Community Engagement at Brandeis
Welcome Home!
Thanks to the collaborative efforts of COMPACT, DSE, and ENACT, Brandeis offers students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners several opportunities and resources to help repair the world. Learn more about Brandeis’ commitment to community engagement below!
Defining Community Engagement
Brandeis upholds the definition of community engagement as outlined by the Carnegie Foundation:
Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching, and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good.
The Brandeis Way
Community Engagement Hubs
If you’re a student, faculty, staff, community partner or alumni looking to get more involved, please explore pathways for engagement below. If you’re a community partner and interested in working with the Brandeis community please fill out the Community Partnerships Interest Form to start! This will give us an idea of the type of partnership you are looking for, including additional resources and opportunities. Once we receive your form, staff from COMPACT will reach out to you.
Vic '63 and Bobbi Samuels '63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT)
The Vic ’63 and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT) at Brandeis University brings together scholars, activists, students, practitioners, and community partners to work collaboratively to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
Our programs:
- Provide students with the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to serve as ethical, respectful and responsible agents of service and of social change in their local, national and global communities.
- Inspire global community engagement through partnerships and initiatives that address complex 21st-century challenges in compelling, ethical and innovative ways.
- Elevate community engaged research and pedagogy by providing essential resources, including funding opportunities.
- Offer impactful internship opportunities for Brandeis students committed to advancing health equity in Waltham.
- Welcome the community to campus for exciting and impactful events.
To connect with COMPACT, please email us at compact@brandeis.edu.
Department of Student Engagement
As a part of the Division of Student Affairs, the Department of Student Engagement:
- Collaborates with community partners, student leaders, and other departments to make an impact in communities.
- Develops programs like Back to Brandeis, Winter Welcome Back, Senior Celebration, and Family Weekend.
- Offers training, leadership development experiences, and co-curricular programming that allow students to build important skills and enhance their classroom learning.
- Supports 250 student organizations in their leadership development, events, financial operations, and member development.
- Enables connection and belonging through almost 100 student employment opportunities, management of student engagement spaces, and other operational support for student life at Brandeis.
To connect with DSE, please email us at studentengagement@brandeis.edu.
ENACT: The Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation
The mission of The Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation (ENACT) is to teach college students about democracy through engagement with the state legislative process. Built on knowledge, cooperation, justice and integrity, ENACT is a national, inter-collegiate non-partisan program. ENACT empowers students to be active participants in democratic processes through connecting with policymakers and community organizations; conducting research and analysis; and informing public policy with evidence and expertise.
- In ENACT courses students research their chosen issues and design and implement models of legislative activity. Students work with a legislative mentor and/or a member of an advocacy organization, and strive to effect social change.
- ENACT offers opportunities for students to engage in public policy-related research and analysis and summer internships with faculty mentorship.
- ENACT supports students and faculty members with Educate and Advocate Grants, the Justice Brandeis Practitioner-in-Residence series, and other funding opportunities.
- ENACT connects students with a national network of people and resources engaging in state-level legislative work, including ENACT Faculty Fellows, and convenes students and faculty from across the country.
- ENACT hosts events at Brandeis that connect students with policymakers and community organizations and other practitioners.
To connect with ENACT, please email us at enact@brandeis.edu.