Community Engagement

Community Engagement initiatives are an important part of who we are and what we do in the College of Education. School/community engagement takes many forms:

• School/Community-Engaged Curricular Activities, including Service Learning
  • What is Service-Learning?
  • Service-Learning Courses 2007-2008
  • Other Forms of Curricular Engagement
  • Honor Roll of School/Community Partners for Curricular Engagement (2007-2008)
  • Scholarly Resources on Curricular Engagement (selective)
    
    
• School/Community-Engaged Research/Scholarship
  • What is Community-Engaged Scholarship?
  • School/Community-Engaged Research/Scholarship
  • Honor Roll of School/Community Partners for Engaged Research/Scholarship (2007-2008)
    
    
• Other College of Education School/Community Partnerships
  
  
• Other USF Resources on Community Engagement and Partnerships

Community engagement creates opportunities to enhance our own cultural competence and that of our students, particularly in the culturally and ethnically diverse Tampa Bay area.  Our College of Education Diversity Committee actively develops, sponsors, and/or collaborates in programs, forums, and/or initiatives that infuse diversity issues through the College of Education in areas of curriculum, clinical practice, research projects and developing cultural competences (see COEDU Diversity Initiatives).

Diversity Committee's Working Definition of
Cultural Competence

Cultural competence refers to the capacity of a person to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all abilities, cultures (languages, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions), genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomic classes, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities and protects, preserves, and promotes the dignity of each (adapted from Barrera & Kramer, 1997 & NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice).