Community partnerships are foundational to our work in Community Engagement & Leadership. Reciprocity is a cornerstone to our approach and we view our community partners as co-educators in creating meaningful learning experiences for students that also benefit our community. We aim to foster social responsibility, build leadership skills, and address community-identified needs.

Community Engagement & Leadership (CEL) at Oregon State University seeks to foster reciprocal, meaningful relationships with community-based organizations in order to connect the OSU campus and the surrounding community through collaborative learning, service, and action. CEL strives to create more healthy, caring, and just communities by engaging students in actively working to progress the community and world they want to live in while advancing their leadership skills.

Community partnerships are foundational to our work in Community Engagement & Leadership. Reciprocity is a cornerstone to our approach and we view our community partners as co-educators in creating meaningful learning experiences for students that also benefit our community.  We have an asset-based framework in working with community partners. Learn about CEL's mission and vision as well as our approach to community engagement and leadership. 

CEL is a hub for co-curricular community service at OSU. We are a resource yet not the only resource to support meeting community partner needs. In our outreach and meetings with partners, we will strive to understand your organization and your organization's goals, needs, and assets in order to identify the best possible collaborative opportunities. Below is a summary of the ways CEL supports and works with local nonprofit and government organizations:

  • 1:1 consultations to share CEL services, learn about your organization’s needs, and make suggestions additional possible OSU partners
    • We maintain community partner profiles to share information about your organization with students who are interested in your organization and/or the social issue and mission of your organization. 
  • Volunteer, service and community engagement opportunity postings for the OSU community via a community engagement database and/or social media postings
  • Partnership for days of service and service projects
    • Craft N’ Care projects where students create crafts, small art projects, or decorations to meet a community need or spread kindness and cheer
  • Referral to student organizations/clubs, academic advisors, or faculty for academic service-learning opportunities
  • Hosting the Nonprofit & Public Service Fair for nonprofit and regional government agencies to meet with students interested in volunteer, internship, and job opportunities in the nonprofit and public service fields

Please contact us with any questions or to set up a meeting via email at [email protected] or phone at 541-737-3041.

Community Partners are encouraged to submit opportunities to be included in our volunteer service & community engagement opportunities database.  Students and the public use this database to find ways that can be involved in and support the local community, from one-time volunteer events to an ongoing service position.

   Submit Engagement Opportunity

Please use this form if you are a nonprofit, local government agency, or campus-based organization (OSU department, sponsored student organization, etc.) seeking volunteers or participants in a civic engagement activity.

  • Complete all required fields (marked with an asterisk), knowing that the more details you provide the better matched your participants will be!

  • Use third person when completing the form. (e.g. "Community Engagement & Leadership is looking for" rather than "We are looking for...").

  • Please note that if a student with a disability contacts our office with interest in your opportunity and to request accommodations, we will reach out to you to work out all possible accommodations. Furthermore, opportunities posted via Community Engagement & Leadership should be welcoming and affirming to all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, ability, body image, socioeconomic status, marital status, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, and political affiliations, etc. and uphold the OSU nondiscrimination policy.

  • Internships: Looking to post jobs or internships for OSU students? Internships must provide a positive supervisory experience that encourages the professional, academic, and personal growth of the student and assist the student in developing and achieving personal learning objectives. The Career Development Center is the clearinghouse for internship and job postings for students. Learn more on the Career Development Employers page or by contacting Miranda Schmitz, Internship and Employment Developer, at 541-737-7338 or [email protected]. 

Please contact us with any questions via email at [email protected] or phone at 541-737-3041.

Engagement Types

  1. Community Engaged Learning and Research: Connecting coursework and academic research to community-identified concerns to enrich knowledge and inform action on social issues.
  2. Community Organizing and Activism: Involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.
  3. Direct Service: Working to address the immediate needs of individuals or a community, often involving contact with the people or places being served.
  4. Philanthropy: Donating or using private funds or charitable contributions from individuals or institutions to contribute to the public good.
  5. Policy and Governance: Participating in political processes, policymaking, and public governance.
  6. Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility: Using ethical business or private sector approaches to create or expand market-oriented responses to social or environmental problems.
  7. Meetings/Events: Community organization hosted meeting or events that don't fit into one of the above engagement types. 

Campus & Community Partners