About Us
Engaged College Initiative
Five years into its mission to make community-engaged learning a hallmark of the Cornell undergraduate experience – and building on the passion and commitment of faculty, staff and students across the university – the Office of Engagement Initiatives (OEI) launched an Engaged College Initiative to complement its existing programs and grants.
In fall 2020, OEI, now part of the Einhorn Center, started collaborating with undergraduate colleges and schools that want to make community-engaged learning (CEL) a central part of their curricular, co-curricular and research programs. Each collaboration is co-designed by the Einhorn Center and stakeholders across the college. Using a wealth of institutional CEL data and expert insights from the Einhorn Center and college teams, the partnerships are customized to build on each college’s unique strengths and priorities.
Through the initiative, the Einhorn Center provides three-year foundational block grants, consultations and training — with the ultimate goal of building a long-term collaborative relationship that advances and sustains CEL within the college.
Read more about the initiative: Community-engaged learning to build on colleges’ strengths (Cornell Chronicle, Sept. 28, 2020)
Collaborating colleges
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
The College of Architecture, Art and Planning will use the block grant to support new and existing opportunities for undergraduate students to work directly with faculty on engaged research, design initiatives and creative work. The grant will strengthen the college’s ability to advance timely, innovative work that is relevant to cities, communities and other stakeholders. To support this effort, the college has formed an Engaged AAP Advisory Committee with members representing faculty in each of the three departments.
- Launched – Fall 2020
- College representative: Victoria Beard, Professor and Associate Dean of Research, Department of City and Regional Planning
College of Human Ecology
CHE is using the block grant to expand and support coursework providing community-engaged learning opportunities as well as community-engaged projects for students outside the classroom. The funding will also be used to increase opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty on engaged research.
- Launched – Fall 2020
- CHE’s Engaged College Initiative webpage
- College representative: Kristen Elmore, Research Associate, Assistant Director of Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement, Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research
Read “Engaged Research and Lasting Change,” an interview with Rachel Dunifon, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology (William T. Grant Foundation, Aug. 18, 2021)
Read Forum showcases community-engaged learning projects (CHE website, Dec. 1, 2021)
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
The Cornell SC Johnson College of Business has formed an Engaged College Advisory Committee to steward the initiative and build on established curricular and co-curricular CEL activities across its three schools
- Launched – Fall 2020
- Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Engaged College Initiative webpage
- College representative: Candace Maxian, Associate Director, Public Engagement and Experiential Learning, Office of External Relations
Read more: Cornell SC Johnson College of Business awarded grant for community-engaged learning – (Cornell BusinessFeed, Sept. 28, 2020)
School of Industrial and Labor Relations
- Launched – Fall 2021
- College representative: Ariel Avgar, Associate Dean for Outreach and Associate Professor of Labor Relations, Law and History
Faculty, staff and students from participating colleges have many options for getting involved in community-engaged learning. To learn more about college-specific programs, funding and resources, contact the representative listed above.
Remember, the Einhorn Center is still here for you, too! If you’re from a collaborating college and you’re looking for cross-college workshops, programs, events, networking opportunities, contact us. Our team is available to brainstorm about projects, share best practices, provide collaboration advice, discuss external grant opportunities and help connect you to additional resources.
The Einhorn Center also continues to offer grants to faculty and staff from colleges outside the Engaged College Initiative.
Learn more
Each college voluntarily opts into the initiative and is added in phases, beginning with a partnership agreement between the Einhorn Center and the college dean. To learn more about the engaged college initiative, email Richard Kiely.