Civic Engagement
Elon University is a national leader in Civic Engagement, serving as one of the model campuses for the Carnegie Classification on Civic Engagement and is recognized as one of the nation’s top universities for community service by earning a Presidential Award in the first President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. See our programs page for a full list of Elon’s civic engagement programs.
The Council on Civic Engagement defines civic engagement as follows:
Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.
– Ehrlich, T. (2000). Civic responsibility and higher education. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx.
Civic engagement is central to the Elon University mission of preparing civically engaged graduates who are “global citizens and informed leaders motivated by a concern for the common good.” As a university, we emphasize our responsibility to live in community, acknowledging our interdependency with others.
Elon students, faculty, staff and alumni join in an intentional and progressive educational process to create a culture that:
- Assists members in recognizing their responsibility, as part of the larger community, to actively address social conditions through mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships with community partners.
- Offers opportunities and programs that deepen students’ awareness and understanding of social and political issues and challenges students to develop a framework for responsible citizenship.
- Provides increasingly complex learning experiences that enhance the development of the skills needed to be effective citizens, including communication, collaboration, critical analysis, problem solving and leadership.
- Celebrates and rewards the accomplishments of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners who demonstrate good citizenship, live lives of civic engagement and support the civic life and programs of the university.
In an effort to support faculty and staff who conduct scholarship in the areas of civic engagement and community based research, a position statement was developed by the Council on Civic Engagement on the Civically Engaged Scholar at Elon University.