Community Engagement for Faculty
Community Engagement:
Connects the concepts of disciplinary study to the realities of human need.
By applying your classroom lessons toward activities in the community, your students can achieve higher grades, a greater sense of social responsibility, increase in critical thinking and writing skills, leadership skills, and more.
Community Engagement is significantly different from other forms of experimental education in that it:
1. Offers a balance between service and learning objectives;
2. Places an emphasis on reciprocal learning;
3. Increases an understanding of the content in which clinical and/or service work occurs;
4. Focuses on the development of civic skills;
5. Addresses community identified concerns; and
6. Involves community in the Service Learning design and implementation.
How Community Engagement is facilitated?
Community Engagement is a program where students learn academic content while they serve their community. Service takes place in the form of direct service where students on average spend 20 hours per semester with a community organization.
The Community Engagement program is a collection of programs and activities focused on community
needs. Faculty members select the opportunities and programs that best fits the course of learning
objectives and offer them as placement options for students. Students attend an in class training and serve at a single site throughout the semester.
Each program and activity may differ in focus, task, as well as requirements. Students should make sure their site selection has been approved for their course. During the semester, students are encouraged to
complete self-reflection entries while documenting their completed hours. Additionally, the Center for Community Engagement offers an end-of semester in class Reflection Session for student participants