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Projects with Promise

Vol. 29 No. 3

From Margins to Mainstream: Strategies for Integrating Community-Engaged Learning Into Higher Education

  • Brooke Covington
  • Chelsey Hamm
  • Jessica Stewart Kelly
  • Vanessa Buehlman
  • Andria D. Timmer
  • April Cobos
  • William Donaldson
  • George Kuster
  • Andrew M. Rose
Submitted
April 5, 2024
Published
2025-10-01

Abstract

In the face of troubling public sentiment regarding the usefulness of college, this article shares a model for incorporating intentional and sustainable community-engaged learning (CEL) into the curriculum through a yearlong professional development faculty fellowship program. The authors share their experiences moving through the training, development, and implementation of their CEL courses as members of the inaugural cohort of the Tidewater Faculty Fellows program at Christopher Newport University. Drawing evidence from postfellowship critical reflection data, we (the authors) share our challenging and transformative experiences with integrating community engagement into the curriculum at a regional public liberal arts and sciences university in southeastern Virginia. Ultimately, we argue that community-engaged learning—as a curricular and extracurricular activity—is an ethical and viable strategy for demonstrating the value of the university to not only its graduates, but also the community where it is situated.