Southwestern University (United States)

Southwestern University is an independent, four-year, undergraduate, national liberal arts college located in Georgetown, TX. Discovery and creation are intentionally fostered throughout a diverse and inclusive community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, empowering all to advance research, scholarship, and the creative arts and lead fulfilling lives that contribute to the well-being of humanity.

 Consistent with Southwestern’s core values, their Office of Civic Engagement (OCE) offers differentiated educational and co-curricular experiences that encourage students to develop and act upon a heightened sense of responsibility to one’s communities. The OCE helps facilitate mutually beneficial learning opportunities that meet community needs and promote student learning.

Each year, 30% of Southwestern students enroll in Community Engaged Learning courses offered throughout various departments on campus. The OCE supports CEL in the following ways:

• Community-Engaged Learning Teaching Assistants (CELTAs) are students who support civic engagement pedagogy by supporting faculty in developing and implementing community learning partnerships. CELTAs become part of a core group of student leaders knowledgeable about community-engaged learning pedagogy.

• The Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) Fellows Program is a yearlong faculty development program that provides an opportunity for selected faculty members to integrate community-engaged learning into their pedagogy while becoming recognized campus leaders in community-engaged pedagogy.

Southwestern students are also encouraged to participate in community-oriented co-curricular activities:

• The BIG Event is a day of service that matches students, faculty, staff, & alumni with local nonprofits and community partners. The Sustain student organization, leads, organizes, coordinates and fundraises for the event.
• Science and Math Achiever Teams (SMArT) is a mentoring program that provides Southwestern University students with the opportunity to share their interests in science or math with elementary school students.