Upcoming Events
IJRSLCE Vol. 13 Submission Deadline
The upcoming IJRSLCE Volume 13 submission deadline is 5/1/25. Click HERE for additional information and access to the panel discussion from last spring overviewing the submission and review process.
Setting a Global Research Agenda for Service Learning and Community Engagement: Data Collection
Purpose: the first of two input sessions for the Australia and New Zealand region on Wednesday, 14th of May from 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM AEST. This session will focus on gathering data and identifying the research questions that should shape future studies in SLCE.
A second session will be held in June (date and time to be confirmed), where we’ll focus on the analysis of the collected data. You are welcome to join one or both sessions—your voice is valuable regardless of whether you participate in the first, the second, or both.
Global Research Agenda at University of California San Diego
May 30, 2025 from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM PDT, In-Person at UC San Diego (USA)
This session will be a North America-focused meeting where participants will analyze and prioritize research questions that emerged from the data collection forums. actively engage in analyzing, organizing, categorizing, prioritizing a set of research questions and issues that colleagues in the field have submitted during 11 structured research data collection forums held over the last several years.
During the meeting, you will work in a small group, lending your perspectives on how best organize the research questions, what key themes the questions point to, and which themes and research questions should be prioritized. Your analysis and discussions will result in the production of the North America section of the global research agenda for service-learning and community engagement.
Register to confirm your interest in participating.
What’s Next for CEL? Charting the Course for Transformative Change
The University of Toronto's Centre for Community Partnerships is hosting a virtual plenary panel on April 23, 2025, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EDT, celebrating 20 years of community-engaged learning. Panelists will reflect on the future of CEL, exploring its evolving pedagogy, the challenges ahead, and how CEL can respond to global crises. Click here to register.
Public Seminar: Community Engagement in Chile: A New Generation, Conditioned Legitimacy, and Academic Capitalism
Join Dr. Matias Flores, Chair of the GradSN, for a public seminar on his dissertation Community Engagement in Chile: A New Generation, Conditioned Legitimacy and Academic Capitalism. Dr. Matias Flores' dissertation explores how a new generation of engaged scholars in Chile navigate a shifting socio-political landscape shaped by recent student movements, constitutional reform efforts, and a national mandate for community engagement accreditation by 2025. Through ethnographic methods and interviews with 52 scholars, the study reveals how these academics balance aspirations for systemic change with the pressures of academic capitalism and institutional legitimacy. Register here!
Dissertation Dish: Academic community-engaged learning and student mental health and wellness
LEAD California, IARSLCE and GivePulse are proud to announce our next speaker:
Stephanie Brewer, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning - Center for Community Engaged Learning, Michigan State University
Moderator: Diane Doberneck, Ph.D., Director for Faculty and Professional Development, Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship; Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
About our Next Speaker:
Dr. Stephanie Brewer is the Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning with the Center for Community Engaged Learning, as well as the Program Director for the Community Engagement Scholars. She works with a team responsible for developing, supporting, and advancing academic community-engaged learning at MSU. She supports faculty, students, and community partners in the creation and facilitation of these opportunities. Stephanie worked for many years as a mental health professional before making her way to the field of higher education. Stephanie holds a BS in Psychology from Central Michigan University, a MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University, and a PhD in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University.
Title: Academic community-engaged learning and student mental health and wellness: Understanding the lived experiences of undergraduate students
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to illuminate the experiences of undergraduate students who participated in academic community-engaged learning, specifically as those experiences related to student mental health and wellness. The data for this qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven undergraduate students. Analysis resulted in the identification of essential components of the student community-engaged learning experience as it relates to their mental health and wellness and included three main themes: Identity (Head), Belonging (Heart), and Agency (Hands). The implications of these findings are many, including pedagogical considerations for community-engaged classrooms, campus-wide considerations for the inclusion of high impact practices, as well as community partner implications. Ultimately, the findings of this study will lead to a better informed and nuanced, macro-level strategy that higher education institutions can use to impact the state of student mental health and wellness broadly.
Holding Space Together: Peer-to-Peer Dialogue on Navigating Community-Engaged Scholarship in Uncertain Times
This one-hour virtual peer-to-peer event hosted by the IARSLCE Graduate Student Network will provide graduate students and early-career professionals with an informal and supportive space to discuss their experiences, challenges, and needs related to community-engaged research, teaching, and practice in today's shifting academic and social landscapes. Together, we'll explore how we're navigating current pressures, identify resources needed, and strategize ways to better support one another and our community partners. Outcomes from this dialogue will help shape future resource-sharing initiatives and inform our upcoming roundtable at the 2025 IARSLCE conference in Durban. Register now!
IARSLCE Awards Committee Meeting
To join this meeting please access the zoom link here.
Global Research Agenda Meeting II
We are pleased to invite you to a special gathering focused on shaping the North America Research Agenda for the advancement of research in our field. Offered in two parts, the gathering will engage participants in analyzing, organizing, and prioritizing research questions and items that will form the North America section of IARSLCE's Global Research Agenda.
The North America regional gathering is a three-day event composed of two meetings: (Participants are welcome to attend one or both meetings):
Sunday, March 30, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Atlanta, Georgia — in partnership with Campus Compact and the Campus Compact 2025 conference. (1-day meeting)
Thursday, April 3, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM & Friday, April 4, 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon, Durham, North Carolina — in partnership with Duke Service-Learning and GivePulse. (2-day meeting.)
Lend your voices and perspectives to the research agenda. Attendance is free!
Follow this link for more information on the research agenda and how to register for the gathering.
Questions? Please contact Andy Furco at afurco@umn.edu
2025 IARSLCE Awards Nominations Due
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 IARSLCE Awards. Nominations are due by April 1, 2025 and should be submitted electronically to awards@iarslce.org. Self-nominations are welcome. All nominees will be notified of their status in April, and award winners will be recognized at the 2025 IARSLCE Conference in Durban, South Africa, August 13-15, 2025. Please help us recognize the outstanding scholars in our field by submitting a nomination!
Click here to learn more!
IARSLCE Graduate Student Scholarship Deadline
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the IARSLCE Graduate Student Scholarship, aimed at supporting travel expenses for graduate students to attend the 2025 IARSLCE Conference in Durban, South Africa, scheduled for August 13-15, 2025.
The IARSLCE Graduate Student Scholarship aims to support graduate students who are conducting research that contributes to the advancement of the field of Service-Learning and Community Engagement (SLCE). We seek students who are committed to the mission and goals of IARSLCE and the Graduate Student Network (GradSN) and who are eager to actively participate in the conference and our ongoing activities.
Scholarship Amount
Travel within South Africa: $400 per student
International travel: $800 per student
Total funding available: Up to $4,000
Eligibility
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must:
Be a current graduate student (MA/MS or PhD/EdD).
Commit to attending the 2025 IARSLCE Conference in Durban.
Sign the GradSN Statement of Intent if you have not already done so.
Strongly encouraged to attend monthly GradSN meetings. We meet on the first Wednesday of every month via Zoom.
Application Requirements
Applicants are required to complete the IARSLCE Graduate Student Scholarship Application Form.
Recipients Requirement
Those who receive the scholarship will be required to be IARSLCE members.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Degree of involvement with GradSN and/or IARSLCE;
Clarity and specificity of research and practice areas of interest;
Articulation of the contributions of conference attendance from the applicants;
Commitment to DEI and Global perspectives in research and practice; and
Additional contributions and comments provided in the application.
Important Dates
Application Deadline: April 1, 2025
Conference Dates: August 13-15, 2025
Global Research Agenda Meeting I
We are pleased to invite you to a special gathering focused on shaping the North America Research Agenda for the advancement of research in our field. Offered in two parts, the gathering will engage participants in analyzing, organizing, and prioritizing research questions and items that will form the North America section of IARSLCE's Global Research Agenda.
The North America regional gathering is a three-day event composed of two meetings: (Participants are welcome to attend one or both meetings):
Sunday, March 30, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Atlanta, Georgia — in partnership with Campus Compact and the Campus Compact 2025 conference. (1-day meeting)
Thursday, April 3, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM & Friday, April 4, 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon, Durham, North Carolina — in partnership with Duke Service-Learning and GivePulse. (2-day meeting.)
Lend your voices and perspectives to the research agenda. Attendance is free!
Follow this link for more information on the research agenda and how to register for the gathering.
Questions? Please contact Andy Furco at afurco@umn.edu
Town Hall: Finding your Path to Engagement in IARSLCE
Join the IARSLCE Special Programming Committee on March 11th as we gather to reflect on IARSLCE’s achievements and set the vision for 2025.
PSC application deadline
We are pleased to announce that applications to participate in the 2025 Practitioner-Scholar Community are now live. The application is due January 31st, with the cohort beginning in mid-February. The application can be found here, and to learn more about this opportunity, visit our website. The cohort will be capped at 40 participants to ensure capacity for personalized feedback and attention, and selection criteria will center on building a cohesive and committed group of practitioner-scholars with a wide variety of scholarly interests and at varying places in their careers to ensure maximum opportunity for peer learning and feedback during the experience. We look forward to receiving and reviewing applications and welcoming the next cohort to the PSC!
Dissertation Dish
Title: Students as Co-researchers: Using Participatory Action Research to Address College Food Insecurity
Dr. Rachel Brand teaches in the Child Studies department at Santa Clara University. Rachel has over a decade of experience teaching community-engaged learning, critical food systems education, and environmental studies. Her scholarship focuses on participatory action research in higher education, student agency and collective action, humanizing education, and food and environmental justice. Rachel holds an MA in Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz, and an EdD in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco.
Moderator: Dr. David Donahue, Professor, School of Education, University of San Francisco
Dissertation Dish
LEAD California, IARSLCE and GivePulse are proud to announce our next speaker:
This session will be offered with simultaneous translation English - Spanish.
Esta sesión se ofrecerá con traducción simultánea inglés - español.
Carmen Monge Hernández, Ph.D. an engaged scholar (extensionista) at the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica (UNA).
Title: The Latin American University in the Society. Analysis of the Relationship Between University and Community from the Capabilities Approach for Human Development.
Co-Moderated by Maria Avila, an independent consultant, collaborative researcher, and relational organizer. Previously an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at California State University, Dominguez Hills; & Matias G. Flores a Ph.D. Candidate in Development Sociology at Cornell University and Chair-Elect of the IARSLCE Graduate Student Network.
IARSLCE 2024 Summer Virtual Reboot Camp Part 2
Session 2: Nurturing Student Mental Health through Community-Engaged Pedagogy
Thursday, Jul 25, 2024
4:00-6:00pm ET/1:00-3:00PT/6:00-8:00am Australia
This session will center pedagogical approaches that foster student mental health and wellbeing within community engaged initiatives. Participants will learn about the current state of student mental health, specifically as it intersects with student participation in community engaged learning experiences. Presenters will highlight effective pedagogical practices that promote student well-being, will share examples of how they have implemented these practices in their own learning spaces, and provide space for discussion and practice. We will then collectively explore ways to prioritize student wellbeing and work to adapt suggested practices to our own diverse campus settings.
IARSLCE 2024 Summer Virtual Reboot Camp Part 1
Session 1: Take a Step, Pause & Breathe: Look after Your Mental Health, Recharge & Reflect in a Safe Online Space for All Community Engaged Colleagues
As Community Engagement(CE) facilitators, practitioners and faculty, there is always a lot going on and we are always looking to and after others. Take the time to look after yourselves now. Come and meet other global CE staff, listen to speakers focusing on mindfulness, share stories in small groups, and join in mindfulness activities together around this global online campfire session. Refresh, reconnect and celebrate all things related to CE and to you. The primary intended audience for this online session are CE professionals and/or faculty with any level of experience in the field of higher education CE.
