About the Community-Engaged Learning Design Intensive
Ginsberg Center's Community-Engaged Learning Design Intensive is a multi-day intensive program for faculty and staff who are teaching courses or running programs with a community engagement component. It gives participants a grounding in some of the foundational theories and practices of community engagement and guides them through a backwards design process of planning their own community-engaged course, program, project, and/or assignments. Through applied activities and discussion, participants will explore these and other dimensions of community-engaged pedagogy:
- theoretical foundations of community-engaged teaching
- equitable university-community partnerships
- connecting with community partners
- preparing students to work with community
- project management & partner communication
- inclusive and accessible practices for community-engaged learning
Part instruction and part dedicated planning time, the program provides the opportunity for participants to draft and receive feedback on instructional materials (ex: syllabi, assignment descriptions, partnership templates) to use in their course or program. Ginsberg Center staff are also available during and after the intensive for individual consultation.
The intensive experience is ideally suited for instructors and staff who are new(er) to community engagement and who are teaching a community-engaged course or supervising a community-engaged program in the upcoming academic year. Experienced community-engaged instructors and staff and those interested in learning about community-engaged teaching and learning are also welcome to apply.
2026 Program Dates:
Monday, May 11 9a-1p in person at the Ginsberg Center (1024 Hill St, Room 1080)
Tuesday, May 12 9a-1p on Zoom
Wednesday, May 13 9a-1p on Zoom
Thursday, May 14 9a-1p on Zoom
Eligibility & Requirements:
- Open to faculty (all ranks, titles and disciplines) and to staff who supervise community engaged programs or projects on any U-M campus. Others who have CE course or program design responsibilities may also be considered.
- Participants must be able to attend all meeting dates/times, including in-person on Monday, May 11. The 2026 Intensive is a 16-hour commitment.
- Participants should either have a community partner already or meet with the Ginsberg Center's Community Partnerships team for matchmaking. Those admitted to the cohort who do not have a community partner will be provided with instructions on how to begin work with Ginsberg's matchmaking team.
- Priority given to instructors of record who are teaching a community-engaged course in the upcoming academic year and staff who are supervising a community-engaged program in the upcoming academic year.
- Participants are eligible for a $500 stipend upon completing all four days of the retreat and creating/revising an instructional material to be shared with Ginsberg Center (e.g. lesson plan, an assignment or set of assignments, slides, module, partnership agreement, etc).
The 2026 application is due Friday, March 13.
