Community Engaged Learning Scholars
Meaningful Service
The Community Engaged Learning (CEL) Scholars Program brings students, faculty mentors, and community partners together to learn, serve, and make a difference. Through training, mentorship, and hands-on experience, CEL Scholars work alongside communities to develop and carry out meaningful projects that address community-identified health needs.
CEL Scholars explore these questions—and put what they learn into action.
- Why do some communities experience greater health challenges than others?
- How do education, poverty, access to care, and other factors shape our health?
- What can we do together to create change?
Working with faculty mentors and more than 60 community partners, CEL Scholars listen to community priorities, develop and implement projects, and share what they learn. Along the way, they build practical skills in community engagement, project planning, evaluation, teamwork, and leadership while making a meaningful difference in the communities they serve. Our students, faculty, staff, and community partners are guided by the Service-Learning Code of Ethics.
The CEL Scholars Program prepares future health professionals to be skilled community partners and changemakers who help build healthier, more equitable communities.
Collaborative Change
Community impact is a group effort! Each CEL key player will have a vital role in your project. Connect and network with your peers, faculty and partners or reach out to CEL@uthscsa.edu for help.
Student Projects | Community Partnerships | CEL Faculty
Roadmap to Impact
Follow these steps to start your impact project today!
Prepare for Your Project
Step 1 - Listen to the Community
Your service always begins with responding to community-identified needs. This requires hearing from the community and the organizations who work with them. Attend town halls, review community needs assessments, utilize trustworthy news sources, talk to people, etc. Just always make sure you are deeply listening, with no preconceptions.
Step 2 - Decide to take action
When you start to deeply listen to community, you will likely want to take action. Getting started should not be a barrier. Email the CEL Office to schedule an appointment to brainstorm and get ideas where to start. View past projects and ones that can be carried forward.
Step 3 - Form your team: students(s), mentor and community partner
Developing trusting relationships and building a collaborative team will promote a successful CSL experience. Email the CEL Office to schedule an appointment to brainstorm and get ideas where to start.
Check out ENGAGED for a list of potential mentors.
Implementing Your Project
It is critical to ensure you and your team have conducted a needs assessment and are prepared to serve your particular community.
To help, check out our Community-Engaged Toolkit and Resources
Having a plan created by you and your community partner will make sure your project stays on target.
Use our CEL Project Plan OR submit a CEL grant application
Do you need funds to conduct your project?
Consider applying for a CEL Grant.
Once you begin, use ENGAGED to help you manage your volunteers and project activities, including time spent on the project and how many people you serve.
Project Follow Up
Did you meet your project objectives? Report on your successes through an ENGAGED survey that will be provided to you by the CEL Office.
It’s time to share your findings with your community partner, your peers, and other stakeholders!
Submit an abstract to the Annual CEL Conference. Look for the Call for Abstracts in the fall.
It is our ethical responsibility to make sure that there is a plan to sustain and build upon effective CSL projects in the community.
Will you recruit new students or hand over the project to the community partner?
Contact Us
Name |
Title |
|
Telephone |
| Melanie Stone, DrPH, MEd | Director | stonem@uthscsa.edu | 210-567-0523 |
| Jacqueline Tovar | Program Coordinator | tovarj3@uthscsa.edu | 210-567-0749 |
| CEL Program Inquiries | cel@uthscsa.edu | 210-567-0795 | |
Curriculum
Course # |
Title |
| ELEC 5041 | Homelessness & Addiction |
| ELEC 5044 | Leadership in Interprofessional Community Service Learning |
| INTD 4015 | Humanism in Medicine |