In summer 2020, following the global shutdowns in response to COVID-19, we were forced to rethink our traditional catalogue of community-engaged learning (CEL) programming.
One of the ways that we responded to the pandemic was to send a survey to students (Community-University Engagement Summer 2020) to gauge what would best support students and how they would like to engage with community partners. Of the 146 students who responded to this survey, 144 said that they would like to support a community partner in the summer. They indicated that they were available anywhere between three and 24 hours per week to volunteer, listing several different themes/causes they would like to support.
This overwhelming response from students led us to run summer programming and to rapidly develop the new Community Action Groups (CAGs) program and revise the Community Action Projects (CAPs) program.
- Community Action Groups: 153 students worked with 7 community partners on 2rounds of projects (summer 2020 and winter 2021)
- Community Action Projects: 260 students worked with 48 community partners over two rounds of the program (summer 2020; fall 2020-winter 2021)