Community Engaged Learning

Community Engaged Learning

Community Engaged Learning (CEL) at NJCU

Our motto is β€œEnter to learn, exit to serve.” At NJCU, students work with deeply committed faculty to evaluate areas of needed reform in Jersey City and neighboring communities, then reflect on their role in contributing to these reform efforts, during students’ university experience and beyond.

Community Engaged Learning (CEL) connects students to the broader community by integrating them into project-based learning outside the classroom.

Through varied environments, contexts, and experiences, members of our urban metropolitan university come face to face with community issues so they can begin to evaluate areas of needed reform and reflect on their place in these endeavors.

Core Principles of Community Engaged Learning (CEL) at NJCU

  • A strong interplay in planning takes place such that the community and agencies tasked with supporting specific populations are equally responsible for outlining the experiential opportunities for students;
  • Situations are anticipated and prepared for that will cause a need in students for personal reflection and growth;
  • Exposure to opportunities for identifying a pathway to a career, and to professional mentors, are also anticipated and prepared for by the NJCU community and community partners alike;
  • Key partners and populations may require that learning-driven activities take place over an extended period of time and over the course of multiple opportunities for engaged learning; and
  • Interdisciplinary approaches to CEL are often an appropriate faculty response in designing student experiences.

Community Engaged Learning (CEL) Courses at NJCU

These courses are developed with the support of the Center for Community Engagement, whose mission is to create and foster a commitment to lifelong service within the NJCU community by encouraging students, faculty, and staff to engage in meaningful service projects that make a positive impact in communities of limited means in Jersey City, Hudson County, ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½, the United States, and the world.

Useful Links

Co-Directors

Dr. Louise Stanton, Associate Professor of Political Science 
lstanton@njcu.edu
201-200-3574

Dr. Yufeng Wei, Associate Professor of Chemistry
ywei@njcu.edu
201-200-2309