Campaign Priorities
Golisano Community Engagement Center
The Golisano Community Engagement Center is a key component of the university’s five-year strategic plan, established in 2016. The plan focuses on three aspects: engaged campus culture, innovative growth and transformational partnerships. The strategies in the plan include new programs, new buildings, new initiatives and new hires. The Golisano Community Engagement Center aligns with all three areas of focus and will provide a direct impact on the university’s culture and partners. The Golisano Community Engagement Center will house training programs, including the Community Institutes, and provides easy access to career development and student-life resources.
View renderings of building:
Community Institutes
Roberts Wesleyan’s Community Institutes, which provide custom educational solutions and resources to Rochester-area businesses and organizations, offer certificate and training programs separate from the degree-based education the college already offers.
The four institutes are:
- Business Solutions Institute focuses on workforce development by supporting small- to medium-sized businesses with specific training, consulting and special-project needs. The focus is on the delivery of targeted solutions to enable successful outcomes and be a “go to” resource for the community. Current clients and partners include County of Monroe, Economic Workforce Development, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Maximus Inc. and Palmer Food Services.
- Justice and Security Institute provides training and tools for local schools, businesses and places of worship to teach local communities about targeted violence and how to identify and stop violence before it happens through customized threat assessment strategies. Past consultations include local k-12 security teams, faith-based communities, law enforcement agencies and mental health professionals.
- Intellectual and Spiritual Humility Institute provides teaching opportunities focused on bringing communities together in a polarized society, creating space and respect for all people.
- Westside Psychological Services provides high quality, affordable assessment and therapy services for children, adolescents, adults, and families. WPS also serves as a training center for psychotherapy and diagnostics. Clinicians assess and treat clients with approaches validated by recent research, and matched to the individual needs of clients.
Student Engagement
The Golisano Community Engagement Center will give us much-needed student gathering space that is not tied to specific majors or special interests, giving our students opportunities for valuable networking and social interactions that might not otherwise happen, especially in our region of New York where informal outdoor gathering spaces across campus are unusable during the long winter. Using the Golisano Community Engagement Center for student resources, networking and socialization will also bring our students into a building that will be heavily utilized by Rochester businesses and organizations. This means that our students will have greater opportunity for interaction with community leaders who are actively engaged in professional development.
Inside the Student Commons:
- Career Center: A suite on the same floor as the auditorium illustrates the university's commitment to providing an education that translates into workforce development and retention of critical intellectual capital in the region.
- Diversity & Equity: Offices on the first floor represent the university's commitment to serving all students, and ensuring each one has a voice and a place in our community.
- Spiritual Formation: Offices on the first floor and a prayer chapel on the second floor reiterate Roberts’ values as a Christian university and a commitment to the university’s mission.
- International Engagement: Offices and dedicated classrooms on the first floor demonstrate the university's commitment to students and community members seeking to gain intercultural perspective and understanding, while extending opportunities for global academic experience.