Friday, March 01, 2002
CONTACT: Sandy Scott
Phone: 202-606-6724
Email: sscott@cns.gov
Reingold to Head 'In-House Think Tank' on Accountability and Civic Engagement
Washington, D.C.-- Leslie Lenkowsky, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, has named David Reingold, a professor of public affairs and sociology at Indiana University, as director of the Corporation's newly reorganized Department of Research and Policy Development.The department has been restructured to ensure the quality and accountability of the Corporation's three major programs-- AmeriCorps, National Senior Service Corps, and Learn and Serve America-- as well as to conduct basic research and make policy recommendations on the most effective ways to encourage civic engagement.
"The department will be the Corporation's in-house think tank," Lenkowsky explained. "The goal is to foster knowledge that will enable the Corporation to fulfill its mission of achieving direct and demonstrable results, and to encourage all Americans to engage in service.'
That goal is particularly important in light of President Bush's recent decision to include AmeriCorps and Senior Corps in his USA Freedom Corps initiative, as well as his call for all Americans to devote at least two years of their lives to community service. As part of that initiative, the President has asked that AmeriCorps be expanded by 50%, to 75,000 members, and that Senior Corps be expanded by 20%, to 600,000 volunteers.
"We want to make sure our programs are having the optimal impact in the face of expansion,' Reingold noted. "The department will play an important role in monitoring the growth of our programs, while making sure that the nation meets the goal of the President's call to service.' He also said he hopes the department will "create a community of scholars and practitioners who can collectively advance understanding of service as a strategy to help solve social problems."
The reorganized department replaces the Corporation's former Department of Evaluation and Effective Practices. The principal focus of the new department "will shift away from training and technical assistance and toward using evaluation and research as tools for testing ideas that improve policy and program outcomes," Reingold noted.
Reingold, 33, holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Chicago and DePaul University before joining the Indiana faculty. He has worked with several state, local, and private entities to improve welfare and housing services, and has been honored several times for excellence in teaching.
Created in 1993, the Corporation for National and Community Service engages more than 1.5 million Americans annually in improving their communities through three programs: AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.