In this module, we will offer advice and considerations for building a syllabus that anticipates the realities of teaching a community-engaged course. We respect the expertise and agency that you, as instructors, will exercise in designing what works best for you and your students; we will not ask you to submit a syllabus for our approval. Rather, we hope to offer examples and information that prepare you for the many variables involved in community-engaged learning.
If you are teaching a course where community-engaged learning is required, consider what you'd like to do if students share concerns about fitting the 3-5 hours/week into their existing schedule. While these are not technically an additional 3-5 hours/week because they are offset by less course readings and assignments, there are situations where community-engaged learning may not be accessible to students. This is often true for:
Students with dependents
Students with pre-existing full-time jobs or many jobs
Student athletes
The CEC team is always working to develop opportunities that are accessible to students regardless of their citizenship or documentation status, but we want to acknowledge the reality that international students and undocumented students will likely have less placement options available to them. This is especially true for placements that are vulnerable-population-facing, where onboarding requirements may include specific forms of ID.
Different instructors resolve this in different ways. Some instructors prefer to have an alternative "track" or core assignment available in their course, reserved for students who have extenuating circumstances (more suggestions on this later). Some instructors prefer for these students to register for the course in another quarter, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, self placements can mitigate some of these questions of accessibility.