Welcome to the Community Engaged Learning Program!
The Community Engaged Learning Program is a signature feature in the School of Education (SOE) at University of California, Riverside (UCR). The goal of Community Engaged Learning is to enrich and extend the UCR coursework experience with applied, real-world learning addressing community-identified concerns while serving the population needs of SOE students, faculty, and partners. The focus of each experience is to encourage students to put into practice their learned knowledge of education theory, research, policy, and practice in ways that contribute to the mission of an educational or community organization through well-informed service.
"The Community Engaged Learning (CEL) program played a pivotal role in helping me find an undergraduate advising internship opportunity at UCR. This opportunity has provided me with the chance to collaborate with and learn from professionals in the academic advising field. Ultimately, this experience has helped me cultivate the skills and confidence necessary to thrive in a professional environment."
-Mahek Mandvia-Moulvi (M.Ed Higher Education Administration & Policy ‘25)
UCR's definition of Community Engaged Learning guides our efforts:
- establishes and sustains mutually beneficial, respectful, and sustained collaboration that creates a sense of collective ownership and reciprocal value for the campus (including students, faculty, and staff) and community partners,
- enriches the scholarship of the institution by accessing community cultural wealth and expertise,
- addresses community-identified needs and enhances community well-being, and
- deepens students' civic and academic learning, and promotes connections between these through opportunities for critical reflection and professional development.
Note: The SOE requires undergraduate Education, Society, and Human Development (ESHD) majors to complete 40 hours of Community Engaged Learning as a critical component of the degree requirement.
If you would like to contact the CEL team you can do so by emailing cel@ucr.edu.
Meet the Team
