Faculty
The Dornsife Center is committed to supporting faculty in the development of community engaged high impact practices, in support of their pedagogy and scholarship with a variety of resources.
Community engaged learning is a teaching and learning approach integrating academic instruction, meaningful community service and reflection that engages students in civic responsibility and critical and creative thinking.
Learning outcomes for Whitworth Service-Learning Courses will include:
- Students will be able to articulate one or more needs of the Spokane community and identify one or more factors that create these needs.
- Students will be able to explain ways that they can have an impact on their community.
- Students will be able to apply course content to community-based experiences.
- Students will be able to identify a community organization's mission and communicate effectively on its behalf.
- Students will be able to articulate the different identities and cultural perspectives of community groups.
- The above learning outcomes apply to all service-learning courses at Whitworth University and are derived from the essential learning outcomes of the LEAP initiative.
Supports
The Dornsife Center offers a variety of supports including professional development, instructional tools, support in establishing placements, and opportunities for students and faculty to publicly disseminate their work.
- Poverty Simulation
- Each semester the poverty simulation provides students with a snapshot into the lives of a low-income family. The simulation places students in a simulated month and tasks them with paying their bills, finding employment, providing care for their children and confronting unexpected barriers. If you are interested in having this be a required element of your course, please reach out prior to this evnent to secure slots for your students.
- Dornsife Faculty Fellows
- Each year, the Dornsife Center brings together a community of practice to spend the year exploring how to set up new community-engagement work or strengthen existing programs. The program involves monthly meetings over lunch to discuss a short reading and apply it to our future work. Participants receive a $500 stipend at the end of the year upon the completion of a syllabus element that incorporates community engagement.
- Community Engagement Institute (CEI)
- The CEI brings together faculty, staff, administrators and community partners from the region to discuss community engagement initiatives, best practices and solutions to community challenges. The conference provides opportunities for peer-reviewed presentations on community engaged pedagogy and research as well as opportunities to learn more about best practices in the field.
- PICCE Student Symposium
- The PICCE Student Symposium is an opportunity for students and their mentors (faculty or community partner) to collaboratively present their community engaged experiences. The event convenes students from across the Spokane region to present posters describing their work and its impact on our community.