1. Community Partners Lunch & Learn
Office of Civic Engagement
Southwestern University

2. Community Partners Lunch & Learn
Provide a civic engagement framework
Introduce the idea of partnerships
Panel: University-Community Partnerships
Consider best practices for engaging SU student volunteers

3. What is civic engagement?
Civic engagement is acting upon a heightened sense of responsibility to one’s communities. Civic engagement encompasses the notions of global citizenship and interdependence. Through civic engagement, individuals—as citizens of their communities, their nations, and the world—are empowered as agents of positive social change for a more democratic world.

4. Civic Engagement at Southwestern
Volunteerism
Days of Service
Activism
Internships
Co-Curricular Service
Community-Engaged Research
Community-Engaged Learning

5. Volunteerism / Days of Service
Will use our network to publicize opportunities & raise awareness
Cannot guarantee volunteer placement
EXAMPLES:
Rock the Vote – ACL and Fun Fun Fun Fest
Austin Bat Cave’s Carnival O’ Madness
Cedar Park Library’s Fable Fest
Coats for Kids distribution
Harvest Fest 5K
Student Peace Alliance members volunteering at Austin Bat Cave’s Carnival O’ Madness

6. Extended Collaborations
Multi-visit, sustained over a semester / year / academic career
Sustained volunteering or internships (Career Services)
SU Community Garden members visit Boys & Girls Club 3 times per week to help revitalize BGC’s Garden Club.
EXAMPLES:
SU Community Garden / Boys & Girls Club
R.O.C.K. volunteers
N.E.S.T. intern
Literacy Council’s computer lab monitor
Family Eldercare’s yoga/tai chi instructor

7. Community-Engaged Learning
A course-based teaching and learning method in which students engage in structured service and action that allows them to apply what they are learning to community-based issues and problems. Students learn while serving, and grow through reflection on their contributions.
Relevant and meaningful service to the community
Purposeful civic learning
Enhanced academic learning
Community- Engaged Learning
Long-term partnerships (for individual students and between organization & SU)
Collaborative process of developing projects that meet learning goals and community needs
QEP focus on community-engaged learning
Community-engaged learning vs. volunteerism
“Out-of-the-box,” capacity-building, marketing campaigns, data collection and analysis, advocacy