Vision and Mission
Vision
The CCE seeks to advance the public purpose of liberal arts education.
Mission
In collaboration with faculty, staff, and communities beyond the campus, we co-create community-engaged learning experiences to develop students into engaged citizens who invest their liberal arts education in the public good.
Core Definitions
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Community Engagement: Collaborative efforts to invest in the common good, contributing to the quality of life and shared democratic futures of communities within and beyond campus.
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Community-Engaged Learning (CEL): Education that simultaneously and equitably promotes student learning and addresses community needs.
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Community-Engaged Research (CER): Research that invests the pursuit of knowledge in the public good. Co-created by academics and communities impacted by the issue or practitioners, this research aims to produce actionable knowledge - that which leads to desired social change.
Core Values
Citizenship
We work to cultivate a sense of shared responsibility for addressing collective problems and realizing collective visions, recognizing that we each have a stake in one another's futures.
Place-Based
We seek to root students' knowledge and community-engaged experiences in the communities, environments, and contexts that we inhabit.
Just
We commit to equitable and inclusive practices in our work that embody the diverse, democratic societies we aspire to build.
Co-Creative
We use a co-creative political approach to build partnerships with communities impacted by the issues on which we work - sharing voice, power, decision-making, and meaning-making in every phase.
Relational
We build and strengthen communities by centering relationship-building rooted in a framework of trust, authenticity, and honesty.
Collective Impact
We believe that collective action of diverse stakeholders is the most sustainable, democratic, and impactful form of engagement.
Asset-Based
We believe all stakeholders in campus/community partnerships bring assets and strengths to bear on shared goals, and we honor knowledge, know-how, and perspectives both in and outside of academia.
Intentional
We cultivate informed, purposeful community engagement in which all people understand the assumptions and consequences of their actions
Holistic
We engage with students as whole people to impact their intellectual, personal, and moral development, cultivating life-long commitments and actions
