Community Partners






Civic Engagement Advisory Committee
Community Based Learning and Research
Curriculum Council
CBLR Courses
Volunteer Central


The Fort Lewis College Strategic Plan and Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement believes that by engaging FLC students in community issues through curricular and co-curricular problem solving, service, and research, we can transform our students into informed and engaged citizens.  Community-based learning and research (CBLR) is the curricular component of the larger civic mission of the College.  The Center for Civic Engagement is currently working to create and sustain reciprocal community partnerships that will make college and community collaboration beneficial for our community and our students.

The Center for Civic Engagement also values and supports co-curricular community involvement and service as vital to a college-wide culture of engagement.  The Center often supports this student engagement through collaboration with Student Affairs staff on one-day service events and participates with campus housing and student leadership entities to develop and promote community engagement activities.  In addition to these efforts, the Center provides both AmeriCorps and Federal Work Study sites.  Fort Lewis is one of several Colorado colleges that provide students the opportunity to earn AmeriCorps educational scholarships for volunteer service in the community.  The Federal Work Study program coordinates placements which allow qualifying students to earn their federal award through work in the community. 

How you can become involved in FLC’s civic initiative

Your organization may find opportunities to partner with the College in a number of ways:  by partnering with a course at FLC to collaborate in community problem solving work; by offering students co-curricular service projects that further your work; by serving on the Civic Engagement Advisory Committee or the CBLR Curriculum Council; by offering students in need of court-ordered service hours a placement in your organization; by informing student volunteers of opportunities to earn AmeriCorps or Federal Work Study; by posting and updating your information on the Volunteer Central database.

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K-12 Partnerships: The charge of this committee is to build and maintain effective and mutually beneficial relationships between the College and local Durango 9-R School District.  Committee members will work with teachers, students, staff, and administrators in the District to facilitate partnerships with Fort Lewis College faculty, staff and students.  This committee will work closely with the Teacher Education program to assess how new CBLR partnerships with the District might best fit with existing placements of students in Teacher Education.

Community Partnerships: The charge of this committee is to build and maintain effective and mutually beneficial relationships between the College and local and regional community partners (for example: nonprofit and for-profit organizations; city, county and state government; and citizen groups).  Committee members will work with community partners to assess needs and resources within the community and facilitate partnerships with Fort Lewis College faculty, staff and students.

Faculty Development: The charge of this committee is to assess the need for faculty development opportunities and to locate, review and provide/distribute development resources.  Committee members will work closely with faculty from all departments to understand individual, department-specific, and campus wide need for resources such as educational materials and trainings, course development stipends, classroom assistance, and campus recognition.  This committee will work to maintain open dialogue between faculty and the CBLR Advisory Board regarding all aspects of the CBLR initiative.

Co-curricular Engagement: The charge of this committee is to support a College climate of civic engagement by locating and supporting student participation in engagement opportunities outside of the classroom.  Committee members will work closely with Student Affairs, Student Housing, The Leadership Center, Service Tree, service-oriented Registered Student Organizations, and others to develop new opportunities for student engagement and increase participation in existing service opportunities.  Committee members will also work to align these service opportunities with curricular opportunities for service to maximize the benefit of both to the community and to student participants.

Resource Development: The charge of this committee is to help advance the CBLR initiative by seeking and acquiring external and internal sources of funding for CBLR work.  Committee members will consult with the office of Institutional Advancement and the Grants Management office to find possible grant funding, opportunities for corporate sponsorships or donations, and internal funding for faculty or staff that may be used for CBLR work.  Committee members may also research other models of funding for similar programs at other colleges and universities.

Strategic Campus and Community Directions:  The charge of this committee is to gather and disseminate information about important College and community issues that might have a relationship to CBLR work (such as: student recruitment, enrollment and retention; local, regional, or national political initiatives; and departmental curriculum changes).  Committee members will identify these issues, communicate with key stakeholders, keep the Advisory Committee informed as the issue develops, and make recommendations for CBLR collaborations/partnerships.  Committee members may also have the responsibility of educating College and community stakeholders about the role that CBLR might play in their work.

Current Membership

Yvonne Bilinski Katrina Blair Jenny Bruell Libby Cowles Lauren Ellison Ken Francis Richard Fulton Lori Goodman Roseanne Kutzleb

Laura Latimer Jack Llewellyn Jen Lopez Mark Mastalski Don May Sue Morris Catherine Ortega Ross Park Ken Pepion

Joelle Riddle Angie Rochat Jennifer Stark Jen Shupe Carol Smith Rick Wheelock Hallie Whitney Marina Zimmerman

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CBLR Curriculum Council

Charge

The CBLR Curriculum Council encourages and facilitates the development of academically rigorous and civically conscious curriculum.  The Council seeks to advance the work of faculty who are engaging their students in knowledge production and responsible application of that knowledge for the common good.  The Council has developed criteria for CBLR course designation and will apply those criteria in review and approval of CBLR coursework.  During the course review process, the Council will work to ensure that approved coursework models best practices in the area of community-based learning and research while also carefully considering disciplinary goals and outcomes and the needs of the community.  Members of the Council will support the CBLR initiative by encouraging faculty in their departments and across campus to: learn more about community-based learning and research and participate in related professional development opportunities; engage in scholarship related to CBLR; enable their students to become civically engaged in our campus and community; and submit courses for approval.

Purpose

The first task of the CBLR Curriculum Council was to establish criteria for course designation.  These criteria are specific enough to ensure consistency across courses yet not restrictive of academic freedom among individual professors, diverse disciplinary culture and educational goals of departments, and individual needs of students.  The course submission and review process will be rigorous to ensure integrity of course selection but not so burdensome as to discourage submissions.

Through the course review process, the primary work of the Council will be to review and approve/disapprove course submissions from faculty and departments for CLBR designation.  Submitted courses can be existing, modified, or newly developed to meet CBLR criteria.  Council members will use the review process to ensure that approved CBLR courses are academically rigorous and civically responsible.  The Council will balance the needs of the academic departments, students, and community partners while placing priority on the academic merit of the course.  A fair and stringent course review process will lend credibility to the CBLR initiative by ensuring only courses of excellence in learning and engagement are granted CBLR designation.

The CBLR Curriculum Council will work closely with faculty across campus to provide feedback for curricular improvement.  Council members should be knowledgeable about campus resources for professional development and collaborate with the Center for Civic Engagement (formerly the Center for Service Learning) to make those resources available to faculty. 

The structure and responsibilities of this Council were informed by the structure and function of the General Education Council.  As changes in general education have impacts across the campus, so does the College’s strategic direction of preparing citizens for the common good through participation in community-based learning and research.  The CBLR Curriculum Council will thus play a vital role in the institutionalization of civic engagement at Fort Lewis College.

Membership

The Council is made up of ten faculty: two members from each school/division (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Business Administration; Natural and Behavioral Sciences; Division of Enrollment Services and General Education; and Teacher Education/Library).  The Chair of the Council must be in a tenure-track position, have experience in teaching CBLR courses, and be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  There are three ex-officio members:  a representative from the student body; a community representative; and the Director or Assistant Director of the Center for Civic Engagement. 

2007-08 Membership:

Ellen Paul

Gary Linn

Deb Walker

Phil Shuler

Cathy Simbeck

Gretchen Treadwell

Richard Fulton, chair

Minna Sellers

student rep – ex-officio

community rep – ex-officio

Kalin Grigg/Michelle Bonanno/Jen Stark – ex-officio

CBLR Course Designation Criteria

On April 25, 2007, the CBLR Curriculum Council approved the following criteria to serve as a model of best practice for faculty in the development of coursework and guide the Curriculum Council in a standardized process of course review: 

1.       The course has a formal academic curriculum that is rooted in the discipline in which the course is being offered.

2.       The course contains a set of organized community-based learning and/or research activities through which the student is engaged in meeting an identified community need and/or addressing a community problem through at least one of the following:

a.       personal and direct engagement;

b.      problem solving project(s);

c.       research.

3.       The course provides structured opportunities for students to connect their community-based learning and research activities to course curriculum and to reflect on the importance and value of their community-based work.

4.       The course facilitates a reciprocal relationship between the College and community through:

a.       the public contribution of the problem solving coursework; or

b.      a plan for ongoing dialogue throughout the scope of the project; and

c.       a method for communicating project outcomes including recommendations for future partnership possibilities.

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CBLR Courses

In line with President Bartel’s 2006-2011 Strategic Plan, Fort Lewis College will begin offering a Civic Engagement Transcript to FLC students beginning with the freshman class of 2010.  This transcript will be separate from students’ academic transcripts and will provide a record of Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) course work and co-curricular community engagement and volunteer experiences.  This transcript is currently under development by a campus-wide task force.  Please continue to check this link or contact Michelle Bonanno, bonanno_m@fortlewis.edu or 247-7183 for more information.

The following courses have been approved for CBLR Course Designation (to appear on the Civic Engagement transcript):
BA 496- Doug Lyon
MU 316- Mark Walters
ENVS 310- Tina Evans

THEA 460- Kathryn Moller

ECON 499- Deb Walker

MK 486- Simon Walls

ES 354- Cathy Simbeck

ES 356- Cathy Simbeck

ENVS 495- Brad Clark

Soc 320- Kalin Grigg

Bio 470- Catherine Ortega

Bio 250- Julie Korb

Comp 253- Erik Juergensmeyer

Psyc 300- Michael Anziano
ED 447- Will Camp

Please contact these instructors directly for more information about the community-based projects within their courses.