Of course, when done well community engagement also benefits community partners with improved capacities to research and resolve social problems, and more supportive campus-community relations. Faculty also find greater satisfaction with student learning, new research opportunities and collaborations, not to mention stronger ties to their community. Students achieve greater intellectual development in the form of deeper knowledge of the discipline, problem-solving capacities, critical thinking, and abilities to understand complexity and ambiguity, but also greater personal and social growth through enhanced personal efficacy, moral reasoning, interpersonal skills, intercultural competencies, commitments to social service, and even career development. The benefits of community engagement are well documented in the scholarship on teaching and learning for students, faculty, and community partners. Or, according to Janet Eyler, it is “a form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students…seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves” (2, also 3). Service learning, as it is typically called, is pedagogy that weds learning goals and community needs in scholarly service projects that, when done well, enhance both student learning and community development. Teaching students to apply knowledge and skills to benefit others or serve the public good is one exceptionally high impact method to foster these capabilities across the disciplines (1). Our world faces formidable challenges that demand the next generation of college graduates be capable leaders with expansive understandings of public life, honed skills of critical thinking, and the abilities to collaborate with diverse groups to solve problems and create change.
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