- Enrich the understanding of classroom material
- Increase the awareness of important social problems or issues
- Develop essential skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem-solving) for academic work and professional life
Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership
The Community is Your Classroom
The Center for Civic Engagement & Leadership (CCEL) connects students to their community by providing volunteer opportunities, internships, student employment, and Community Based Learning classes. Students contribute to local initiatives and they develop crucial skills that will serve them well beyond the college classroom. Faculty draw upon the CCEL's host of community partners to provide students with hands-on projects that supplement their traditional classroom learning.
Benefits of Community-Based Learning
- Develop new ways to generate higher-quality student learning
- Cultivate new avenues for research and publication via new relationships with community partners
- Network with engaged faculty in other disciplines or institutions
- Achieve organizational goals by tapping into valuable human resources
- Increase the collective impact made in addressing critical social problems
- Build partnerships with new stakeholders and attract new volunteers
Center for Civic Engagement & Leadership by the Numbers
Seventy-three percent of students who participate in CCEL courses plan to engage with the community even when the course ends.
Eighty-one percent of students feel that the Community-Based Learning component helps them to better understand the required class lectures and readings.
Remain Engaged
We promote over 150 non-profit internship opportunities in and around Poughkeepsie, as well as gap-year programs such as Teach for America and AmeriCorps.