Welcome!

The communities surrounding GPC’s campuses are among some of the most underserved in the greater Atlanta area, each with a multitude of community and environmental needs. High school dropouts, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, poverty, homelessness, hunger and food security, health illiteracy, environmental justice and sustainability, and immigrant/refugee issues are just a sampling of the many problems facing GPC’s surrounding communities. Since 1964, Georgia Perimeter College has demonstrated a commitment to meet community identified needs through service to its surrounding communities. In 2009, GPC’s president, Dr. Anthony Tricoli, dedicated funds to the creation of the state-of-the-art Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning as well as to the requisition of three full-time staff positions dedicated to civic engagement and service learning.

The Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning’s mission is to provide students with meaningful service learning opportunities in a collegiate community that values and embraces service learning and civic engagement and promotes service learning as an integral aspect of education. The Atlanta Center connects GPC to local, national, and global communities through meaningful civic engagement and service learning opportunities and also serves as a library of service learning and civic engagement resources. Finally, the Center also offers high-quality development opportunities for faculty and leadership programs for students.

The Atlanta Center serves as a resource center and central repository of information for GPC students, faculty, staff, and other community members interested in addressing community-identified needs through service learning and other forms of experiential education. The Atlanta Center supports and develops student leaders, sponsors student academic scholarships, engages faculty in the scholarship of service learning, nurtures community partnerships and relationships, and provides services to constituency groups engaged in making a positive difference in their communities through service.

Since 2009, the Atlanta Center has grown to a staff of 10 including one executive director, one director of sustainability, two service learning coordinators, one garden coordinator, two administrative assistants, two work study students, and one student intern.  Additionally, the Center relies on 23 AmeriCorps Georgia members to assist the college with its military outreach initiative. In recognition of the high quality of GPC’s service learning program, the college was recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll – with Distinction.

Recognizing that environmental sustainability and environmental justice are issues of primary importance to the students, faculty, and staff at GPC, and as a result of his shared governance process, President Tricoli responded to overwhelming interest in sustainability by authorizing the development of the Southeastern Institute for Sustainability, which officially launched on February 15, 2012. At the launch ceremony, Dr. Tricoli signed of a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. EPA in which GPC agrees to develop sustainability curricula that will serve as a model for other community colleges around the nation.

The Southeastern Institute for Sustainability is the first interdisciplinary institute located within the Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning. With the help of a diverse corps of faculty members who view sustainability through the lens of their respective disciplines, the Institute will endeavor to help solve environmental problems through the framework of service and service learning. This strategy provides students an opportunity to engage in environmental work that benefits GPC’s surrounding communities while at the same time improving the environmental literacy of students and community members. During the reporting period, GPC students engaged in significant service learning opportunities in the area of environmental sustainability, including the creation of community gardens, removal of invasive plant species, and river and waterway cleanups.  

Service learning is integrated into many departments and programs at GPC, including art, history, English, biology, chemistry, math, early childhood education, nursing, dental hygiene, geography, botany, speech, literature, foreign language, American Sign Language interpretation, ESL, and others. Examples of projects include dental hygiene students providing free dental care for immigrants and children, ESL students tutoring elderly immigrants at the community center, botany students helping with the local community garden, and math students creating fun math-centered game nights for local elementary schools. However, service and civic engagement are fully integrated into co-curricular activities as well. Each year, the college celebrates MLK Jr.’s birthday with a two-week celebration beginning on the MLK, Jr. National Holiday. Students are responsible for brainstorming projects and are heavily involved in planning the MLK, Jr. events. In the spring, Global Youth Service Day is celebrated with off-campus service activities, and in the fall, September 11 is commemorated as a national day of service. Service clubs exist on campus and many student organizations require service of their members. Finally, service opportunities are available nationally via alternative spring breaks and internationally via study abroad programs.

The Atlanta Center's library is open for study and research between the hours of 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM (except as noted) and by appointment, Monday through Friday. The Atlanta Center is closed on Saturday and Sunday.

Atlanta Center library materials can be checked out at the Atlanta Center to current GPC faculty, staff, and students. Atlanta Center library materials can also be requested and sent through intercampus loan. Patrons at other USG institutions can request Atlanta Center library books through GIL-Express. For more information on requesting and borrowing materials, please consult the GPC Libraries' homepage or use the GPC Libraries' Ask a Librarian services. The Atlanta Center library does not provide research assistance or library services beyond the scope of civic engagement and service learning activities. Please visit one of the GPC campus libraries for general library research help and services.

Last Updated: March 9, 2012