Preview Day, showing students how to register during orientation, helping out at a YSU sporting event, etc. 

What does NOT count as an impact?

 Activities that fall under the category of on-campus involvement should not be added as impacts in YSU PenguinPulse.

On-campus involvement is defined as: Student organization or campus event participation/leadership not tied to engagement with or for a community partner.

e.g., Attending student organization meetings, athletic events, theater productions, etc., taking on a leadership position in a student organization, planning an on-campus academic or social event with no service component. Such events may be posted as events in YSU PenguinPulse, but they do not count as community engagement. 

Where can I find more help with YSU PenguinPulse?

• The Office Community Engagement's YouTube channel.
• The YSU PenguinPulse Monthly newsletter, which is sent out at the beginning of each month from the OCE.
• By emailing communityengagement@ysu.edu 

YSU uses “community-engaged learning” to indicate academically based community-engaged courses. Approved courses are designated “CEL courses” and are listed with a “CE” attribute in the course catalog due to system limitations.

The Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) course application is designed to assist faculty with the development of a course to meet the benchmarks required of CEL courses at Youngstown State University. Approved courses will receive the Community-Engaged Learning designation attribute.

CEL Application

Criteria for CEL Courses

There are four criteria that serve as standards in which courses submitted for CEL designation are reviewed and evaluated. They include:

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Our Strategic Plan to Take Charge of our Future states that YSU will bring about collective impact in the region when we “create deliberate, mutually beneficial, educational, civic, industry, and philanthropic partnerships that achieve equitable and innovative regional development.”  

• To achieve mutually beneficial outcomes, the plan specifies the priorities to:    
• Listen to community needs.  
• Work collaboratively to tackle these needs.  
• Actively collaborate with organizations that share in YSU’s mission.  

Further, YSU’s vision and core values promote a community-engaged campus. In its vision statement, YSU is seen as a place “where community engagement is a cornerstone of collaboration” that leads to innovative solutions that benefit both students and the community.

This page highlights a sampling of partnerships and initiatives that are meeting the needs of our community.

YSU English Festival

Website

Since 1978, the university has been hosting the Youngstown State University English Festival, a unique spring event that reaches approximately 3,000 middle and high school students from five surrounding counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania, their teachers and parents, area librarians, and interested community members.

“It is a positive day for me as an educator to see so many students absorbed in literature and writing. Because the students walk away with attitudes of enjoyment and learning, it makes it worthwhile. I also enjoy judging to have exposure to the writing being completed by these students. I find it to be a heartwarming experience seeing the motivation and effort that is put in preparing to come to the festival.”

~Local educator

Dr. Abdu Pen Pals Program

Website

The Dr. Abdu Pen Pals Program has a rich history at YSU, dating back to 2012. The program connects honors students with local elementary school learners through the exchange of written journals.  

Elementary teachers report increased proficiency with spelling and grammar and an excitement for reading and writing. School attendance has also improved.  

YSU student leaders organize the journals, ensure students are responding, and transport the journals between YSU and the elementary schools every other week. They share feedback such as, "Being able to communicate with young students is both meaningful and fulfilling for me."

In 2023, Shell Polymers Monaca, a petrochemical company operating in the region, became the primary financial sponsor of the program, which was named in honor of Dr. Rashid Abdu, a longtime tutor and beloved local surgeon who inspired the idea.  

United Way

YSU and United Way collaborate in multifaceted ways to benefit students and the community. A student community fellow works to liaise between YSU and United Way to ensure smooth collaboration.  

Each year thousands of students in the Mahoning Valley are screened by nursing students for vision problems. The United Way, along with the schools, have collected data showing improved academic performance in participating schools. Since 2017, tens of thousands of students have been screened.

Students, faculty, and staff join United Way monthly at the SaturDay at Caring where volunteers pack up and distribute food to more than 400 local families each month.

Students working with the VITA tax preparation program learn more than accounting skills. They learn communication, empathy, and much more.  

Students in the Sokolov Honors College worked to raise $10,000 for United Way during the 2024-25 academic year. Read more about their efforts here.

Second Harvest Food Bank 

YSU partners with Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley through regular food packing days that include YSU students, faculty, and staff. Last summer, President and First Lady Johnson joined the effort to pack 970 bags the day that the food bank unveiled its new addition. Through the semester, honors students return to Second Harvest weekly to prepare food items for distribution.  

TILT HS program

The Tressel Institute for Leadership and Teamwork (TILT) empowers students to become impactful leaders, driving positive change within their communities and organizations.  

The TILT High School program fosters personal and professional growth by providing hands-on learning experiences. Through a variety of fun and engaging activities, students have the opportunity to explore what makes a great leader and how to work effectively in teams.  

YSU partnered with South Range and Liberty during the 2024-25 academic year.  

As Youngstown State University continues its work to foster mutually beneficial relationships between campus and community, it also seeks to earn the Carnegie Foundation's community engagement designation to increase the awareness and promotion of community-engaged efforts and learning.

YSU submitted a first-time application for the 2026 Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement in the spring of 2025. The elective classification recognizes colleges and university in the U.S. for achievement in institutionalizing community engagement.

Below is a snapshot over the last several years of the process to create centralized goals, resources, and strategies for community engagement at YSU. 

Community Engagement Council 

The Community Engagement Council will lead the development of the YSU application to the Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement.

• Chris Barzak, YSU Poetry Center & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Heather Belgin, Alumni
• Jenna Binsley-Smith, Tressel Institute for Leadership and Teamwork
• Maria Bova, Government Affairs
• John Bralich, Center for Applied GIS & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Emilie Brown, College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
• Jeff Buchanan, English & World Languages & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Jonathon Cambouris, Youngstown Historical Center of Labor and Industry
• Melissa Chizmar, Office of Community Engagement
• Amy Cossentino, Office of Academic Affairs
• Laura Dewberry, Center for Nonprofit Leadership & Williamson College of Business Administration
• Jaelyn Farris, Psychological Sciences & Counseling
• Amy Fluker, Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Tim Francisco, Center for Working Class Studies & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Adam Fuller, Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education
• Mollie Hartup, Sokolov Honors College
• Kristin Italiano, Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education
• Alison Kaufman, Institute for Teaching and Learning
• Sarah Keeler, Government Affairs
• Nancy Landgraff, Graduate Studies in Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
• Scot Loveland, Ohio APEX Accelerator
• Katie Merrill, Cliffe College of Creative Arts
• Tyler Mettille, Athletics
• Susan Moorer, Experiential Learning and Engagement
• Paul Sracic, Rigelhaupt Pre-Law Center & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Andrea Tharp, Sokolov Honors College, YSU PenguinPulse
• Mark Vopat, Dr. James Dale Ethics Center & Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science, & Education
• Amy Weaver, Bitonte College of Health and Human Services
• Jessie Wright, Lariccia School of Accounting and Finance & Williamson College of Business Administration
• Levi Binsley-Smith, Office of Community Engagement
• Annabelle Himes, Sokolov Honors College

Community Partner Advisory Committee

The Community Partner Advisory Committee provides opportunities for input from community partners and adheres to the value of listening to the needs of the community and addressing needs collaboratively.

• Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown
• Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning Valley
• Mill Creek Metro Parks
• OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children's Center for Science & Technology
• American Red Cross
• Economic Action Group
• Harmony Hospice
• MyPath Mahoning Valley
• Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley
• Rich Center for Autism
• Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley
• St. Patrick’s Church
• United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley
• Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown
• Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation
• Youngstown Playhouse
• YSU Eastern Ohio Area Health Center
• YSU Explorer Program

Community Fellows

Community fellows are undergraduate or graduate students who work closely with a community partner to move forward their mission.

• Avi De
• Hannah Crites
• Livia Laudermilt
• Anna Morgione
• Erfan Nasirzadeh Orang
• Prabin Pokharel

Contact Us

(330) 941-3427   ♦   communityengagement@ysu.edu