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Community Engagement

CE Minor – FAQs

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To ensure a mixture of theoretical and experiential courses, students must take a minimum of six units from Course List A (courses that focus on theory) and a minimum of three units from Course List B (courses that provide the student with relevant skills) and three units from Course List C (projects or capstone courses that involve an advanced community-engaged project and/or community-based research). The courses presented for the minor must include choices from at least two different Faculties (Social Sciences, Humanities, etc.).

Course Requirements:

  • Students are required to take CMTYENGA 2A03 – Foundations of Community Engagement plus 21 additional units chosen from Course List A, List B and List C.
  • To view the course lists, please visit the Undergraduate Academic Calendar.

Note:All minors are declared upon graduation

Want to learn more about the Minor? Watch this video!

 

Yes! If you are currently taking a course that is not included in Approved Minor Course Lists and would like to have it count towards the minor, please email us at community.mcmaster.ca, with the following information:

  • Your Name
  • Your Home Faculty
  • Your Program of Study and Level
  • Have you already taken these courses, are you currently taking them, or are you planning on taking them?
  • Please share with me the course syllabi
  • Faculty (of the course you are submitting the request for e.g., Science or Humanities)
  • Program (of the course you are submitting the request for e.g., Biology or Philosophy)
  • Course Code and Title
  • Course Outline (link or attach a copy)
  • Name and Email of Course Instructor (who taught when you took the course)
  • Have you had any other courses approved for substitutions? 
    • If yes, please list using Course Code and Title

 

The Office of Community Engagement offers a suite of Community-Engaged courses (CMTYENGA) that include:  

  • CMTYENGA 2A03 – Foundations of Community Engagement 
  • CMTYENGA 2MC3 – Design and Creation of Engaged Learning for Community Youth with McMaster Children and Youth University (MCYU) 
  • CMTYENGA 2MD3 – Community-based Learning with McMaster Children and Youth University (MCYU) 
  • CMTYENGA 3A03 – The Art of Change
  • CMTYENGA 4A06 – Design and Dialogue Inquiry (CityLAB)* 
  • CMTYENGA 4A09 Applied Project Experience (CityLAB)* 

*CityLAB Hamilton Semester in Residence is a 15-unit program run by the Office of Community Engagement comprised of the following two courses – CMTYENGA 4A06/4A09. These courses must be taken together and are not offered on their own.  

Consult with your Faculty Advisor to assess if you can substitute one or both courses for courses counted toward your major.  Your Faculty Advisor can help you work out your schedule so that you can take the semester without interfering with other classes. 

CityLAB Hamilton is an innovation hub that brings together student, academic, and civic leaders to co-create a better Hamilton for all.

Our vision: provoke students and city leadership to inspire, energize, and build a healthy, sustainable, and vibrant Hamilton.

CityLAB Hamilton Semester in Residence (SIR) is a 15-unit program run by the Office of Community Engagement comprised of the following two courses – CMTYENGA 4A06/4A09. These courses must be taken together and are not offered on their own.

Applications open every year in mid March and are due in mid May. For specific details on how to apply, please visit our CityLAB Semester in Residence Page.

Have you taken CMTYENGA 2A03 – Foundations of Community Engagement, a required course for the minor? If you have not taken this course yet, is it possible for you to enroll before you graduate? Use the Approved Course Lists to review the courses you have already taken and check how many satisfy the requirements.   

Email us at community.mcmaster.ca to speak to someone from our office.

There are! The Office of Community Engagement offers two co-curricular programs: 

MacChangers The MacChangers program welcomes students from all faculties and levels of study to collaborate on solution finding to community challenges.

Research Shop – The Research shop is open to upper level (Level III and above undergraduate) and all graduate students to work with public, non-profit, and community organizations in Hamilton to provide plain-language answers to research questions.

Student Success Centre: Start your search in OSCARplus>Student Success Centre>Volunteering where the Student Success Centre (SSC) posts volunteer opportunities regularly. If you would like some 1:1 help finding the right opportunity, they offer peer lead appointments all year. To book go to OSCARplus>Student Success Centre>Appointments>Careers>Volunteering.  

For more information on services, programs and events check out the SSC website.  

McMaster Children and Youth University (MCYU) Lecture Series Volunteer and MCYU Facilitator: For information on how to become a volunteer, contact the Program Coordinator, Rebecca Young at youngr20@mcmaster.ca  

Community Volunteer Circles: Through this program you can volunteer in Hamilton in small groups on a weekly basis.

The McMaster Passport for Aging Education (macPAGE), supported by the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), serves as an online passport for education on aging, care of older adults, and Geriatrics at McMaster University. The macPAGE program was designed to support and encourage a learners’ interest in their opportunities to learn about aging and working with older adults. macPAGE provides participants with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge about research on aging and working with older adults, engage in a variety of educational activities, and share their experiences with other learners in the program. Through successful competition of experiences from four of the seven pillars of education that support further student learning in the field (30 cumulative hours of experiences), participants will receive a MIRA Certificate of Completion in Research on Aging and Engagement with Older Adults. Contact Allison Dubé at warda2@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions.

The Community Engagement and Research Library Guide is an interdisciplinary guide intended for use by students, staff, and faculty looking to understand the Hamilton context as they engage with off-campus communities through teaching, research, and service. The goal of this guide is to offer students, staff, and faculty from all disciplines a strong, relevant evidence base on issues faced by communities mainly in Hamilton, but also in broader geographical contexts (provincial, national, and international). It includes a range of data sets, reports, and other resources from Hamilton and beyond.

  • The McMaster Research Shop works with public, non-profit, and community organizations in Hamilton to provide plain-language answers to research questions. Research Shop welcomes all graduate students and upper-level undergraduate students 
  • The Student Partners Program (SPP) provides undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to participate as partners with faculty, instructors and staff on projects that contribute to the enhancement of teaching and learning at McMaster. Some research projects may be community engaged. Please check the project descriptions once the calls are out. 
  • Check your Faculty listing for community engaged research course offerings.
  • Faculty of Health Science offers a course open to students from all faculties: HTHSCI 3DD6 A/B- Engaging the City: An Introduction to Community Based Research in Hamilton
  • Check with your Faculty job boards. Often, faculty will have funding to hire student research assistants. There may be some opportunities there for Community Engaged Research projects.

The Office of Community Engagement does not connect students directly with placement or work experience opportunities. Please contact your Program Administrator, Faculty Advisor or Co-op/Experiential Education office in your home Faculty for help connecting to these kinds of opportunities. 

Absolutely! Please fill out an Intake Form to let us know more about what you are working on and we will follow up to schedule a meeting to learn more information and provide any feedback we can offer.

McMaster’s Access Strategy assists academically qualified students from underrepresented groups in Hamilton and surrounding communities to access university education at the undergraduate level. We work with students to help navigate the application and admissions process and are here to ensure success through to graduation. 

Please email questions to access1@mcmaster.ca.