Program characteristics
The Community Engagement Scholars Program (CESP) encourages students to integrate community engagement into their education. Scholars enrolled in the program will receive official university recognition for public service when they meet all requirements of the program.
The program encourages Scholars to pursue their interests, meet their educational goals, and make a difference in their communities. It also provides them with a foundation of analytical, reflective, interpersonal, and leadership skills through real-world experiences. The program supports the University’s mission of public engagement and outreach by fostering connections between the University, its students, and the greater Twin Cities community.
Enrolled Scholars will commit to completing 400 hours of community engagement, 8 credits of service-learning course work, 6 reflections on community engagement experiences, and an Integrative Community Engagement Project (ICEP) as well as seminar (CESP 3901). They are also expected to meet regularly with program advisors and engage in a variety of workshops.
Audience served
The CESP program is open to all degree-seeking undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota. To enroll, it is strongly recommended that students have at least 4 semesters (2 years) left before graduating, although not required. Underrepresented students are students who are from low-income background, students who are first generation, and/or students of color.
Primary program components
Many Scholars in the program are pursuing majors in healthcare, education, or social services (to name a few). With the help of program advisors, Scholars typically volunteer at organization(s) that match their academic and/or career interests. Similarly, program advisors support Scholars in enrolling in best-fit service-learning courses, based on their academic and/or career interests.
Throughout the program, Scholars are required to complete a total of 6 reflections. There are a variety of ways that Scholars can complete these reflections. Reflection formats include (but are not limited to): written responses, creative projects, blog posts, and organization case studies. Scholars can also facilitate workshops as a way to complete reflection requirements. These workshops are called RAP (Reflection, Action, Partnership) Sessions. RAP Sessions cover a variety of topics related to the themes of: collaboration and community building, sense of self, diversity, power, privilege, and agency.
In their senior year, Scholars develop an ICEP project that is to be completed in partnership with a community organization of their choosing. This project should be based on students’ academic and /or career interest(s) and also meet a community-identified need. ICEPs are meant to be sustained by partner organizations even after a Scholar has graduated. Scholars are supported by program advisors throughout the entire process as they complete their ICEP.
Challenges addressed
Our research question is whether students enrolled in the CESP program will have better academic outcomes than their peers who are not enrolled in this program. Analyses were conducted on the 2012 Fall entering freshman cohort. Propensity Score Matching of students enrolled in CESP in their second year at the University yielded a sample of 232 students, of which 97 are underrepresented. The investigation explored the association between participating in the CESP and students’ cumulative grade point averages, credits earned, enrollment by the end of the third-and fourth-year (retention), and four-year graduation rate.
Key findings
Participation in CESP was associated with higher grade point averages at the end of the third and fourth years and more credits earned by the end of the third and fourth years. No associations were found between participation in CESP and retention nor four-year graduation rate. When separating out underrepresented students, unlike Year 1 no associations were found between participating in CESP and the academic outcomes, although findings tended to favor students participating in CESP, which again supports the view that if data are pooled across years (after an additional year’s data are added), significant results will likely to be found.