Engaged Learning Graduation Requirement

Roger Williams University’s core purpose is “to strengthen society through engaged teaching and learning.” RWU embraces its social responsibility to partner with organizations, municipalities, and businesses to tackle the challenges facing local - and distant - communities.

Engaged learning enables us to connect beyond our campus borders to bring the real-world issues into the classrooms; it places our students out into the world for hands-on learning. Through this work students turn the concepts and theories they’re studying in the classroom into practical know-how. What results is a deeper understanding of academic content, the development of important hard and soft skills, and a richer and more meaningful transcript and résumé.  

At Roger Williams University all students are required to engage in community engaged scholarship to satisfy the Engaged Learning requirement. The requirement, which must be completed prior to graduation, forms a part of the student’s transcript and is listed as the 0-credit FSL.999 course. 

Requirements

The Engaged Learning graduation requirement can be fulfilled through one or more of the following engaged learning experiences:  

  • An internship or co-op
  • Original research project (undertaken with a faculty sponsor)
  • A community engaged course (i.e., courses that involve collaborations with community partners)
  • An intensive volunteer experience (40-50 hours with a community organization)

Important Notes

  • The Engaged Learning requirement described above applies to all undergraduate students who entered the University beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, with the exception of some transfer students. 
  • Transfer students who entered RWU with 24 or more credits are exempt from the requirement.  
  • For students entering RWU during the 2020-2021 academic year:  The Engaged Learning graduation requirement was waived due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service locations. 
  • For students entering RWU prior to the 2020-2021 academic year, refer to the catalog associated with the academic year you entered the University (for example, 2019-2020  catalog can be found here).  Most students will have completed the requirement through participation in the Community Connections program (now discontinued).   

Notify Community Engagement

Students must notify Community Engagement when they have completed their Engaged Learning requirement by submitting the Engaged Learning Reporting Form, available on Hawklink.  Staff in Community Engagement will notify the Registrar's office to note this on the student's transcript, viewable on Roger Central in the PROGRESS tab.