Community Engaged and Service Learning Courses

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Community Engaged and Service Learning courses at UAA are foundational to UAA's identity as "Community Engaged Institution." These courses not only benefit UAA faculty and the student experience, but they offer valuable collaboration and service with partners in the Anchorage, Kenai, Valdez, Mat-Su, and Homer communities. To get started in your community engagement journey at UAA, we have information for faculty on how to classify your course, and information for students on what courses are currently available.

 

Information on CE/SL courses

Designating your course as Community Engaged/Service Learning

The UAA Faculty Senate approved new definitions for community engaged academic curriculum in Spring 2014. The Community Engagement designation (CE) encompasses a broad range of ways that courses might engage students in learning about and taking action for the public good. Courses with the Service Learning designation (SL) are a subset of that broad range meeting additional criteria. A course may be designated CE or SL but not both.

The absence of accurate data on classroom engagement led to the course designation process and is critical to our having a mechanism for capturing, assessing, and reporting academic engagement at UAA. Capturing this data, assessing it, and reporting out are integral to UAA's accreditation reports and to our continued status as a Carnegie Engaged University.

Not sure if your course should be designated, or which designation to use? You can read about the definitions, and find instructions on how to enter the designations. If you have any questions, reach out to us at uaa.ccel@alaska.edu. 

Definitions

  • Service Learning

    Service Learning (SL)

    The SL designation, by definition, asks more of the faculty and the students in designing a significant experience based in the community and asks that issues of impact, sustainability and reciprocity be addressed with the community partner. Additional guidelines are to prepare students for service roles, structure reflection, and address evaluation of impact for students and community.

    A Service Learning course is a Community-Engaged course which integrates the service learning more deeply and more intentionally. At a minimum, the course should have:

    • Service: significant community-based work work defined in response to a need or aspiration presented by one or more partnering community organizations and for which core issues of impact, sustainability and reciprocity have been addressed.
    • Clear linkage between the service and student learning outcomes: both academic and civic learning are addressed, and this is communicated in the syllabus.
    • Preparation for service: students are prepared for the roles they will play, including engaging respectfully with a community that may differ significantly in race, class, age, or other elements of social identity.
    • Structured reflection: intentional, systematic reflection on students' experience in the community is integrated throughout the course, not added as a one-time or final assignment. Reflection activities may include talking, writing or other means, and may be individual, group-based, or both.
    • Evaluation: assessment of student learning and community impact has been planned. This could consist of asking the CCEL to survey the community partner and students, or could be instructor-designed assessment activities.
  • Community Engaged

    Community Engaged (CE)

    The designation of a CE course may apply to a broad spectrum of courses that could include a wide variety of experiences and activities. There may be a portion of the course or a set of assignments that require the students' interaction with the community and/or community issues that does not carry throughout the semester. Activities might be indirect or direct service to a community organization or individuals and could potentially take place entirely in the classroom. The broad definition may sometimes capture work that is exploratory for faculty beginning to engage with community in their courses, bring an application of theory to practice that is appropriate for only part of a course, or requires a relatively low level of community interaction due to large course size or other considerations that do not favor intensive engagement.

    A Community Engaged course involves the student(s) in some kind of work outside of the classroom that contributes to the public good. At a minimum, the course should:

    • Design and implement the community work with appropriate community input so that the students' efforts will provide an identifiable public benefit rather than a community burden.
    • Clearly link the community work to student learning outcomes in the syllabus.
    • Engage students in some oral or written reflection that explores their experience of engagement and connects it with the course learning goals.

Definitions Approved by UAA Faculty Senate on March 7, 2014
Definitions and parameters were taken and modified from University of Massachusetts Amherst Office of Civic & Service Learning  

How to Designate UAA Courses

Department schedulers can designate courses through the CLSS online scheduling system, hosted by the UAA Office of the Registrar. To request access to CLSS please contact uaa_publications@alaska.edu.  Basic instructions to help you get started in CLSS can be found on the Curric website.

To designate a course:

  1. Enter the Banner code, SL or CE, in the 'Attn Method' field, located in the enrollment section of the Edit Section window
  2. Click 'Save Section'
  3. Repeat for each course and section, if there is more than one section

Individual or Departmental Consultations

Need help? Contact CCEL at uaa.ccel@alaska.edu.

Take a Community Engaged Course

Are you interested in connecting your in-class learning to community issues? Or would you like a hands-on opportunity to assist a faculty member with their community-focused research or project? Those are just a few of the ways that UAA students can connect their learning to their community. Read about the community engagement opportunities available at UAA below. 

Civic Engagement (CEL) Courses

Whether you are interested in environmental policy, arts, economics, or anything in between, civic engagement courses can help you broaden the reach of your professional and academic goals.

Course Descriptions

  • CEL A292- Introduction to Civic Engagement

    Introduces students to types of civic engagement in a democracy, practices of engagement and inquiry, and public issues of ethics, environmental sustainability, community building and human and civil rights through reading, reflections and community inquiry.  A service-learning component is included and a required part of the course.

    3 Credit Hours

  • CEL A395-Civic Engagement Internship

    Internship in which student gains intensive experience applying principles of civic engagement and major-disciplinary knowledge and skills to a community-identified problem.  Students complete approximately 135 hours, usually in a community non-profit or government agency. 

    6 Credit Hours

Available CEL Courses by Semester

 

Internship

CEL Internship (CEL A395) is a 3-9 credit internship which may be completed in one or two semesters. In addition, students declared in any major may take the CEL internship as an upper division elective for 3-9 hours.

The CEL internship is designed to enhance your total academic experience through a planned period of observation, study, and participation in a selected community agency or organization. The internship is viewed as an integrative experience for your academic work and as real-life experience in participating civically in your community. 

Getting Started

  • General Requirements

    A student in any declared major is eligible for a CCEL internship placement. The internship is structured as an upper-division course and you should have junior or senior level standing to register for the course. Some firms and agencies enforce standards requiring background and records checks. Consequently, you may be required to authorize related investigations and checks as a condition of acceptance.

  • Application Process

    Identifying the right internship placement for qualified students is a process that profits from advance planning. Internship applicants should notify their advisor of their intent to enroll in the program by the end of the semester preceding that in which they intend to serve their internship. For example, if you are planning to do your internship in the spring, it would be best to notify your advisor and set the process in motion prior to the end of the fall semester.

    Application materials listed below must be completed and submitted to the CCEL office for the student to be considered for placement in a CCEL internship. These required materials include:

    1. Internship Application and Information Release Forms via DocuSign Power Form (OR use the printable PDF version of our Internship Application and email it to uaa.ccel@alaska.edu).
    2. Resume (email resume to uaa.ccel@alaska.edu)
  • Placement Options

    There are many internship opportunities! You can complete your internship with a local organization or you can find an opportunity elsewhere. Although we can offer suggestions, it is up to the student to find an appropriate internship.  Students interested in pursuing internship opportunities should contact the CCEL Main Office at 907-786-4062 to discuss possible placements.

  • Placement Process
     To complete your internship you must:
      1. Receive notification that application will be accepted and placement made.
      2. Meet with the CEL Program Chair to discuss your readiness and appropriateness for a CEL internship the semester prior to placement.
      3. Complete the application materials by designated date.
      4. Identify an appropriate internship placement and have it approved by the internship instructor.
      5. Register for the appropriate number of CEL 395 credits (at least 3 and up to 9 credits).
      6. Complete and submit the required form prior to the beginning of the internship: 
        1. Internship Packet via DocuSign PowerForm OR you can use the fillable PDF version and email it to uaa.ccel@alaska.edu
      7. Attend scheduled class meetings and submit assignments as outlined in syllabus.
      8. Track your hours using the Internship Hours Log or alternative.

Frequently Asked Internship Questions

  • Will I be paid?

    Internships are usually unpaid, but we do not preclude your being paid.

  • What is the benefit?

    Interns benefit greatly from the opportunity to observe and work with practitioners in the field.

    As interns, you are challenged with opportunities to apply concepts and principles learned in the classroom, to network with professionals in the community, and to analyze on the-job experiences in light of academic learning.

  • How many hours do I have to work to satisfy the requirement?

    Three credits is equivalent to approximately 135 hours, which is roughly nine hours a week for 15 weeks. If your internship is shorter in duration then you must work more hours a week. How many credits you can count towards an internship depends on how many hours you put into your experience. This work must be supervised, though each of the hours need not occur in the physical confines of the placement site.

  • Will I be graded on my performance as an intern?

    Yes. This is a graded course. Your grade will be based on the evaluation of your site supervisor, your instructor’s assessment of reflection assignments, your final product and the timeliness and thoroughness of your other assignments.

  • Can I complete my internship hours before or after the academic term?

    No. All internship hours submitted for academic credit must be earned during the academic term in which the student has registered for the CEL A395 course. Students may not earn hours prior to their enrollment in the class or before the class begins.

  •  What if I do not get along with my site supervisor or things are not going as planned?

    If you have any problems or concerns during the course of your internship, you should contact your instructor immediately.

  • What is the learning contract, and where do I find one?

    The learning contract is an agreement between you, your site supervisor and your instructor. It establishes the purpose and structure of the internship as agreed between you and your placement site, then approved by your advisor. The contract is unique to your internship. You are required to draft the contract, and perform your internship according to its terms. It can be found in the class Blackboard site or you may request a copy through email from the CCEL Main Office at uaa.ccel@alaska.edu.

  • What is the point of the internship reflection assignments?

    The reflection assignments serve several purposes. First, the reflections document your compliance with the terms of your internship contract. Second, they identify the type of work you performed and the work product generated during your internship. Third, as a contemporaneous record reflecting on your work and experience, they provide useful information in completing your final paper requirement.

  • Is there anything else I should know?

    Yes, in order to pass this course you must have a passing grade in every element of your internship experience (see syllabus for details).

  • You will likely have lots of questions, so please ask them!

    Contact the CCEL Main Office via email at uaa.ccel@alaska.edu or 907-786-4062. At the time that the course begins, your instructor will supply their phone number and email address for communication.