At Sonoma State, community and in-service work are incorporated into the tenure and promotional track. Specifically, under Reappointment, Tenure & Promotion​​ (RTP), all professors on the tenure track are required to do some form of service.

This service takes many forms, whether it’s at the department, college, or university level. This can be service on committees/boards, events, workshops, new curriculum development, and more. It can also be local community service or service within your own discipline, like attending conferences and developing research studies.

“I never wanted to just go to work, do something there and then forget about it…I think that community service allows me to connect my life’s work with the community and people. That’s really important to me,” said Stefan Kiesbye, a creative writing professor at Sonoma State.

Over the past ten years, as a professor, Kiesbye has done a broad range of services. He’s served on a variety of SSU committees/department boards, on the Fulbright scholarship committee, has given a presentation at a local Quaker community, hosts book readings, and, since COVID, goes to local beaches to pick up litter once a week.

It’s this continuous service at beaches that inspired Kiesbye’s latest project, the ‘Reclaim, Repurpose, Reimagine’ curated art exhibit. Kiesbye and Eileen Parent, an SSU art department lecturer, worked on a proposal for the Gallery Advisory Board last fall. Once approved, they partnered up with The Recology ArtStart Student Hub (TRASH) along with other artists who focus on environmental art to curate a show. What was just an idea a year ago turned into an exhibit that debuted at Sonoma State’s Art Gallery from September 4 to October 18.

“I think that’s also the beauty of it because everybody can find for themselves how they can engage the community, what they can bring into the community,” said Kiesbye.

Although community and in-service work are part of the tenure and promotional track, it’s not structured as a strict requirement where you have to meet a set number of hours each year.

Rather, it’s an ideal incorporated into the culture, a thought promoted.

Each faculty interprets this community and in-service work in their own way, resulting in a mix of the different services.

“Most faculty are actually contributing to all different levels of service in different capacities…University, regional community, scientific community,” said Lisa Hua, a biology department associate professor at Sonoma State.

Over her career at Sonoma State, Hua has been a part of many committees, currently serving on the FSSA subcommittee, reviewing research grant applications. Hua developed a new course that she is presently teaching, Neurobiology. A course she developed based on what students felt were missing from their curriculum. Over the summer, Hua also hosts a research lab where 15-20 undergrad students mentor local high school and SRJC students.

“Everybody will have something they’re really passionate about, and this is what I love,” states Hua.

For Cynthia Boaz, a political science professor at Sonoma State, that passion lies within academic service and community service. Boaz, along with two other professors, designed a new minor for human rights studies that has 3 required courses. One of the courses is ‘Genocide and Otrocity Simulation’, a course offered in the Fall. A key component of this course is a simulation of a real-world genocide. 

Boaz is developing an abroad course in the summer to study the Potato Famine in Ireland and its connection to genocide. She’s also an advisor for SASSy, SSU’s annual Social Justice Conference. Boaz volunteers at 2 donkey sanctuaries, one in Sonoma County and one in Ireland. And she’s on the board of directors for a non-profit, Corazon Healdsburg.

“I can go to bed at the end of most days and feel like all right, something positive, maybe small, but positive, nonetheless happened because of something I did today,” said Boaz.

Although community and in-service work are promoted within each department, a lot of what faculty members do is driven by passion. This service fuels passion for academia and asks people how they want to contribute to the community.