Community Engagement Moving Up a Peg
Emily Cobb | March 4, 2024
One of Warren Wilson College’s (WWC’s) core principles of service learning opened a new chapter this semester, as the previous system of Points of Engagement and Growth (PEGs) has been dropped. Going forward, community-engaged learning will take place within academic courses. For students who are interested in learning more about the future of service learning, WWC Director of Community Engagement Madeline Wadley has provided additional information.
The decision to phase out the PEG system was part of a larger project to restructure the college’s curriculum, resulting in a PEGless fall 2024 catalog. While the community engagement office juggled two different programs in the interim, Hurricane Helene heaped a pile of new complications for students and community partners alike. To the relief of some seniors still on the old catalog, PEGs were removed as a graduation requirement for all students this past January in response to Helene.
Before the change, WWC’s three pillars—work, service and learning—operated separately. Work hours, PEGs and credits marked students' progress in their respective pursuits. The new catalog simplifies the process, reducing students' requirements to two.
Simplicity was not the only purpose for the change. By tying community engagement to academics, WWC could open the door to better collaboration with community partners and prompt students towards a more critical approach to service learning. The new approach also aims to better equip students and community partners for collaboration, providing greater impact to both parties.
“Integrating community engagement into a course makes for a higher level of critical community engagement,” Wadley said. “It makes a deeper, more long-lasting, impactful experience for students.”
Some of the burden of coordinating community engagement has been shifted onto faculty members. Still, Wadley says the community engagement office is prepared to support them through professional development opportunities, a newly appointed faculty liaison, Christine Swoap, and hopefully future grants to support their work.
“It’s a more labor-intensive pedagogy and it’s asking a lot of our faculty, but we faculty have been doing that for years,” Wadley said. “Now that we're not focusing on PEGs, we can refocus into that faculty support to help them develop really quality community-engaged courses.”
Wadley pointed out that both independent student service work and work crew service projects are still highly encouraged. Wadley suggested that students and crew leaders contact the community engagement office to keep them informed about the ongoing projects. Students can report their projects through GivePulse. For more information about the change, the office community engagement has an FAQ document and a Google form for questions.