Office of Civic Engagement

America Reads and Viking Corps: Year in Review Archive

Year in Review: 2019-2020

A Year in ReviewAbout America Reads and Viking CorpsHighlighting Students' Work at Local Organizations | Student Profiles


CPL America Reads and Viking Corps student workers contributed 6,156 service hours while engaging and assisting a total of 8,302 Greater-Cleveland community members at a total of 22 Office of Civic Engagement partner organization sites.

These two programs employed 88 CSU students, many of who worked at more than one community organization partner sites. These students collectively earned $82,814.59 in wages.

Of the $82,814.59 in wages earned, $49,163.70 was Federal Work Study dollars provided by Cleveland State University, while $26,827 was earned through a Community Service Learning agreement the Office of Civic Engagement has with Cleveland Public Library.

CSU and the OCE care about the economic impact COVID-19 had on our students. The OCE decided to pay 50% of wages student's would have earned during the remainder of the semester, totaling $14,190.69 in unemployment wages. Of this amount, $6,823.89  came from the OCE's budget and $7,366.80 came from Federal Work Study.

America Reads Viking Corps StudentsAmerica Reads Viking Corps Students


About CPL America Reads and Viking Corps Programs

OCE partners with the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) at 13 of their branches, where CSU students serve as tutors and role- models for youth within the community.

Our Federal Work Study (FWS) student workers, in the Viking Corps program, were employed at one or more of the following partner organization sites: Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cleveland, Davis Aerospace & Maritime (Davis A&M), Save Our Children, Koinonia Camp, McGregor Home, and The Centers for Families and Children.

These programs benefit CSU students who are able to gain real-world experience while earning a paycheck that can assist them with defraying costs associated with their education. These programs are one of many ways Cleveland State University utilizes student Federal Work Study awards to engage and contribute to the communities that surround CSU's campus. This is done to serve the community without an associated cost.

Due to COVID-19, this valuable community engagement work had to be suspended. While the pandemic reduced the overall impact these critical programs had this year, they still made a tremendous contribution to the Greater Cleveland community.

America Reads Viking Corps StudentsAmerica Reads Viking Corps Students


​​​​​​​Highlighting CSU Students' Work at Local Cleveland Community Partner Organizations

​​​​​​​11 CSU student workers served at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School, contributing 397.9 hours and interacting with 1,314 students

6 CSU student workers served at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland, Broadway location, contributing 386.7 hours and interacting with 2,776 community youth

71 CSU student workers served at Cleveland Public Library, contributing 3,927.7 hours and interacting with 3,249 K-8th grade students

5 CSU student workers served at Cuyahoga County Public Library, contributing 465.2 hours and interacting with 561 K-8th grade students

1 CSU student worker served at the Center for Families and Children Circle Health Services, contributing 92 hours and interacting with 76 community members

*Additional statistics for other community partner organization's locations available upon request. Please contact Anita Ruf-Young at a.rufyoung@csuohio.edu for more information.


Click here to view America Reads and Viking Corps Student Profiles.