Community Engagement

The Center for Community Engagement connects campus and community through mutual collaboration that creates access to transformative learning opportunities for the common good.

The Center for Community Engagement brings together a number of campus departments that work with partner organizations to strengthen and enhance our community impact by engaging students and staff in community engaged learning. We provide a centralized place for guidance, training, and resources to deepen and widen the work we are already doing through:

• internships
• global education
• community-based learning classes
• adult and graduate programs
• participatory action research
• summer camps
• student volunteers

In Elkhart County, we work with local partners to address the issue of the low rate of access to educational opportunities, specifically in North Goshen and South-Central Elkhart.

As Goshen College works with local and global partners to provide real-world learning for our students and contribute to the common good, we will be guided by these core values:

1. Reciprocity: Demonstrate a shared agreement with community partners that contributes both to Goshen College student learning and community partner goals.
   • Alignment with mission-driven goals for both partners
   • Mutually beneficial collaborations through strategic planning
2. Relationships: Establish with partners a plan for sustaining an ongoing relationship and collaboratively determining measures of success.
   • Open communication and transparency facilitated by deep listening
   • Trust developed in long-term relationships of respect and conversation
3. Reflection: Facilitate student/partner reflection on community work, including the dynamics of cultural and power differences and commitment to civic responsibility.
   • Attention to power dynamics and equity in all our community interactions
   • Participation of partners in program evaluation and reflection