About Us
Connecting Campus and Community for Public Impact
The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) advances ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s mission as a leading Hispanic-Serving, community-engaged research university. As the university’s hub for academic-based community engagement, the CCE builds bridges between campus and community to foster transformative learning, engaged scholarship, and public impact across the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ del Norte region.
Through its leadership in engaged teaching, scholarship, and partnerships, the CCE ensures that ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s knowledge, creativity, and commitment to equity directly benefit the community — and that our students and faculty grow through reciprocal, community-centered experiences.
The CCE works across colleges, departments, and disciplines to:
Support and advance community-engaged teaching and learning.
Build and sustain strong community partnerships.
Grow capacity for engaged research and public-impact scholarship.
Lead ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s participation in national and regional networks of community-engaged universities.
Provide data and infrastructure to document and strengthen ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s institutional commitment to community engagement.
Learn More About Our Core Programs and Impact
We foster authentic, reciprocal relationships between ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ and the community:
- Connect faculty with community partners and facilitate sustained partnerships.
- Manage and sustain ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s network of 190+ active community partners.
- Host Community Partnership Recognition events and regional conferences.
- Co-lead ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s participation in the Higher Education Community Engagement Southwest Region Alliance, advancing regional collaboration and capacity-building.
We help faculty and departments integrate community engagement into curricula:
- Support faculty in designing, implementing, and scaling community-engaged courses.
- Administer ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s Community Engagement & Leadership (CEL) course designation.
- Lead departmental initiatives to foster culture change and embed engagement across academic programs.
We grow ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s capacity for high-quality, engaged scholarship:
- Provide consultation and direct support for faculty pursuing community-engaged grant proposals.
- Develop and support faculty and student learning in community-engaged research methods.
- Support faculty with tenure and promotion processes by integrating community-engaged scholarship and facilitating external reviews.
- Host Faculty Fellowships to advance engaged scholarship and leadership across disciplines.
We help position ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ as a national leader in community engagement:
- Lead ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s Carnegie Community Engagement Classification process — now in its fourth cycle — strengthening national recognition of ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s public impact.
- Establish and manage ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½’s university-wide engagement tracking system (CUE + Faculty Success integration), providing essential data for institutional reporting and external recognition.
- Partner with ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ leadership to align community engagement with institutional strategy and mission.
Signature Initiatives:
- Carnegie Community Engagement Classification: ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ has earned national recognition through four cycles of the Carnegie designation, with the CCE leading institutional efforts.
- Community Engagement & Leadership (CEL) Designation: Courses formally recognized for integrating high-impact community engagement into academic learning.
- Faculty Fellows Program: Supports faculty leaders advancing community-engaged scholarship and practice.
- Engagement Tracking (CUE): Robust data collection system tracking curricular and co-curricular community engagement across campus.
Through its work, the CCE contributes to:
- Over 190 active community partnerships across the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ del Norte region.
- Hundreds of community-engaged courses that connect ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ students to real-world learning experiences.
- Growing recognition of community-engaged scholarship in faculty promotion and tenure.
- A strong culture of civic and community engagement that enriches both the university and the broader community.
"Working with the CCE helped me turn my course into a space where students learn by making a difference in the community. Our partner continues to benefit from the work our students do every semester."
- ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Faculty Member