2024-27 Strategic Plan

Mission

The Center for Community Engagement prepares students for lives of meaning and impact through partnerships with local, domestic, and global communities. Our experiential learning programs work to strengthen communities and contribute to the public good.

Vision

We envision a just and inclusive society where college and community partners collaborate to build and sustain thriving communities.

Values

Justice: We value actions that honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person.

Connection:  We value collaborative relationships, the effort required to sustain them, and the process of imagining and building shared visions.

Learning: We value the cultivation of lifelong curiosity about ourselves, others, our communities, and our world.

Commitments

We commit to practicing our values across our work—as a Center for Community Engagement team, in our relationships, and as individuals.

Justice practices: We center inclusion, access, and equity across our work by seeking out, engaging with, and uplifting diverse viewpoints and experiences. We recognize and nurture the potential of individuals and communities. We foster critical awareness of ourselves, systemic power dynamics, and the potential to inadvertently perpetuate harm. We consider conflict an opportunity for constructive change.

Connection practices: We cultivate humility, openness, and empathy to build sturdy relationships. We create and join spaces that elicit, honor, and foster a variety of perspectives. We make decisions collaboratively and work to ensure our partnerships with communities are reciprocally beneficial. We are transparent with our intentions.

Learning practices: We embrace curiosity, continuously learning from others. We listen, reflect, share our perspectives, and are open to change. We ground our practices in evidence and experience. We recognize there are multiple ways of knowing, doing, and being, and this gives us the courage to approach our work with creativity, wonder, and playfulness.

Learning Outcomes

Across our work, we support student learning in three areas:

Cultivate Students’ Civic Knowledge: What systems and structures do students need to understand to work effectively in your communities? CCE experiences forge meaningful relationships that complicate assumptions and inspire students to want to expand their understanding of complex social systems and how social change works.

Build Students’ Civic Skills: What practices and abilities help students collaborate with others in ethical ways? Community connected learning experiences allow students to develop and hone skills that allow them to contribute effectively with others— like how to enter diverse communities respectfully, facilitate groups effectively, and get things done in teams that include people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Strengthen Students’ Civic Identities: Who are students in their local and global communities? How will they engage? Ultimately, these experiences spark students’ commitment to be contributors in our world going forward. Instead of waiting for an ideal world, they know that taking action— imperfectly in the here and now— is how we function as a democracy and design a more just world.

Strategic Goals and Objectives

Four strategic areas outline our key objectives and the actions needed to meet these objectives. The strategic areas identified include: Access and Partnerships, Civic Leadership Development, Academic Integration, and Intercultural and Global Learning. These are explained in further detail below.