Community-engaged methods differ from approaches that emphasize one-way applications of academic expertise to community problems. Community engagement is a method, a strategic approach to teaching, scholarship (research, creative work) and service to address public problems through collaborative community partnerships, where community partners are involved in courses that:
Are reciprocal, mutually beneficial
Share risk, benefit, responsibility
Can be local, national, and/or global
With diverse entities (e.g., non-profit, government, private sector)
Community-Engaged (CE) Teaching Funds are designed to support instructors to be innovative in developing and promoting their community-engaged teaching. CCESL has combined multiple funding opportunities into a single, universal application. These funds support:
Community-engaged class projects
Development of community-engaged courses
Institutional capacity building (e.g., bringing together instructors who teach similar courses to develop collaborative ideas for community-engaged activities)
Community-Engaged Student Assistants
Professional development (e.g., scholarship of teaching and learning for community-engaged teaching)
Appointed faculty, adjunct faculty, postdoctoral and graduate student instructors may apply. Visit our Public Impact Blog to view more stories of community engagement.
I wanted to give students a resource for enacting radical democracy from within admittedly less than democratic institutions. The result was a sustained engagement with voter registration and education in combination with theoretical readings and discussions about the limits and possibilities of democracy...After participating in voter registration and education, nearly everyone in the class said that they will commit to being more actively engaged in democracy, including at minimum paying much more attention to elections and political news.
Community-Engaged Teaching Fund Recipient
Signature Faculty & Students Program
The DU Signature Faculty and Student Program recognizes faculty with records of excellence in mentoring undergraduate signature work in order to support their capacity to mentor collaborative, community-engaged signature work that addresses DU Grand Challenges issue areas. DU’s Office of Public Good Strategy and Research will make two awards in AY 2024-2025.
The 2024-2025 application is now closed.
Adding the Community-Engaged Attribute to Your Course
Did you know that you can add a “community-engaged” attribute to your courses that will appear in the Class Schedule? Tagging your course with the attribute helps:
CCESL in tracking (and advocating for) the breadth of engaged class on campus
Students in planning (they can even do a search for engaged classes specifically), and
You gain attention for your work and we can recognize your contributions!
Have you received funding, attended a training, participated in programming, or otherwise been connected with CCESL? We encourage you to indicate your affiliation with CCESL when you update your faculty materials in Watermark Faculty Success (formerly Activity Insite). Including this connection not only showcases your engagement and professional development but also demonstrates the broader impact of your work through CCESL’s support.
Learn about some of the research and scholarship work funded by Community-Engaged Teaching Funding, previously known as Community-Engaged Learning Mini Grants.
Note: CCESL programs, including this one, undergo an antiracist, anti-oppression review at least annually. In 2020, the review process led to revision of the program description and application materials; changes in the composition of review committee to include 1-2 community members; the addition of training for grant reviewers as well as information sessions for potential applicants.
