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Students and other community volunteers plant trees in a forest during a community event.

Dornsife Center for Community Engagement

  1. Whitworth University
  2. Administration
  3. Dornsife Center for Community Engagement
  4. Community Partners

Community Partners

If you are a community partner and would like to partner with Whitworth students here are two levels of partnership available:

  • Affiliate level: post on website, host Community Building Day projects and other episodic service events. This level of partnership is quick to set up with low maintenance. 
  • Co-Educator level: work with community engaged courses, faculty scholarship, project-based groups. This level of partnership ensures higher investment of Whitworth human assets to work with your organization, but it requires a higher level of maintenance and oversight. 

Community engagement is a teaching approach that integrates academic instruction with community service that engages students in civic responsibility, critical and creative thinking, and structured reflection.

If you are interested in connecting with students and advertising service opportunities, please go to our website Whitworth Serves, serve.whitworth.edu. Contact us in the Dornsife Center for Community Engagement if you have any questions!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Whitworth students typically serve? 

  • One-time/episodic service experiences: These are short-term volunteer opportunities (typically 2-6 hours) that allow students to contribute to community needs without a long-term commitment. They help students gain exposure to civic engagement and build awareness of local issues and organizations.
  • Service-Learning Course Hours: These are academic courses that integrate community service into the curriculum, requiring students to complete a set number of service hours (ranging from 5-25 hours) aligned with course objectives. The experience deepens learning by linking theory to real-world practice through reflection and community engagement.
  • Practicum placements: Psychology and Sociology students complete practicums in the spring semester of their senior year. Students commit to working with an agency for 80-100 hours. These placements do not require a supervisor with a specific set of credentials. They are focused on helping students explore potential career paths while also meeting the needs of the organization.  
  • Project-Based Learning: In project-based learning, students work collaboratively on a sustained project (typically a semester in length) that addresses a real community problem or need. The process fosters critical thinking, creativity, and partnership with community stakeholders while producing tangible outcomes.
  • Community-Engaged Research: Community-engaged research involves collaboration between university researchers and community members to address issues of mutual concern. It emphasizes shared decision-making, co-creation of knowledge, and producing outcomes that are both academically rigorous and beneficial to the community.

Who do I contact with a one-time, short-term volunteer request?

Contact the Dornsife Center for Community Engagement at 509.777.4279 and we will work with you to identify the best course of action.

How do I navigate Whitworth Serves? 

Check out Whitworth Serves resources here.

What does it take to partner at the Co-Educator level? 

Partners at the Co-Educator Level enter into a partnership agreement with Whitworth and commit to regularly connecting with Dornsife Center staff to develop opportunities to engage students and faculty.