Community Engagement Certificate
Leadership for Social Change
The Bennion Center Community Engagement Certificate offers a deeply engaged learning experience that is purpose-driven and action-oriented to address complex social and environmental challenges. Students are empowered to make a meaningful difference by understanding community assets as well as complex causes and consequences of social problems, recognizing and pursuing opportunities for change, working collaboratively, and taking thoughtful action.
Social change leaders know where and when change is necessary and possible. As citizens of their communities and the world, students are empowered as agents and advocates of hope, action, and the possibility of a more just, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable society. Coursework and experiences explore both the individual and collective roles in seeking positive and lasting change.
Community Engaged Learning and Career Development
Over two semesters, students will complete a capstone project while working with and in a community. Each capstone project includes significant community input. Students gain highly valued professional skills such as project management, leadership, collaborative communication, responsibility and response-ability, and commitment. Students finish the certificate equipped for nonprofit leadership, community organizing and activism, creating social impact at private sector firms, city/state/national government, or becoming social entrepreneurs.
Students who complete the Community Engagement Certificate will have the knowledge, skills, values, and confidence to create more just, equitable, and sustainable communities. By participating in the certificate program, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate a more complex and nuanced understanding of the root causes of
systemic inequities; - Demonstrate an increased understanding of the legitimacy of community knowledge—
recognizing the needs and strengths of a community, as defined through the lens and
experiences of that community—and how it complements academic knowledge; - Demonstrate interpersonal competency skills such as leadership, ability to work
collaboratively, problem-solving skills, and professional and ethical conduct; - Promote wellbeing, healing, and hope through meaningful connections that create a
shared sense of purpose and meaning.
The Community Engagement Certificate requires the completion of 21 credit hours, and is open to all undergraduates and all majors at the U of U. There are no specific admission requirements.
Students interested in this certificate should contact Megan Medina, megan.medina@utah.edu
Certificate Resource Quick Links
Student Course Planner & Certificate Requirements
The Community Engagement Certificate consists of 21 credit hours of course work with a minimum of 15 credits in designated community engaged learning (CEL) courses. A student must earn a “C” or better for all requirements.
Select one of the following:
- BENN 2030: Introduction to Civic Leadership
- Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, air quality, and access to healthcare are just some of the issues facing our communities. What are the root causes of these issues? Where do we even begin to address these large and complex challenges? This course will 1) introduce you to the theoretical preparation necessary to engage in community work; 2) guide you through learning, discussions, and reflections on the power of collaboration and community movements; 3) facilitate an introspective understanding yourself, your privileges, your identities, your talents, and your power to create positive change in the world; and 4) help you dive into a community engaged learning project that addresses an important community need.
- Fall Semester: Class meets Tuesday from 2 to 3:20 pm
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BENN 2020: Pathways to Community Engagement- The Pathways to Community Engagement course serves as a foundational introduction to the myriad opportunities individuals have to participate as active citizens. Students will explore and examine the history and key tenets of community engagement, develop an understanding of civic competencies, and participate in community-engaged learning experiences.
- Fall Semester: Class meets Monday from 3 to 4:20 pm
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LEAP 1200: Community Engagement Learning-
Community Engaged Learning (CEL) LEAP is a two-semester first-year learning community that carefully considers large-scale problems in our society, and how individuals (like you!) and organizations (like the ones you choose to serve!) work to solve them. We will analyze social disparities, conflict, and the potential for societal change. To deeply explore these issues in a hands-on, dynamic way, we will volunteer twice during class and you’ll do one shift of your choice. Our learning community is purposefully compelling, connective, and most of all – fun!
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Fall Semester – During the Social Science (BF) portion of CEL LEAP, you will learn how to utilize social science research to assess any claim made by anyone about any social disparity. These are mad skills you’ll use for all of undergrad, and will make you unstoppable for the rest of your life. Seriously… these are MAD. SKILLS. You’ll learn to:
- Find whether scholarly academic work supports or refutes any claim anyone makes
- Understand the numbers people throw around
- Identify the biases that contribute to various arguments and perspectives
- Basically, you’re gonna learn when and how to call bs… no lie, it’s like a super power
This integration of community service and social science provides a robust, meaningful understanding of a fair and just society. In this class, you WILL make a difference. We are surrounded by needs every day; after this class they will be visible to you in ways they may not have previously been, and you will be able to identify and implement solutions.
CEL LEAP FALL 2022
Class #
Subject
Cat. #
Sec.
Day / Time & Session
Gen Ed
17921
LEAP
1200
001
MoWeFr / 10:45AM-11:35AM
BF, CEL
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- May count toward general education or major requirements
- Listed as CEL in the course schedule
- A course on community organizing, policy development, advocacy, activism, social entrepreneurship
- Must be approved by certificate program director
CLICK HERE FOR Elective Course List
- A course that will further prepare the student for the capstone; can include a research methods course or a writing for research course
- May count toward general education or major requirements
- Must be approved by certificate program director
CLICK HERE FOR Elective Course List
Both courses required; courses must be taken in sequence
- BENN 5825/4825: Community Capstone Methods*
* Prerequisites: BENN 2030 or BENN 2020 and one course on a strategy of social change
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- In this course, students enrolled in the Community Engagement Certificate program will develop and leverage their civic values, skills, habits, and awareness, to meet genuine community needs in their own unique community engaged capstone project. Students will learn tools and strategies to help build capacity so that individuals, families, and neighborhoods can thrive. Students will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with faculty members and community organizations to design innovative solutions to issues facing their communities.
- BENN 5929: Community Capstone Practicum**
** Prerequisites: BENN 4825 and upper division elective
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- Students enrolled in the Community Engagement certificate and/or Bennion Scholars program will participate in a practicum experience to enact a community-engaged project, research, and/or programming. Building upon knowledge and experience gained from prerequisite courses, each student will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships to implement innovative approaches to issues facing their communities. Students taking the 3 credit course commit to working on their project for 50 hours and those taking the 6 credit course commit to working on their project for 100 hours over the semester.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Theory, Concepts, Critique, and Engagement; Academic and Community Knowledge
Students who complete the Community Engagement Certificate will be able to:
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Demonstrate knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of an applied researcher and understand the politics and history of doing research and engagement in diverse communities.
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Demonstrate a more complex and nuanced understanding of the root causes of systemic inequities (structural, political, social, economic, and environmental).
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Critically analyze how their own assumptions, biases, privilege, or marginalization inform their understanding of social and environmental justice issues and how their positionality impacts their community engagement.
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Demonstrate an increased understanding of the legitimacy of community knowledge—recognizing the needs and strengths of a community, as defined through the lens and experiences of that community—and how it complements academic knowledge.
Creative and Critical Thinking, Communication, Interpersonal and Intercultural Competency
Students who complete the Community Engagement Certificate will be able to:
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Demonstrate critical reflection and metacognition skills using diverse reflective modes from multiple vantage points; examine community challenges and make connections among community engaged experience and contextual factors.
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Demonstrate interpersonal competency skills such as leadership, ability to work collaboratively, problem-solving skills, and professional and ethical conduct.
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Demonstrate intercultural competency skills such as the ability to cross cultural boundaries and engage diverse perspectives to examine social and environmental issues.
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Demonstrate research skills such as the ability to identify, critically analyze, and synthesize insights around systemic inequities from multiple cultural perspectives; demonstrate a working knowledge of quantitative and/or qualitative theories and principles as applied to community change.
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Demonstrate professional communication (written and oral) skills that are respectful, bi-directional, and culturally sensitive; ability to demonstrate critical listening skills that help generate common ground with those from other positionalities.
Civic and Social Responsibility Beyond Self
Students who complete the Community Engagement Certificate will be able to:
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Clearly articulate an increased sensitivity of responsibility and commitment to the public purpose of their chosen discipline.
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Demonstrate values of social agency and the moral and political courage to take risks to achieve a greater public good.
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Clearly articulate the social realities and life choices available to different individuals and communities.
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Clearly articulate the connection between one’s actions and beliefs and the well-being of communities and society overall.
Putting knowledge, skills, and values into practice
Students who complete the Community Engagement Certificate will be able to:
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Enter, participate in, and exit a community with sensitivity toward systemic injustice and privilege.
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Design, enact, and embody personal and professional strategies, policies, and practices that work toward creating greater equity and justice in diverse community contexts.
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Promote wellbeing, healing, hope, motivation, and social agency through meaningful connections to self and others creating a shared sense of purpose and meaning.
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Practice integrative learning by creating knowledge through campus-community partnerships.
BENN Courses
All BENN courses are Community Engaged Learning (CEL) designated
Community Engaged Learning (CEL) courses offer community-based experiential learning to all students at the U. There are 100+ CEL designated courses each semester that provide learning both in and outside the classroom, working with a community partner to address complex social and environmental challenges.
The Pathways to Community Engagement course will serve as a foundational introduction to the myriad opportunities individuals have to participate as active citizens. Students in this course will explore and examine the history and key tenets of community engagement, develop an understanding of civic competencies, and participate in community-engaged learning experiences.
Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, air quality, and access to healthcare are just some of the issues facing our communities. What are the root causes of these issues? Where do we even begin to address these large and complex challenges? This course will 1) introduce you to the theoretical preparation necessary to engage in community work; 2) guide you through learning, discussions, and reflections on the power of collaboration and community movements; 3) facilitate an introspective understanding yourself, your privileges, your identities, your talents, and your power to create positive change in the world; and 4) help you dive into a community engaged learning project that addresses an important community need. Together, we will explore the challenges facing our communities, the Social Change Model of Leadership, and develop the civic competencies needed to make a meaningful contribution to a better world.
This community engaged learning course is the academic component to the Bennion Center’s Alternative Break (AB) experiences. Each section of this course and its corresponding AB trip is collaboratively designed by students, faculty, and staff, at the University of Utah to address social, economic, political, and environmental issues through education, community engagement, and travel. Alternative Break teams and this course will address critical community issues such as food access, illiteracy, environmental degradation, gender, society equity/justice, animal welfare, discrimination, inadequate housing, hunger, and poverty in cities and communities different from their own. The course provides transformative deeply engaged community learning experiences that help students develop their civic competencies and inspire them to generate new ideas, global perspectives, and empathy, that fosters active and engaged citizenship.
This is a community engaged learning abroad course (CELA) to explore the power of community engagement in an international context. We will utilize the history, culture, and civic issues affecting Monteverde, Costa Rica, as a living laboratory. The course is composed of weekly on-campus classes and a one week intensive in-country experience in Costa Rica over spring break. The course is the result of collaborative efforts between The Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, Learning Abroad, the Department of Political Science, Undergraduate Studies, and the Monteverde Institute. Central to Global Community Engagement in Costa Rica is the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of community-based experiential learning. We will consider and discuss civic leadership, community health, and collective impact to better understand community engagement away from home.
The complexities of Cuba cannot be understated. It is an historically isolated country trapped both gloriously and sadly in time. The U.S. Economic Embargo has taken its toll on the people of Cuba since the 1960’s. This community engaged learning abroad course invites students to take a scholarly exploration of Cuba—its history, culture, social, and civic life—through community engagement. Students will build community both with each other and with community partners based in Havana. We will learn about the evolving diplomatic relations with the U.S and the rest of the world, the daily issues facing Cuban families and society, the many misconceptions regarding the political dynamics of Cuba, and the rich scientific, literary, musical, scholarly, and cultural treasures that Cuba offers students and visitors.
In this course, students enrolled in the Community Engagement Certificate and/or Bennion Scholars program will develop and leverage their civic values, skills, habits, and awareness, to meet genuine community needs in their own unique community engaged capstone project. Students will learn tools and strategies to help build capacity so that individuals, families, and neighborhoods can thrive. Students will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with faculty members and community organizations to design innovative solutions to issues facing their communities.
The purpose of this class is to provide students with practical knowledge, values, and especially skills in dialogue practice. Dialogue is an integrated and culturally sensitive approach to relationship and community building that can help people both understand and bridge the differences that divide us, strengthen communities, and collaborate to effectively address the issues that challenge us today.
Inclusive dialogue is a communication strategy that fosters relationship-building,
community engagement, the celebration of difference, and social justice. Practicing
inclusive dialogue requires cognitive understanding, social maturity, appreciation
for diversity, and emotional sensitivity from participants and facilitators. Thus,
this practice-oriented class engages students in the process of learning the crucial
intellectual, emotional, and social frameworks and strategies that are required of
dialogue participants and facilitators. Students will participate in experiential
learning both in-class and in-community. Students will be challenged to self-reflect
on their strengths that enhance dialogues and their struggles that may hinder their
ability to effectively participate in and
facilitate dialogue.
Students enrolled in the Community Engagement certificate and/or Bennion Scholars program will participate in a practicum experience to enact a community-engaged project, research, and/or programming. Building upon knowledge and experience gained from prerequisite courses, each student will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships to implement innovative approaches to issues facing their communities. Students taking the 3 credit course commit to working on their project for 50 hours and those taking the 6 credit course commit to working on their project for 100 hours over the semester.