{"id":9505,"date":"2026-03-01T11:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/?page_id=9505"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:08:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:08:31","slug":"community-engagement-at-bates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/community-engagement-at-bates\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Engagement at Bates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At Bates, your education doesn\u2019t stop at the campus gates. We believe that for some students, the most profound learning happens when rigorous academics meet the complexities of the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/\"> Harward Center for Community Partnerships<\/a> is our hub for this mission, weaving together academics, campus life, and community action to prepare students for a lifetime of civic engagement. Here are some ways we bridge the gap between &#8220;learning&#8221; and &#8220;doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Engaged Classroom: Academics with Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At many colleges, service is an extracurricular. At Bates, it is core to our curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/curricular\/\"><strong>Community-Engaged Learning (CEL)<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> More than a third of our students enroll in courses where &#8220;assignments&#8221; are replaced by real-world projects\u2014like conducting water quality tests for local rivers or developing marketing plans for downtown non-profits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Formal Concentrations:<\/strong> Students can deepen their commitment by pursuing a concentration in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/curricular\/civic-engagement-general-education-concentration-gec\/\"> <\/a>Civic Engagement or Public Health, turning their community work into a recognized academic credential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/community-engaged-research-fellows-program-application\/\"><strong>Community-Engaged Research (CER)<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> Through specialized fellowships, seniors can conduct high-level research for their thesis that directly solves a problem for a community partner, ensuring their final academic project has a lasting legacy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Leadership for the Common Good<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don&#8217;t just ask students to volunteer; we train them to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/studentcivicleadership\/\"><strong>The Bonner Leader Program<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> A prestigious four-year program for students dedicated to sustained service. It provides a supportive cohort, professional mentoring, and financial support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/studentcivicleadership\/cof\/\"><strong>Community Outreach Fellows<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> These student leaders serve as part-time Harward Center staff, managing entire programs (from food security to the arts) and recruiting their peers to get involved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Community Liaisons:<\/strong> Every athletic team and many student clubs have a dedicated liaison to ensure that civic action is integrated into all aspects of the Bates experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Working in Local Schools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bates students are a vital part of the Lewiston-Auburn community, particularly in our local schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/aspirations-program\/\"><strong>The Aspirations Program<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> Our students serve as mentors to local 8th-12th graders, helping them navigate the path to college and career.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Book Buddies &amp; Tutoring:<\/strong> Through programs like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/paid-positions\/\"> America Reads\/America Counts<\/a>, Bates students work one-on-one with elementary students to build the literacy and math skills essential for future success.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/education\/academics\/teacher-education\/\"><strong>Teacher Education:<\/strong><\/a> Our education department offers a minor in teacher education which prepares students to enter the workforce as educators. The coursework for this minor includes student teaching in one of our many partner schools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Accessibility &amp; Financial Support<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We believe community engagement should be available to everyone, regardless of financial background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/paid-positions\/\"><strong>Community Work-Study<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> Students eligible for federal work-study can earn their wages by working at local non-profits instead of on-campus offices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/grants-2\/\"><strong>Grants &amp; Summer Fellowships<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> We provide<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/grants-2\/student-grants\/\"> Academic Year Grants<\/a> to fund student-designed projects and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/grants-2\/studentsummer\/\"> Summer Fellowships<\/a> that pay students to stay in Maine and complete intensive 8-10 week internships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ready to get started?<\/strong> Explore our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/communitypulse\/\"> CommunityPulse<\/a> portal to see current opportunities, or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/harward\/about\/our-team\/\"> meet our team<\/a> at 161 Wood Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Bates, your education doesn\u2019t stop at the campus gates. We believe&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_prepend":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append_before_footer":false,"_dimp_site_id":"","_dimp_override_contact":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-9505","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9506,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9505\/revisions\/9506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}