Mahjoob and Ledford receive BOR Faculty Awards
For General Questions, Contact: communityengagement@ccsu.edu
What We Do
The Center for Community Engagement & Social Research brings together the important work of community engagement and applied research. Our primary goal is to integrate teaching, research, and service through community engagement. Additionally, we want all students to engage in multiple experiential learning opportunities, for faculty to develop scholarship with a community focus, and for our community to work with us to address their most pressing needs.
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Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
Experiential learning refers to an educational approach whereby students learn by engaging in direct application of skills, theories and models, followed by reflection upon the experience. Students apply knowledge and skills gained from traditional classroom learning to hands-on and/or real-world settings, creative projects or independent or directed research, and in turn apply what is gained from the applied experience to academic learning. The applied learning activity can occur outside of the traditional classroom experience and/or be embedded as part of a course.
Click here to learn about the different types of experiential learning at Central!
Civic engagement involves individual or collective actions, both political and non-political,
designed to identify and address issues of public concern, including but not limited to individual
volunteerism, organizational involvement, and advocacy. The goal of civic engagement is to
promote an intrinsic understanding of one’s civic duty as a global citizen.
To find opportunities, visit:
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Alternative link to visit Central Pulse
This platform serves as a civic/community engagement hub that connects, tracks, and evaluates community engagement and experiential learning for our students, faculty, staff, and community partners.
Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement
Central Connecticut State University became a proud holder of the elective Carnegie
Classification for Community Engagement in 2010. ”The Carnegie Classification® is the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education.” In 2005, the Carnegie Classifications of Higher Education expanded to include Elective Classifications. The Elective Classifications honor institutions that have made incredible strides towards a specific theme, one of which being Community Engagement.
It is not simply an award, but an evidence-based documentation of policies and practices that the University has developed and upheld. To receive the classification, Central had to, and continues to prove that it has made strong commitments to instilling community engagement on an institutional level.
Central is one of 368 institutions currently classified and is up for re-classification in 2026.