Community Engaged Leaders
Mission
The Community Engaged Leadership (CEL) Program develops civic leaders by cultivating students’ ability to integrate and apply learning toward solving complex social challenges. The program aims to focus students’ academic studies and co-curricular experiences toward a capstone project that culminates their college experience and impacts the common good.
PREPARING FOR THE PROGRAM
CEL Infographic
First Year: Explore. Identify intersections between your passions and community needs.
- Strong candidates for the CEL program participate in the following their first year at CC:
- Actively engage in intentional community engagement. Ideally, candidates will have engaged somewhere in the range of 75 hours, the goal for Community Engaged Scholars.
- Attend educational workshops through Changemaker Curriculum, and/or can demonstrate active engagement in related educational events at CC or in the community, as well as related coursework.
- Attend CCE Issue-Based Coalition Meetings, and/or other collaborative efforts to connect with others working in the same area
- Ideally, have engaged in ongoing portfolio-building and documentation of work
- Preference will be given to Community Engaged Scholars in the application process
THE PROGRAM
3-year Trajectory: Learning Goals & Commitments
Sophomore Year: Commit. Develop deep, systems-level understanding of an issue.
- Ongoing engagement and learning opportunities:
- 75 hours intentional community engagement per year
- Blockly educational workshop through Changemaker Curriculum
- Blockly Student-Led All-CEL Meetings
- Blockly Issue-Based Coalition Meetings
- Ongoing Portfolio-building and documentation of work
- Written reflections to book-end the year (beginning and end)
- Sophomore year specific commitments:
- Take 2 foundation courses that explore in depth the causes, consequences, history, or context of a social problem.
- Submit Course Defenses on Summit!
Junior Year: Organize. Through a “collective impact” framework, identify intersection of individual assets and gaps in community work.
- Ongoing engagement and learning opportunities:
- 75 hours intentional community engagement per year
- Blockly educational workshop through Changemaker Curriculum
- Blockly Student-Led All-CEL Meetings
- Blockly Issue-Based Coalition Meetings
- Ongoing Portfolio-building and documentation of work
- Written reflections to book-end the year (beginning and end)
- Junior year specific commitments:
- Take a course that increases your understanding of how to affect social change through either giving you skills to assess needs and solve community problems, or through teaching broader strategies and models of social change.
- Submit course defense.
- Submit Capstone Proposal in block 7 of junior year.
Senior Year: Impact. Gain experience investing one’s assets and passions into community needs.
- Ongoing engagement and learning opportunities:
- 75 hours intentional community engagement per year to include hours spent on engaged capstone
- Blockly educational workshop through Changemaker Curriculum
- Blockly Student-Led All-CEL Meetings
- Blockly Issue-Based Coalition Meetings
- Ongoing Portfolio-building and documentation of work
- Written reflections to book-end the year (beginning and end)
- Senior year specific commitments:
- Complete your Capstone project and presentations by the end of your senior year
- Graduate with CEL distinction! :-)
Become a Community Engaged Leader!
If you are currently a highly engaged first-year student who is interested in joining the Community Engaged Leaders program, please apply now! While current Community Engaged Scholars are highly encouraged to apply, any rising second-year student is invited to apply for the program during Blocks 6 and 7, with applications due April 21st. Students will be notified whether they are accepted into the program in late April or early May. We encourage you to stay engaged in the meantime!
