Get Educated - Community Engagement

student tutoring other students — The UMW class ***Culture of Service and Social Action in the Hispanic World*** provided an opportunity for students to help local Spanish-speaking teens prepare for the GED test, which is offered in both English and Spanish. The local high school reached out to Mary Washington because GED students are primarily Spanish speakers and the teachers needed support in the classroom.

Community Engagement in the Classroom

UMW offers several courses that are designated as “CE” or “community-engaged.” These classes support volunteer work, community engagement, and learning beyond the classroom. CE-designated courses are a great way to make a positive difference in the community, learn more about the world around you, and gain valuable career and life skills.

In addition, these classes have many advantages for students:

They help you understand “real world applications” of course material.
They give you experience with problem solving, communicating across differences, and working through complexity and ambiguity.
They help you increase personal efficacy as well as networking skills.

A Geography student studies a map in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class.

What to Expect from a CE Course

Expect that these courses will ask you to volunteer in the community for at least 10 hours during the semester, and these courses will also teach you about being an active member of the community, in addition to covering important course content. To learn more about community-engaged (“CE”) courses, browse this list of CE courses or read about the learning outcomes for CE courses.