Community Impact Certificate
The Community Impact Certificate is designed to provide students with a transformative complement to their chosen academic education at Walla Walla University, impacting them personally and professionally by:
- Exposing them to new ideas about culture and society, and their place in it;
- Engaging them in real-world projects and experiences that demand skillful leadership, hard work, and diplomacy;
- Challenging them to think critically about responsible development and community impact practices;
- Connecting them with resources that help them build industry connections and experience;
- Developing their cross-cultural communications skills.
- Help them develop the skills to assess communities’ needs and develop strategies to respond to those needs.
This program aims to engage all of its students deeply, fostering a focused community that actively learns, grows and serves together. When the requirements for the emphasis are met, they will receive a certificate on their transcript and diploma that can be seen as representing a degree of expertise in preparing them for humanitarian careers.
Core Class Requirements (4 credits)
Community Engagement Experience: See description below.
Keystone Core Class Requirement
Must select at least one (credits may also count for the requirement in one of the following sections)
Ethics and Religion (3-4 credits)
Culture and Sociology (7-8)
Business (4 credits)
Community Engagement Experience
The Community Engagement Experience is designed to immerse students in cultural experiences as they receive experiential learning in community impact. The criteria for successful assignments are that students participate in a minimum of 80 hours of immersion in a different culture while participating in community impact. Acceptable assignments include:
- A study experience in a cultural context (ACA, Study Abroad, internship etc.) involving a community impact project. Templates are provided for students wishing to conduct a community needs assessment, develop a business or marketing plan for a local humanitarian service organization, or students may identify their own project given approval by the CICP Committee.
- A work or service experience in a cultural context (EWB, SM, Maranatha, Peace Corps., Non-Governmental Organization, ADRA, ACS etc.)
- A short to long-term service social impact project through the CHE working with community with a focus on exposing students to new cultures and populations. (Blue Zones Project, ACS Advocate Program, Millennium Fellowship Program, etc.)