Designating a Course for the Certificate
In order for courses to count towards the Certificate of Community Engagement, they must satisfy one or both of the following sets of criteria:
Criteria for Service Learning Courses
- The experiential component of the course should be a significant component of the course, it should be educational, instruct students about community-engaged learning components, and be related to course content
- The experiential component may include, but is not limited to, volunteer hours over the semester, community projects or an internship
- Students should be required to engage in critical, meaningful reflection on the intersection of theory and practice
Criteria for Community Engagement Theory Courses
- A significant portion of the course focuses on one or more social problems or needs faced by a community and possible roles we may play, individually and collectively, in solving that need
- Faculty present community engagement subject material in a critical, theoretical and academic manner using current research in the field
- Students are required to produce some evidence suitable for grading (essays, projects, etc.), that indicates their critical reflection on the role of the individual, acting alone or part of a larger collective, in solving the social issue(s) discovered in their academic studies for the course