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Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement
Community Engaged Learning (CEL) II: Criteria for Courses & Sustained Experiences
The criteria for the approval of courses and equivalent sustained experiences are described below. Interested individuals should contact Patrick Donohue, Director of the Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement or Robert Anderson, Assistant Provost for Liberal Learning and Academic Advising with any questions during the Spring 2008.
I. Courses and Series of Courses
- Fifteen hours of work must be completed for an organization that addresses community issues directly relevant to the learning outcomes of the course(s).
- The work must be informed by course-based substantive academic concepts and it must meaningfully contribute to student learning of these academic concepts.
- Organizations can be nonprofit, government agencies, or community-related units of for-profit firms. While advocacy work is acceptable, the written work described below should reflect critical analysis of a community issue that is free from preconceived notions and partiality.
- The organization must work directly in the community; its work cannot be limited to research about community issues conducted through analysis of secondary data. When applicable, student work may take place on campus (if, for example, clients have occasion to come to the campus).
- The 15 hours of work can be direct (service to clients of the organization) or non-direct (work at the organization’s site with the organization’s staff), but cannot be limited to indirect service conducted outside of the community.
- The community work must be an integral part of a significant piece of written or creative work that is completed for the course(s).
- The written or creative work must display the application of academic knowledge to community issues, show an understanding of the role of an active and engaged citizenship in a complex and diverse society, and demonstrate critical and analytic thinking about society.
- The written or creative work must be part of the course’s regular assignments, e.g., a capstone project; it cannot be a separate assignment written for the purpose of meeting the community engaged learning requirement.
- Written or creative work completed for the course(s) must advance the mission of the community organization and be made available to the organization. Consistent with academic and other professional standards and ethics, work products that would violate confidences given by student(s) to individual members and staff of the organization with whom they have worked should not be shared with the organization.
- Acceptable courses can include regularly scheduled courses, independent studies, guided studies, independent research, internships, or theses that meet the criteria listed above.
II. Sustained experiences
- The experience must include a minimum of 15 hours of work that addresses community issues.
- The 15 hours must include a combination of direct service (onsite service provided directly to the organization’s clients or community members) and either non-direct service (onsite work in support of the community organization’s direct service) or indirect service (organizational efforts on campus to support students working with community organizations).
- All students must present written or creative work that explicitly addresses how they used their experience to apply knowledge gained from their academic experiences at TCNJ to the context of everyday community life, furthered their understanding and responsibility for active and engaged citizenship in a complex and diverse society, and demonstrated critical and analytic thinking about society.
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