We CU

Resource Library

From campus programs that support student learning to online databases, these additional resources can advance your community-engaged teaching. 

Resources

In addition to We CU's consultation services, we there are additional resources to support your community-engaged teaching. 

Community Learning Lab
The Community Learning Lab (CLL) in the School of Social Work creates and supports relationships between the community and Illinois students through mutually beneficial partnerships in the areas of sustainability, service, growth, and education. The CLL works with faculty to find an appropriate match and make a concerted effort to facilitate as many partnerships as possible between agencies and classes. While the CLL primarily supports community engagement within the School of Social Work, they have some capacity to work with faculty from other colleges.

Office of Public Engagement
The Office of Public Engagement’s mission is to embrace and foster a culture of trust and engagement that builds mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships. The Office of Public Engagement (OPE) serves as a bridge between the university and local, state, national, and global communities. The OPE maintains the Campus-Community Compact to address six critical focus areas that challenge our community: Accessible Technology, Community Relations; Economic Development; Health, Wellness, and Resilience; Inclusive Education; and Workforce Development. 

Siebel Center for Design
Siebel Center for Design (SCD) teaches and models human-centered design as a problem-solving approach to connect people, disciplines, and ideas. The SCD supports experiential learning through its Faculty Affiliate Program and Classroom Support Team, where SCD team members work alongside instructors to prepare experiential learning activities and materials that feature human-centered design tools and mindsets.

Humanities Research Institute
The Humanities Research Institute (HRI) fosters interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences at Illinois. HRI champions community-engaged research and teaching through multiple programs, most notably the Humanities Research Lab. This program provides support for tenure-line or specialized faculty members in the humanities who wish to take an existing undergraduate course and re-fashion it as a local community-based research experience.

Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute 
The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) aims to be a catalyst for interdisciplinary health research and innovation addressing personal, public, and planetary health challenges. IHSI’s Community-Academic Partnerships core creates and supports community and academic collaborations to improve health. Faculty can participate in IHSI’s Community Academic Scholars program as student mentors and attend their Community Seminar Series.

College units
Many individual colleges have units or offices of public engagement that support community engaged teaching.

College Unit
College of Education Office of Public Engagement
College of Fine and Applied Arts Arts Impact Initiative
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Office of Public Engagement
Gies College of Business Magelli Office of Experiential Learning
Grainger College of Engineering Illinois FACES Center
School of Social Work Community Learning Lab

Campus Compact
As the largest national higher education association dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement, Campus Compact enables higher education institutions to develop students’ citizenship skills and forge effective community partnerships. Their resources support administrators, faculty, staff, and students as they pursue community-based teaching, scholarship, and action in the service of positive change. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a member of Campus Compact, so all Illinois faculty, staff, and students can freely access their networks, opportunities, and resources, which include sample syllabi and reading lists.

Engagement Scholarship Consortium 
The Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) is a nonprofit educational organization composed of higher education member institutions. ESC works collaboratively to build strong university-community partnerships anchored in the rigor of scholarship and designed to help build community capacity. The ESC offers professional development webinars, grant opportunities, toolkits, and other resources related to community engaged research and teaching.

International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement
The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) is an international organization that aims to cultivate, encourage, and present research across all engagement forms and educational levels. The Association promotes interdisciplinary research on service learning and community engagement and builds the capacity of scholars, practitioners, and community partners to engage in such research.

 Getting Started

Course Development

Transportation

Risk Management

Engagement

Preparing Students

Reflection

Connecting with Community Partners

Celebration and Assessment

Assessment

Evaluation

Why Service Learning?

  • Corey Dolgon, Tania D. Mitchell, and Timothy K. Eatman, eds., The Cambridge Handbook for Service Learning and Community Engagement, Cambridge University Press, 2017.
  • Barbara Jacoby, Service-Learning Essentials: Questions, Answers, and Lessons Learned, Jossey-Bass, 2014.
  • John Saltmarsh and Matthew Hartley, eds., “To Serve a Larger Purpose”: Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education, Temple University Press, 2011.
  • Marshall Welch and Start Plaxton-Moore, The Craft of Community-engaged Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Faculty Development. Campus Compact, 2019.

Getting Started

  • Kathleen S. Yep and Tania D. Mitchell, “Decolonizing Community Engagement: Reimagining Service Learning through an Ethnic Studies Lens,” in The Cambridge Handbook for Service Learning and Community Engagement, 2017.
  • Principles for Anti-Racist Community Engagement
  • Cynthia Lin, Charity Schmidt, Elizabeth Tryon and Randy Stoecker, “Service learning in Context: The Challenge of Diversity. In The Unheard Voices: Community Organizations and Service Learning, pp. 116-135, Temple University Press, 2009.
  • David D. Blouin and Evelyn M.  Perry, “Whom Does Service Learning Really Serve? Community-Based Organizations' Perspectives on Service Learning,” Teaching Sociology, vol. 37, no. 2 (Apr 2009): 120-135.
  • Shannon B. Rinaldo, Donna F. Davis, and Josh Borunda, “Delivering Value to Community Partners in Service-Learning Projects,” Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, vol. 8, no. 1 (2015): 115-124.
  • Joanna D. Geller, Natalie Zuckerman, and Adam Seidel, “Service-Learning as a Catalyst for Community Development: How Do Community Partners Benefit from Service-Learning?” Education and Urban Society, vol. 48, no 2 (2014): 151-175.

Engagement

  • Sarah L. Ash, Patti H. Clayton, and Maxine P. Atkinson, “Integrating Reflection and Assessment to Capture and Improve Student Learning, Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, vol. 11, no. 2 (2005): 49-60.
  • Sarah L. Ash and Patti H. Clayton, “Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection for Applied Learning,” Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, vol. 1, no. 1 (2009): 25-48.
  • Robert E. Bleicher and Manuel G. Correia, “Using a ‘Small Moments’ Writing Strategy to Help Undergraduate Students Reflect on Their Service-Learning Experiences,” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, vol. 15, no. 4 (2011): 27-56.
  • Lori E. Kniffin, Patti H. Clayton, Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija, Mary F. Price, Robert G. Bringle, and Haden M. Botkin “Deepening Community-Campus Relationships Using a Critical Reflection Tool: A Multisite, Mixed-Methods Study,” International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, vol. 11, no. 1 (2023): 1-18.
  • Kristin E. Norris, “Critical Reflection and Civic Mindedness Expanding Conceptualizations and Practices,” in The Cambridge Handbook of Service Learning and Community Engagement, 2017.
  • Laura Selmo “The Narrative Approach in Service-Learning Methodology: A Case Study,” International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, vol. 3, no. 1 (Fall 2015).

Celebration and Assessment

  • Jennifer James and Kimberly Logan, “Documenting the Community Impact of Service Learning Coursework: Theoretical and Practical Considerations,” Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, vol. 7, no. 2. (2016): 17-36.
  • Leda Cooks and Erica Scharrer, “Assessing Learning in Community Service Learning: A Social Approach,” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, vol. 13, no. (2006):44-55. 
  • Sherril B. Gelmon, Barbara A. Holland, and Amy Spring, Assessing service-learning and civic engagement: Principles and techniques, Stylus Publishing, 2018.
  • Amy Driscoll, Barbara Holland, Sherril Gelmon, Seanna Kerrigan, An Assessment Model for Service-learning: Comprehensive Case Studies of Impact on Faculty, Students, Community, and Institution, Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, vol. 3, no. 1 (1996): 66–71.
  • Brent J. Goertzen, Justin Greenleaf, and Danielle Dougherty, “Exploring the Community Impact of Service-Learning Project Teams,” Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, vol. 7, no. 2 (2016): 37-50.
  • Kate Agnelli, “An Annotated Review of Scholarship: Measuring the Impact of Community-University Partnership,” VCU Scholars Compass, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015.