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Community-Engaged Academic Pathways - Campus Examples

Page history last edited by Robert Hackett 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Front Page / Campus-Wide Integration / Community-Engaged Academic Pathways / Campus Examples

 

Community-Engaged Academic Pathways


Overview  |  Guides  |  Campus Examples  |  Documents to Download


  

Campus Examples

 

As described in the Overview and  Guides  section, integrative pathways with a civic or community engagement connection are emerging and evolving across colleges and universities. These programs are bolstered by current undergraduate students' interest in pursuing relevant and applied problem-based learning and social change. Pew Charitable Trust has produced research that suggests that Generation Z is interested in hands-on, applied learning and on social change. For many campuses, market institutional research has supported efforts for colleges to update their degree programs.

 

This is an opportunity to advance community engaged learning into campus-wide contexts. In this section, we present a variety of types and models. Several of them include issue focused pathways that are beginning to emerge in the Bonner Network and beyond.

 

On linked sub-pages, you can find additional context, profiles, and analysis, as well as links to relevant examples. While most of the programs are interdisciplinary, they often start through the initiative of a few engaged faculty, working closely with students and staff to connect their teaching and learning with experiential and civically focused work.

 


 

Civic and Community Engagement Pathways


As noted on the Overview page, the last decade has seen a plethora of academic programs in community engagement across higher education. Some scholars, including Dan Butin at Merrimack College, have advocated for the creation of formalized majors and minors, along with a set of outcomes and literature, that is characteristic of other academic disciplines. See Butin's “Disciplining Service-Learning: Institutionalization and the Case for Community Studies” (2006) or “Can I Major in Service-Learning? An Empirical Analysis of Majors, Minors, and Certificates” (2010), which you can download at Documents to Download. On this sub-page of Dan Butin's website, you may find Catalog and Links for more than 60 majors, minors, and certificates. The text on the Guides page provides a structural overview of these types of programs and the courses that often are included in their scaffolded models. The Bonner Foundation drew on the work of Dan Butin and the Center for Engaged Democracy, which has helped to create this list of related academic programs. We have supplemented that list with information from the Bonner Network. Below, we highlight institutions (part of the larger list) that are also home to a Bonner Program or were part of the Bonner FIPSE Initiative.

 

  1. ALLEGHENY COLLEGE: Major or Minor in Community and Justice Studies
  2. CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY: Minor in Civic Engagement and Social Justice 
  3. EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE: Major or Minor in Civic Innovation
  4. GUILFORD COLLEGE: Major or Minor in Community and Justice Studies
  5. HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: Minor in Civic Responsibility and Social Innovation 
  6. MARS HILL UNIVERSITY: Certificate in Community Engagement
  7. MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY: Minor in Leadership Development through Civic Engagement 
  8. PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY: Community Development
  9. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: Urban Studies & Community Development
  10. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—CAMDEN: Certificate in Civic Engagement and Social Change
  11. PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY: Minor in Civic Leadership
  12. SEWANEE: THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: Certificate in Civic and Global Leadership 
  13. SIENA COLLEGE: Certificate in Community Development 
  14. STETSON UNIVERSITY: Certificate in Community Engagement 
  15. TUSCULUM COLLEGE: Minor in Civic Engagement 
  16. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA—LOS ANGELES (UCLA): Minor in Civic Engagement 
  17. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: Community Engagement Scholars Course of Study (CESCS)
  18. WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY: Career Pathways — "Although each student’s experience is unique, there are several common pathways through our program. Coordinated interdisciplinary coursework, summer internships, and community-based learning prepare students for careers in the following areas: Arts & Storytelling, Economic Development, Education, Food & Environment, Health, International Opportunities, Law, Non-Profit, Policy"
  19. WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY: Minor in Service Leadership 

  

Consulting Corps Pathways


"Consulting Corps" models integrate coursework and other training linked to a major or certificate program. They often start through the initiative of one or two faculty members in a specific department or discipline. Some can grow into interdisciplinary programs. These models resemble the Bonner Developmental Model in that they involve a structured progression of learning and experience. They leverage the public purpose within a given discipline (like Business, Communications, or Political Science) by providing students with structured opportunities to apply their skills and knowledge by working directly with schools, nonprofits, and government agencies. For instance, On this sub-page, you can read more about Consulting Corps models and link to more information about these programs:

 

  • DUKE UNIVERSITY: Duke Interdisciplinary Social Innovators (DISE) brings together interdisciplinary graduate student teams that provide pro bono consulting services to social organizations in Durham and beyond. They provide students with the opportunity to gain experience beyond the classroom in a collaborative environment while strengthening the work of change makers at the intersection of technology, business, and public policy.
  • LAFAYETTE COLLEGE: Technology Clinic   
  • SIENA COLLEGE: NExT Internship   
  • WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY: Red Brick Communications
  • WHITMAN COLLEGECommunity Fellow Model  

 

Environmental Pathways


With the emphasis on greening campuses that has been promoted through both academic study and a variety of student- and citizen-organized movements, many campuses have seen the growth of environmental sustainability focused pathways. These pathways often prepare students for green jobs and for roles in a variety of sectors to curb and address the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. These pathways also link well with existing service opportunities working with local agencies, such as cities, on environmental projects, recycling, preservation, energy conservation, etc. and often can involve STEM fields. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Environmental Pathways including:

 

 

Food Studies Pathways


Working to address hunger has been a staple of campus-community partnerships for decades, with most campuses working with local food banks, meal services, family serving agencies, gardens, and programs (like Campus Kitchens) that share food with local populations. In the past decade, this work has grown to include research opportunities, with many faculty and students carrying out food security assessments. With the growing focus on food systems and the health implications of how people eat, many campuses have seen a rise in student interest in food studies. These pathways have a lot of appeal for graduates to work in a variety of sectors (such as farming, food production, restaurants, hospitality, etc.) but bring a focus on addressing inequities. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Food Studies Pathways including:

 

 

Poverty Studies Pathways


As noted, many of the community engagement academic programs include coursework on poverty, including its causes and potential interventions and solutions. Some programs, however, focus more centrally on poverty. These programs prepare graduates to address economic inequities through work in a variety of sectors, including social services, government agencies, public policy, nonprofits, and even business and law. Some programs, like Washington & Lee's Shepherd Program on the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty (according to one of its founders Harlan Beckley), were created to ensure that liberal arts students who often went on to private sector careers would value and be equipped to address economic inequity. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Poverty Studies Pathways including:

 

 

Social Justice Pathways


Several of the campuses in the Bonner Network have or are working to develop an academic pathway on social justice, including around race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other forms of societal oppression and inequity. These pathways have some elements in common with the general civic or community engagement pathways above, but they also have a stronger articulated focus on preparing graduates with the mindset and skills needed to promote greater equity and justice. We have developed several profiles of these programs (within and beyond the Bonner Network) as resources for campuses. Most of these programs include attention to issues of diversity, such as coursework on race in addition to class. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Social Justice Pathways including:

 

 

Social Action Pathways


A number of institutions in and beyond the Bonner Network have also been working to develop coursework on social action. This draws on a successful model developed and implemented over a decade at San José State University by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton. One institution in the Community-Engaged Learning Initiative, The College of New Jersey, is working to seed several of these courses in different disciplines. These courses also address civic engagement in a variety of forms (including through teaching students how to identify an issue, research relevant policy, and build a campaign or advocacy platform based on that research). They also address social justice. What distinguishes these pathways, however, is a stronger integration of advocacy, activism, and social action. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Social Action Pathways including:

 

 

Innovative and Integrative Curricular Pathways


Some campuses are exploring how to achieve a broader revision of the institution's curriculum, in a way that supports a majority of students to be engaged in integrative learning. These programs are happening in community colleges, private institutions, and larger public systems. They are also being piloted and grown through innovative higher educational models. On this sub-page, you can learn more about Innovative and Integrative Curricular Pathways including:

 

 

Online and Blended Academic Pathways


Online and blended learning models that focus on related issues of social change and justice also are growing more common in higher education, especially at the graduate level and for working professionals. The COVID-19 crisis will undoubtedly prompt more faculty and programs to develop community-engaged learning and service-learning coursework that is delivered online and involves remote engagement to build the capacity of nonprofits, schools, and government agencies. We hope to find and share additional resources, such as syllabi and case studies from faculty who have taught online and done remote CEL work. On this sub-page, you can learn more about some Online Academic Pathways, in which faculty already teach online including: