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Launched in July 2014, CU Engage supports programs and initiatives that work collaboratively with community groups to address complex public challenges through academic courses, research projects, and creative work. We do this by developing and sustaining equity-oriented partnerships, organizing opportunities for students to learn alongside community members, and supporting faculty and students to implement ethical and rigorous engaged research.

CU Engage is based in the School of Education and serves the whole 91¸£ÀûÉç campus. It represents the 91¸£ÀûÉç campus' effort to coordinate and sustain its various community engagement efforts in one academic unit. This means that several longstanding, high quality CU programs are now part of CU Engage. Consistent with the priorities of CU’s Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan, CU Engage advances the academic mission of the university by fostering a culture of inquiry and experiential learning among students, raising the visibility, quality, and status of community-based research on the 91¸£ÀûÉç campus, and contributing to more inclusive practices for students, staff, and faculty.

CU Engage supports two focal activities: Community-Based Learning PathwaysÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýCommunity-Based Research (CBR).ÌýThese activities are linked through the formation of partnerships with community groups, public agencies, and schools. We utilize the definition of community engagement provided by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching:

Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.

CU Engage’s approach to student learning prioritizes experience (), reciprocity (work with rather than for communities), and intellectual rigor rooted in academic disciplines. Typically, learning opportunities for students draw on disciplinary expertise to meet a need identified by a community partner, such as for mentoring, youth empowerment, or environmental design. For example, students enrolled in an educational psychology course learn disciplinary content by working alongside youth in 91¸£ÀûÉç County after-school programs. Their experiences are structured through purposeful integration of theory and practice; students enact a repertoire of mentoring and tutoring skills while having opportunities to reflect on their actions and assumptions, which are assessed through regular feedback on student field notes.  

Engaged learning opportunities also include the chance for students to do . Community-Based Research (CBR) emphasizes the rigorous pursuit of knowledge in the context of reciprocal university-community partnerships. CBR projects aspire to combine the resources and expertise located in communities with academic knowledge. Inquiry can be motivated by the effort to investigate or uncover the roots of a problem or to document and elevate hidden strengths. In both cases, the goal is to use research methods to inform a public issue or support community development.

CU Engage is separate from but closely allied with 91¸£ÀûÉç’s , which serves as another valuable resource for connect