David Burbank

Following the open house, a Service-Learning Showcase featured students discussing their projects.

Dave Burbank

Vice Provost Laura Brown, left, speaks at the Engaged Learning + Research center's open house April 19, while center director Richard Kiely, right, looks on.

David Burbank

At the showcase, University of Wisconsin Professor Randy Stoecker presented “The Value of Service-Learning.”

When members of the Engaged Learning + Research center moved into their second-floor offices in Caldwell Hall in the winter of 2012, they inherited a drab setting. On April 19, they hosted an open house to show off two redesigned workspaces boasting an electrifying color scheme, interactive features and a flowing layout.

Engaged Learning + Research was founded in 2011 to renew Cornell’s commitment to community involvement. The organization connects faculty and students involved with the curriculum of community engagement on the local and global scale by supporting service-learning pedagogy, engaged research, community engaged educational opportunities and more.

“We know that many students come to Cornell seeking to be engaged, so we are really drawing upon a strength that is already here on campus and providing an opportunity for it to be more visible and effective,” said Laura Brown, vice provost for undergraduate education, speaking at the event. She added that Engaged Learning + Research will enhance Cornell’s commitment to community engagement: “It is in the founding mission of the institution to support engagement and to connect the university’s work in the academic and educational and research realms with the world at large.”

Designed by a team of seniors majoring in design and environmental analysis with the guidance of faculty and through a capstone course, the renovated space features a main hub, where one wall is painted in a pattern of nodes – a geometric design of lines and balls in the center’s distinctive vibrant green.

Engaged Learning + Research Director Richard Kiely explained that the design symbolizes the interconnection among students, faculty and outsides communities. Clusters of bright red chairs circling white tables invite visitors to relax, chat and thumb through the office’s extensive collection of community involvement pamphlets and brochures. Kiely remarked that the striking color scheme should “refresh” visitors and “catalyze” new ideas and perspectives. A separate wall features headshots of faculty members to honor their commitment to community engagement.

Engaged Learning + Research student ambassadors – exceptional undergraduate students who represent the organization and facilitate engagement on campus – greeted visitors and discussed their research projects and community involvement.

The center’s project room is equipped with such interactive features as flexible meeting space and whiteboard walls to take notes during meetings or as spontaneous ideas arise in conversation. The room is open 24/7 to faculty, staff and students.

At the open house, Professor Rebecca Stolzfus, the Provost’s Fellow for Public Engagement, said that she hoped that Engaged Learning + Research will revolutionize Cornell’s relationship with outside communities by supporting sustainable, long-term relationships.

Following the open house, a Service-Learning Showcase co-sponsored by Engaged Learning + Research, the Cornell Public Service Center and the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives took place in Mann Library where students presented service projects involving community engagement through posters and presentations. The Knitting Club hosted the showcase, which featured the keynote speech, “The Value of Service-Learning,” by University of Wisconsin Professor Randy Stoecker.

 Sam Wolken ’14 is a writing intern for the Cornell Chronicle.