What We Do
Mission
The main mission of the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) is to engage students, faculty, and staff members in direct service, civic engagement, and community research to promote civic participation, build community capacity, and enhance the educational process.
Three Pillars of CCEL
Direct Service
Direct service experiences often involve working directly with community residents to meet an immediate need. Examples of direct service include but are not limited to: volunteering to serve meals at a homeless shelter, using academic knowledge to develop an electronic food-monitoring database for a food pantry, serving as a mentor or tutor in a local school or youth development program, cleaning up the banks of the Ogden River, or coaching a city youth sport.
Civic Engagement
Civic engagement experiences often involve raising awareness about issues of public concern and working more systematically through both political and non-political processes to create change. Examples of civic engagement include but are not limited to: attending organized discussions about pollution; community organizing; writing a letter to an elected official; engaging others in the process of deliberative democracy; or producing information about community issues.
Community Research
Community research experiences often involve gathering information with and for community organizations to solve a pressing community problem or create change. Examples of community research include but are not limited to: community needs assessment survey; water quality or scientific assessment; or program evaluation for non-profit organizations.
History
The Center For Community Engaged Learning (CCEL), formerly the Community Involvement Center established in June 2007, was established as a strategic partnership between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs from 2007 to June 2023. Beginning July 2023, CCEL will reside solely within the Acdemic Affairs division as part of High-Impact Programs. CCEL provides both curricular and co-curricular community engagement opportunities for campus constituents in partnership with local community organizations. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners come to the CCEL to create connections and opportunities to give and grow through learning and experience, and to build a community that thrives.
Carnegie Classification
Carnegie Community Engagement Classification
The CCEL received the prestigious Carnegie Community Engagement Classification in 2008, and again in 2015. The Carnegie Foundation's Classification for Community Engagement is an elective classification, meaning that it is based on voluntary participation by institutions. The elective classification involves data collection and documentation of important aspects of institutional mission, identity and commitments and requires substantial effort invested by participating institutions to tell the institution’s story around community engagement.
President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll
Weber State University received the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll every year it was offered before the program was discontinued in 2016.
Community Engagement (2022-2023)
Total Community Engagement
- Student recorded hours = 87,852.82
- Unique students = 2,628
- The annual estimated financial equivalent for community engagement = $2,763,850*
* $31.46/hour as estimated by Independent Sector: independentsector.org
Curricular Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) Hours
- 1,483 CEL students
- ~91,905 CEL hours (students required to complete 15 hours in CEL courses; not all hours logged in GivePulse)
- 367 CEL classes
- 174 CEL instructors
Co-curricular Community-Engaged Learning Hours
- CCEL Student Teams
- 41 students
- 3,637 hours
- Other Co-curricular Student Hours
- 64,654 hours
Community Partners
- 76 community partners
AmeriCorps
- 125 WSU AmeriCorps members completed the program
- 45,537.75 hours completed by successfully exited members
-
$85,430.26 in scholarship money awarded to successfully exited members
Excellence in Community Engagement
- 45 students
- 34,079.26 hours
More About Excellence in Community Engagement
Weber Cares Food & Resource Pantry
- 2,017 client visits
- 21,257.06 pounds of food distributed