Community Partners
Connect. Collaborate. Co-Educate.
Western Carolina University staff, faculty, students, and administration are committed to the University’s mission as a regionally engaged university and the work of creating collaborative connections that address critical community-identified needs. To that end, The Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL) has the privilege of cultivating reciprocal partnerships with community organizations doing impactful work across Western North Carolina. We look forward to growing our services and building strong relationships with community partners, both established and new.
Connection Opportunities
There are many ways that community organizations can collaborate with CCESL!
- Learn more about CCESL's connection pathways and offerings to community partners.
- Download our Community Partner Handbook.
Community Coffee Conversations
CCESL hosts bi-monthly Community Coffee Conversations for community partners to interface with CCESL staff, learn about new ways to connect with CCESL, network with each other, and enjoy light refreshments!
Fall 2024 Schedule
Thursday, August 29th at 9:30am | Thursday, November 7th at 9:30am
Community-Engaged Courses
Service-Learning Courses (SLC) employ service-learning pedagogy throughout the instructional design of a credit-bearing course. These courses integrate critical reflection and purposeful community service as central teaching strategies to achieve the following goals.
- Deepen students’ knowledge of academic course content
- Create benefits for the public, addressing a community-identified need
- Strengthen students’ sense of civic responsibility to local, regional, national, or global issues
SLCs require at least 10 hours applied to the service work during the term and more typically involve 15-30 hours. The service may involve direct, indirect, research, or advocacy approaches.
Interested? To begin a conversation about partnering with a service-learning course, reach out to CCESL’s Associate Director for a consultation.
Community Experience Courses (CEC) are credit-bearing courses in which faculty meaningfully incorporate and contextualize one or more community-engaged components from a range of possibilities such as intensive field education placements to volunteerism, site visits, or other innovations. The common theme in CECs is that one or more of the course activities engage students with community partners in reciprocal, collaborative, and respectful exchanges around community issues.
- May be broad and/or diverse
- Expose students to issue and skills outside of the classroom
- Generate understanding about public issues from individuals with practical or lived experience
Interested? To begin a conversation about partnering with a community experience course, reach out to CCESL’s Associate Director for a consultation.
Volunteer Support & Educational Event Advertising
- CCESL is committed to sharing your volunteer opportunities with our students, faculty, and staff. Fill out this survey to submit information to have your opportunity posted on Engage.
- Interested in collaborating directly with registered student organizations? Complete this form to get connected.
- Valley Ballyhoo is a great way for community partners to interact with students during WCU’s Week of Welcome at the start of each fall semester. Learn more.
- WCU also offers year-round on-campus tabling opportunities for community partners to recruit volunteers. Contact Campus Activities Guest Services at dcaguestservices@wcu.edu or 828.277.7222.
- Having an educational event that you’d like students to attend as participants? Fill out this survey to have your event advertised on Engage. On-campus events will also be advertised on CCESL’s social media platforms.
- Need interns or seeking to hire? Visit the Center for Career and Professional Development website to learn about ways to post internships and jobs for WCU students to apply for.
Professional Development
CCESL will offer Lunch and Learn professional development opportunities. These will be either in-person or virtual webinars.
Spring 2024 Schedule
- Preventing Burn Out and Compassion Fatigue: Tuesday, February 20 from 12pm-1pm. In-person at WCU. Facilitated by CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services).
- Basics of Social Media: Thursday, April 11 from 12pm-1pm. Webinar. Facilitated by WCU University Communications and Marketing.
Community Partners are invited to join CCESL at national community engagement conferences as both attendees and presenters. CCESL will provide a limited number of scholarships to interested partners.
Spring 2025 Offering
PACE Conference – February 12, 2025
North Carolina Campus Engagement’s annual Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement (PACE)
Conference seeks to grow and share the practice and scholarship of higher education
community and civic engagement.
WNC Nonprofit Pathways Opportunities
WNC Nonprofit Pathways offers skill building services to nonprofit leaders, staff, board members, and volunteers located in NC’s 18 western counties to strengthen organizations and support sustainability. They provide free, public webinars on a variety of topics.
They also offer professional development classes that can be taken individually or in a sequence to complete their Nonprofit Fundamentals Certificate Program. Classes are $50 for organizations with a budget above $50,000.
