Professional Development & Trainings

For Students doing Community-Engaged Work

These trainings are offered to students who are registered for a community-engaged learning class or for students who are doing community work on their own. These sessions will help you prepare for your community engagement experience. You should contact your community-engaged learning coordinator with any questions about the training requirement for your class.

All of our modules are online and can be found through the U of M's Training Hub. Click on a session below for more info and to enroll, free and open to all UMN members.

If you have questions, call 612-626-2044 or email [email protected].
To request a disability-related accommodation please contact the Center for Community-Engaged Learning at (612) 626 - 2044 or [email protected].

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Community Engagement Scenarios

CEL101 - Community Engagement Scenarios

To help you feel more prepared for a variety of situations that may arise in community-engaged learning, you'll be presented with scenarios that are based on things that have happened to students in the past - situations that may be uncomfortable, and where it might not be immediately clear how best to respond. These scenarios will help you think through how you can make sure you approach your community-engaged learning ethically, respectfully, and responsibly.

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Understanding Your Frame of Reference

CEL102 - Understanding Your Frame of Reference

Have you ever found yourself in a new situation and thought, "This feels strange" or "I'm not sure how to make sense of what's going on here"? You are not alone. To help you prepare for your community engagement, this module will introduce a practical tool that you can use when you are in new situations. It will walk you through the process of understanding how and why different people interpret the same situation in different ways.

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Community-Engaged Learning: Situational Awareness in Community Engagement

CEL103 - Community-Engaged Learning: Situational Awareness in Community Engagement

This module will help you learn techniques to stay safe while you are traveling to and from your community-engaged learning site.

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For Students Interested in Literacy Tutoring

This training prepares volunteers to work with adult students who are learning English. It also prepares volunteers to tutor adult English language learners in math, citizenship, computers, or job skills. After completing this training, tutors will be able to:

  • communicate with language learners
  • identify best practices for tutoring
  • describe an activity's purpose, the skills it practices, and how to adapt it
  • prepare students to do an activity
  • assist in a conversation or literacy lesson.

Trainings can be found by visiting Literacy Minnesota's website. They offer both in-person and online trainings.

For International Students

Our International Student Guide to Volunteering addresses common concerns that come up in volunteering such as transportation, connecting with organizations, and CPT.