Course Rubrics and Applications

In order for courses to fulfill the requirements for the Certificate of Community Engagement, they must satisfy one or both of the following rubrics:

Rubric One: Service Learning Course

  • The experiential component of the course should be a significant component of the course.
  • The experience undertaken by the student should be educational and related to the course content.
  • Students should be required to engage in critical, meaningful reflection on the intersection of theory and practice and demonstrate that critical reflection in graded work.
  • There should be some measurable outcome of the service to the community, even if this is number of hours served on-site.

Rubric Two: Community Engagement Theory Course

  • A significant portion of the course should focus on at least one social problem or need faced by a community and possible roles we may play, individually and collectively, in solving that need. That is, students should be challenged to consider ways they might address the community challenge(s) discovered through their theoretical studies in the course as opposed to studying the community challenge(s) only.
  • Faculty should present community engagement subject material in a critical, theoretical and academic manner using current research in the field. That is, students should encounter course material related to community engagement from a primarily theoretical perspective, and not primarily through practical experience.
  • Students should be required to produce some evidence, suitable for grading, that indicates their critical reflection on the role of the individual, acting alone or as part of a larger collective, in solving the social issue(s) discovered in their academic studies for the course. This can take the form of a major essay or project that is presented for evaluation by the instructor.

Applications