The Einhorn Center is excited to offer a new online program for Cornell faculty and staff interested in incorporating community-engaged learning (CEL) into a course or program. This online curriculum is designed for any level of experience — whether participants are brand new to community-engaged learning or are experienced practitioners looking to refresh their skills and discover new tools.

Through five self-paced courses, participants will get an overview of community-engaged learning (CEL) theory and practice and will understand how CEL can augment learning in any course, curriculum and/or co-curricular program. Participants can apply the foundations of CEL practice to their own syllabi or programs with downloadable tools and adaptable sample activities.

Participants can complete all five courses, or they can focus on the topics most relevant to their course or program.

Each course takes three to four hours to complete. Cornell faculty and staff who complete all five courses will earn a Recognition of Achievement credential. 

• In CU201 Building a Better World with Community-Engaged Learning, faculty and staff will define high-quality CEL; identify their motivations, purpose and goals; discern the value of CEL for their course or program; and begin to incorporate CEL tools and activities.
• They’ll continue to build a CEL toolkit in CU202 Developing, Understanding and Strengthening Cultural Humility with tools and activities to improve students’ cultural self-awareness and enhance their ability to apply cultural humility in interpersonal and institutional relationships, to communicate across difference and to adapt to community contexts through CEL.
• CU203 Supporting Partnerships will assist participants in developing an asset-based mindset to support reciprocal, mutually beneficial and sustainable campus-community partnerships.
• CU204 Fostering Critical Reflection in Community Engagement explores concepts and practices in critical reflection, and provides the tools to facilitate and encourage deeper learning for students participating in CEL.
• Finally, CU205 Cultivating Community-Engaged Learning and Leadership focuses on strategies for cultivating CEL leadership among faculty, staff and students, from individual actions to becoming a change agent within the institution, with the communities they work with and beyond.

We encourage faculty and staff to also enroll in CU301 through CU305, the student versions of the eCornell CEL courses. By using the student version like a companion workbook, faculty and staff can:

• see the courses from the students’ perspective
• better align their teaching strategies with student needs
• ask students to complete assignments and use tools and resources in the student version to complement other coursework and enhance students’ overall learning experience

During our 2024-25 Engaged Faculty Workshops, we’re diving deep into how you can integrate the tools from each online course into your CEL class, project or program. If you’re interested in connecting around these topics in person, see our Engaged Faculty Workshops webpage.

Cornell faculty and staff can enroll via the eCornell portal.

We’re excited to offer a paid version of the courses for individuals and organizations outside Cornell. Email our Academic Initiatives team with questions about any of the courses: einhornacademic@cornell.edu.