Center for Community Engagement

The Center is recognized for robust community partnerships, involving students, faculty, and staff that positively transform our University and communities through a continuum of community engagement opportunities and public scholarship.

Principles of Community Engagement

We support the campus community and the community-at-large in developing projects and partnerships that align with these principles:

• Relevance
• Academic rigor
• Connection with Dominican's Institutional Learning Outcomes

Community engagement is relevant to course content, required by all students enrolled in the course, and integrated into course goals and student learning outcomes. Course goals respond to one or more of Dominican’s Institutional Learning Outcomes.

Community Voice and Interest

Community engagement activities address community-identified issues and meet course goals. This includes determining a timeframe, a required skill-set for students, and training requirements.

Reciprocity Between all Stakeholders

Dominican and community partners develop a shared vision and joint strategies; learn from and teach each other; and are accountable to each other. Community partners, as co-educators, participate in evaluating student engagement.

Critical Reflection

Students continuously analyze their understanding of larger contexts, societal and organizational structures, and civic responsibility.

Assessment

Evaluation of student, faculty, and community work is embedded in the course/project to measure progress made towards student learning outcomes, and community goals.

Dissemination and Celebration

Stakeholders are recognized for their contributions. Findings from the course/project are shared with the larger community.

Focus on Community Engagement 

Community engagement is a key part of every student’s Dominican Experience.  To learn about the opportunities students have to collaborate with community partners, visit our Community Engagement page.

Dominican holds the Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in recognition of exemplary institutional focus on community engagement.