Center for Community Impact announces Fall 2026 Community-Engaged Scholars Program

The Ohio University Center for Community Impact (CCI) is now recruiting for the Fall 2026 Community-Engaged Scholars Program, a cohort-based training that prepares instructors to integrate service-learning into their courses. 

The Community-Engaged Scholars Program introduces participants to critical approaches to service-learning and community-engaged teaching, with the goal of expanding access to high-impact, experiential learning opportunities for students across the University.

Through the program, faculty and staff explore Ohio University’s policies and frameworks for community-engaged learning, develop strategies for incorporating service-learning into course curricula, and learn how to build meaningful partnerships with community organizations locally and beyond.

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“What I find energizing about this program is the ‘good, better, best’ approach,” said Dr. Jacqueline Yahn, Center for Community Impact Faculty Fellow. “A good start is simply taking that first small step to build a partnership with a community organization.”

Yahn emphasized that these partnerships are central to the University’s broader engagement mission.

“These connections get better over time as both the University and the community become mutually invested in one another's success,” she said. “At Ohio University, our work is strongest when relationships are sustained, reciprocal, and rooted in shared goals. We are at our best as a community when collaboration becomes our default setting, turning shared vision into measurable local impact.”

The program is delivered in a hybrid format. Participants meet in person on the Athens campus for one-hour sessions on the first Friday of each month during the fall semester while completing self-guided online modules between cohort meetings. Through thoughtful discussions, applied learning, and collaboration with experienced faculty and community engagement leaders, participants gain practical tools to design and implement community-engaged courses.

Courses that incorporate community engagement—officially designated as “C-Courses”—can qualify for Ohio University Honors Program curriculum requirements and the General Education Learning and Doing credit. Faculty teaching these courses are also eligible to apply for $1,000 mini-grants each semester to support community-engaged learning projects.

"This course gave me an important opportunity to meet and connect with other community-engaged teachers and scholars interested in this work and to carve out the time necessary to plan this work well," said Sarah Hampson, assistant professor of instruction in political science. “I really enjoyed the chance to work through evidence-based methods for working with the community in Southeast Ohio.”

For additional information, please contact Yahn at yahnj@ohio.edu.

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