The OCEL aims to build long-term and asset-based community partnerships based in Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley. We aim to center critical community engaged learning in our pedagogy and community voice within our partnerships. We work collaboratively with students, faculty, and community partners to facilitate credit-bearing community-based (CEL) experiences that complement students’ academic journey. The OCEL hopes that CEL experiences will help students deepen their self-awareness, make real-world connections outside of the classroom, sharpen their critical analysis skills of the root causes of social injustices, and develop knowledge, tools, and agency to create a more just world.

CEL projects and experiences are varied but include these criteria:

- Address a specific community-identified interest, inquiry, project, or idea;
- Includes working with and learning alongside a community partner;
- Enhances classroom learning by making connections between the community-based work and the academic work;
- Centers structured critical reflection.

The OCEL works with partners to brainstorm ways Vassar students can support their mission and work. We hope that our community partners will serve as co-educators and co-mentors of our Vassar students to create meaningful experiential opportunities for growth and development.

If you are interested in connecting with an organization outside of our local and long-standing community-based partner organizations, please complete this form. We will review the information and assess its merit for a CEL.