How to Join Civically Engaged Scholars

Civically Engaged Scholars prioritizes access and inclusion in the designing of the program. The Self-Study Approach allows students with demanding responsibilities, both on and off campus, to graduate from CES while still accomplishing all the programmatic requisites. The main advantage of the Self-Study Approach is the time flexibility allotted to completing the requirements.

How to Begin?

To become a Civically Engaged Scholar, you first need to know the process of how to join.

Apply to be part of the program

The application will help you understand all that is required to get you from the starting line to graduation. You will learn about the Six Pathways and take the Six Pathways Survey. Once completed, the Civically Engaged Scholar team will reach out to you.

Make an appointment with the CES Coordinator

After Applying, the Student Civic Engagement coordinator will reach out to set up a meeting with you. During the meeting, you will talk about your application, create a CES Plan to graduate from the program, and ask any questions you have. You will be assigned to a peer mentor who will follow up with you after the appointment.
Meeting Time Approx. 1 hour

Meet with CES Peer Mentor after one month

When the initial meeting with the Coordinator ends, you will be asked to make another appointment in one months time to evaluate the CES Plan, the Six Pathways Strategy, and the Orientation. The Plan will contain all necessary steps to graduate from the program, as well as a request to check-in for thirty minutes every semester until graduation from SLCC.
Meeting Time Approx. 30 minutes

Check-in once a semester until you complete all requirements with the Peer Mentors .

The semester check-ins following the one month check-in are critical for you, as it will allow for any unforeseen barriers to be communicated and opportunities to be shared. These meetings are meant to be informal and the responsibility to schedule them fall on you.
Meeting Time Approx. 30 minutes

Getting Started

Welcome! If you are reading this, you are interested in joining Civically Engaged Scholars Program! Way to go! As stated before, this approach allows you to graduate from Civically Engaged Scholars on your own timetable. Let's get started by learning about the Six Pathways of Civic Engagement, as defined by the Haas Center of Stanford University! Please watch the video below or by clicking this link to learn more. Then, we will explain what you need to do in order to implement such civic pathways.

The Six Pathways of Civic Engagement

Community Engaged Learning & Research

Connecting coursework and academic research to community-identified concerns to enrich knowledge and inform action on social issues.

Community Organizing & Activism

Involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.

Direct Service

Working to address the immediate needs of individuals or a community, often involving contact with the people or places being served.

Philanthropy

Donating or using private funds or charitable contributions from individuals or institutions to contribute to the public good.

Policy & Governance

Participating in political processes, policymaking, and public governance.

Social Entrepreneurship & Corporate Social Responsibility

Using ethical business or private sector approaches to create or expand market-oriented responses to social or environmental problems.

Program Requirements

These are the requirements to graduate as a Civically Engaged Scholar. The CES program understands that everyone is navigating SLCC differently. Thus, these requirements can be personalized to your circumstance as long as you communicate it to the Peer Mentor or Coordinator during your initial meeting.

Complete 300 hours of Engagement

Requirements	Conceptual Hours	Community Engaged Learning Courses	Community Engagement Hour
What It Means	Learning about the Stanford 6 pathways through Canvas Course (50 hours)	Academic Classroom Learning Courses 3, 6, or 9 credit hours ( Each 3 credits CEL course= 100 hours)	Community Engagement Hours (50,100,150 hours)

Complete e-Portfolio
Attend and Present at Spring Showcase

Attend the Civic Leadership Conference

Graduate with a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA

Community Engaged Learning Courses
This requirement for CES consists of 1) registering and successfully completing courses designated as Community-Engaged Learning Courses, 2) create and complete a CES ePortfolio, and 3) graduating from SLCC with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
1. The required amount of Community Engaged Learning course (CEL) Courses will depend where you are in your SLCC journey. For a Live Link of courses that fall under the CEL category, http://www.slcc.edu/service-learning/student/index.aspx
2. Creating and completing a CES ePortfolio is necessary to graduate from CES. This ePortfolio can be added to any existing ePortfolio-- Digication is preferred. You will build your ePortfolio using Campus Groups.
Conceptual Engagement ( Canvas Course)

This requirement is the personal application of what you learn from the requirements in the Learning and Building Community segment. Being energized in campus and community change is difficult, this is why this requirement is meant to support your continued learning. This requirement is to quantify your engagement on campus and in the community, which is a difficult task. Nevertheless, Engagement is divided into two categories: Conceptual Engagement and Community Engagement.

. Conceptual Engagement is enrolling in the canvas course, that is an online course that is required to complete in order to graduate. During your time at SLCC, you will need to complete the canvas course and do 100- 150 hours of Community Engagement. You will learn more about the CES Checklist when meeting with the Coordinator during the first meeting.
Community Engagement
Community Engagement are experiences that take place in the surrounding community, virtually and physically This requirement is aimed at supporting your mobilization efforts. The requirements for this are; 1) registering and participating in leadership conference(s), and 2) participating in the CES Spring Showcase.
1. There are multiple ways you can participate in the leadership conference. You can attend the Annual Civic Leadership Conference occurring the first weekend of November. Information will be disseminated to provide more context for the CLC. You can also complete this requirement by reviewing the Virtual 2021 Civic Leadership Conference, requiring you to revisit all the break out sessions as well as the keynote session. Click here to visit the Virtual Civic Leadership Conference. The last option allows you to attend a leadership conference of your choosing and count it toward this requirement only if you receive prior approval by the Coordinator.
  You will need to submit a reflection in any medium, including written, oral, video, presentation, etc., in order to complete this requirement.
2. Participate in the Civically Engaged Scholars Spring Showcase by presenting your experience in relation to at least one Pathway of Civic Engagement. You can use the Mobilization Project reflection to satisfy this requirement. You are free to choose what you want to submit, including an AmeriCorps experience, or a class project. The Spring Showcase occurs at the end of the Spring Semester at the Thayne Center Banquet.