At Elon, community-based learning is fundamentally an academic endeavor in which engagement in projects and activities takes place through reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships with the greater community designed to advance the public good. It is an experiential education approach that involves collaborative relationships, guided by the expertise of professors and community-based practitioners, to combine student learning with community needs as an integrated component of a course. The partnerships between Elon and communities engage students with entities such as nonprofit organizations, schools, government agencies, or locally owned businesses.

This year, 19 faculty members have been selected for four extended faculty development programs: Community-Based Learning Faculty Scholars, Community-Based Learning Research Scholars, Community-Based Learning Course Development Grants, and a First-Year Foundations Community Engaged Community of Practice.

Five Elon faculty members have been selected as Community-Based Learning Faculty Scholars for 2026-27. Over the course of this academic year, they will meet regularly to learn more about pedagogy and practices, devise ways to incorporate these practices into their teaching, and receive a stipend for their work.Frank Gentry, Assistant Teaching Professor of Management
Meleena Gil, Assistant Professor of English
Lauren Guilmette, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Nina Namaste, Professor of Spanish
Nikita Shepherd, Assistant Professor of History

Three Elon faculty members have been selected as Community-Based Learning Research Scholars for 2026-27. Each will work on an independent research project during the academic year and will receive a stipend for their efforts. They are:
Dillan Bono-Lunn, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
Tony Reyes, Assistant Professor of Human Service Studies
Carol Smith, Professor of Wellness

Three faculty members have been awarded Community-Based Learning Course Development Grants for 2026-28. They will spend the next two years developing, teaching and assessing their community-based learning courses. Additionally, three faculty members were awarded these grants for 2025-27. They are now in the teaching and assessment phases of their grants. These grants are supported by the Kernodle Center for Civic Life and funded through a grant from the Frueauff Foundation.

2026-28 Community-Based Learning Course Development Grant recipients:
Donna Boyette, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Smaraki Mohanty, Assistant Professor of Marketing
Bethanny Sudibyo, Assistant Professor of Spanish

2025-27 Community-Based Learning Course Development Grant recipients:
Lisa Buchanan, Associate Professor of Education
Sandra Darfour-Oduro, Assistant Professor of Public Health Studies
Chris Nelson, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Five faculty are engaging in a pilot community of practice entitled 鈥淔irst-Year Foundations Community Engagement鈥� focused on broadening first-year student community-based learning opportunities. This community of practice is a partnership between the Kernodle Center and the Elon Core Curriculum with support from Nina Namaste, Assistant Director of First Year Seminars in the Elon Core Curriculum, Heather Lindeman, Coordinator of ENG 1100.
Rebecca Bagley, Assistant Professor of Communication Design
Catherine Bowlin, Assistant Teaching Professor of English
Archie Crowley, Assistant Professor of English
Brooks Depro, Associate Professor of Economics
Celia Hameury, Assistant Professor of Engineering

These faculty development programs are mentored by Elena Kennedy, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Faculty Fellow for Community-Based Learning.鈥� Applications for the 2027-28 programs will be available next spring. In the meantime, there are two upcoming faculty development opportunities:

Essentials of Community-Based Learning Workshop for National Campuses鈥��
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 3:30 – 5 p.m., Virtual

This virtual workshop is for faculty and staff at Elon鈥檚 national campuses.
Are you interested in creating a more authentic learning experience in your course by engaging with community partners? Could the learning鈥痮bjectives鈥痜or your course be enhanced through community engagement?鈥疕ave you ever wondered how community-based learning works and why reflection is central to that pedagogy? This workshop is鈥痑ppropriate for鈥痜aculty members who are developing a community-based course,鈥痙esigning a project or assignment that involves community鈥痚ngagement, or鈥痑re curious about community-based learning pedagogies in general. The workshop will allow for interaction with experienced faculty, and staff members from the Kernodle Center for Civic Life and Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Campus-Community鈥疦etworking Hour鈥�
Thursday, Oct. 22, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

You are invited to join the Kernodle Center for Civic Life for an afternoon of networking that will bring together Elon faculty, staff, and community partners to discuss opportunities for collaboration, including community-engaged courses.鈥疎njoy hors d鈥檕euvres and a chance to connect with many partner organizations and campus departments. You will leave with valuable connections for future partnerships.

Community-based learning (CBL) gives students opportunities to address real-world challenges by partnering with local community organizations. Through their experience leading a community-engaged unit in environmental studies, Merricks and Bitting recognized that little research directly examines how CBL affects students from historically underrepresented STEM backgrounds (e.g., women, students of color, and first-generation college students).

Working with Akman, an expert in systematic reviews, the team analyzed existing research on whether CBL experiences influence students鈥� pursuit of STEM majors or minors, their career intentions, and their sense of belonging in STEM fields. From more than 500 publications published between 1999 and 2024, the authors identified nine studies that met the criteria for inclusion.

Their analysis revealed a major gap in the literature. Few studies systematically examined the impact of CBL pedagogies in STEM. Most did not compare CBL with other teaching approaches, making it difficult to draw strong conclusions about its effectiveness. In addition, only a small number of studies analyzed outcomes across demographic groups such as race/ethnicity, first-generation status, or gender. The authors conclude that more rigorous research is needed, including studies that compare CBL with other pedagogies and systematically examine outcomes across different student populations.

The 2020-2021 cohort of Leadership Education Faculty Scholars includes:

路听听听听听听听 Lisa Buchanan鈥擜ssociate Professor of Education

路听听听听听听听 Yanica Faustin鈥擜ssistant Professor of Public Health Studies

路听听听听听听听 Prachi Gala鈥擜ssistant Professor of Marketing

路听听听听听听听 Wen Guo鈥擜ssistant Professor of Arts Administration

路听听听听听听听 Prudence Layne鈥擜ssociate Professor of English

路听听听听听听听 Svetlana Nepocatych鈥擜ssociate Professor of Exercise Science

路听听听听听听听 Jonathan Poquette鈥擫ecturer of Music and Director of Bands

During the application process, faculty scholars outline a course that they would like to create or modify to include a leadership component. Leadership education faculty scholars develop a poster presentation that highlights their courses that is presented during Celebrate Week in the spring. Once admitted to the faculty scholars program, faculty members receive support to develop their courses. Selections for the program were made by Elena Kennedy, interim Faculty Fellow for Leadership Education, and Melanie Bullock Harris, Director of the Center for Leadership.