The Civic Engagement Certificate Program provides Northwestern students with an invaluable opportunity to connect their hearts and their minds. Through course work, community service and work on the Capstone Project, students and faculty form a community of people who are passionate about the same issues, providing numerous opportunities for learning and growth that would not exist outside the program. This unique program is based on the following understandings:
• Civic engagement provides important learning experiences.
• Classes as well as hands-on experiences provide useful contexts for learning about communities.
• Students can use the knowledge and skills gained through a formal curriculum and faculty guidance to improve their communities.
Interest in community development is growing, and the Civic Engagement Certificate Program helps students channel that interest to improve communities and better understand community development. Learning what makes communities economically and socially productive and how to build such communities is at the heart of this program. A mix of community service and classroom learning is the best way for students to gain the skills to make socially and economically productive communities a reality.
The Civic Engagement Certificate Program is designed to allow a student to build over two years the tools for a life of involvement with communities. That involvement can and should take many forms, including service and research. The intent is that students will combine involvement in the certificate program with a course of study in a variety of disciplines. The Civic Engagement Certificate Program was created in 2000 to more effectively integrate students’ community service with their academic learning and foster continued civic engagement.