From: Center for Civic Engagement & Learning
Date: August 20, 2020
Subject: News for CCEL: Virtual volunteer opportunities, Voting information, CWRUinCLE Challenge, & Become a Civic Engagement Scholar!


Center for Civic Engagement & Learning - Break out of the bubble, connect with Cleveland

Want to learn more about CCEL?

Image of Cleveland downtown buildings and image of garden.
Join a 'CCEL 101 - Explore Volunteering as a CWRU Student' session this Saturday, April 22. In this session, the staff of the Center for Civic Engagement & Learning (CCEL) will introduce you to our office and talk about how you can incorporate volunteerism into your life at CWRU!

This Saturday's session will be facilitated at three different times and you can chose the time you prefer. Click on the time below to register for that session:

Are you ready to Vote this November?

CCEL can help you get #VoteReady for the November General Election. Visit CCEL's Election and Voter Resrouces page and email commservice@case.edu if you have any questions.

The CWRU campus community has the benefit of being able to utilize TurboVote, which makes the process of voting easier through a simultaneous online voter registration and ballot request process that takes minutes to complete. This tool helps students manage deadlines and provides election reminders for all 50 states.

Through TurboVote, you can:

  • Get materials needed to register to vote
  • Change or update your voter registration information
  • Request an absentee ballot
  • Receive election reminders
  • Sends you a digital copy, as well as a paper copy, if you prefer
  • Opt in to receive forms along with a pre-stamped envelope


Ohio's 2020 Elections flyer stating Vote with an America flag.

 

Join a 'Voting 101 - Make your Voice Heard' session this Saturday, April 22 

This session will provide everything you need to know to vote in the upcoming 2020 election. We give an introduction to voter registration, voter education, and general information on political engagement. We’ll be discussing getting registered to vote, how to use TurboVote, different ways to vote, election information, and other political engagement opportunities.


This Saturday's session will be facilitated at three different times and you can chose the time you prefer. Click on the time below to register for that session:

Impact 2020 by joining CCEL's Voting Outreach Team

Student Voting Outreach Team member sitting at registration table last February 2019.As a member of the Voting Outreach Team, you’ll learn how to register students to vote and help with outreach events and voter turnout. Flexible time commitment based on your schedule. No experience required - only a passion for empowering students to make their voices heard!  

Read more details and apply online by 11:59 P.M. on Tuesday, September 1! (If you are a current Voting Outreach Team member, there's no need to reapply.)

The Voting Outreach Team, organized by the CWRU Center for Civic Engagement & Learning (CCEL) and Vote Everywhere, is a non-partisan volunteer group that actively promotes voter registration and voter turnout of CWRU students.

How to Embark on Virtual Volunteering ┬À Giving Compass
Virtual Volunteering

CCEL’s Virtual Volunteering resource page provides a wide range of ideas to serve remotely in one-time or ongoing projects. Project samples include tutoring youth, transcribing historical documents, supporting people-powered research, serving as a Crisis Text Line volunteer, providing poetry feedback to incarcerated poets, translating medical documents, and so much more. CCEL will continue to keep this resource updated throughout the year as we learn about new opportunities to stay engaged in service from wherever you are!

Become a Civic Engagement Scholar

Group of previous Civic Engagement Scholars, photo taken before COVID pandemic.
Now in its eleventh year, the Civic Engagement Scholars program, hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement & Learning (CCEL), promotes and recognizes meaningful student involvement in the community. Scholars complete at least 25 civic engagement hours in their choice of direct service, advocacy, philanthropy, political involvement, and more over the course of the academic year. They also participate in approximately one educational program per month to enhance their understanding of these multiple forms of civic engagement and how they work together to create social change. All of the Scholars requirements (hours, educational events, and final reflection) can be completed remotely, and CCEL will serve as a resource to students in locating activities that satisfy the program components. Upon successful completion of the program, Scholars will earn a micro-credential issued by the Provost’s Office to recognize their commitment to community. Both undergraduate and graduate students of all years and majors are eligible to become Civic Engagement Scholars, and many students elect to participate in the program multiple years.
The Scholars enrollment form is due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, September 20. Visit the Civic Engagement Scholars website for more information.

CWRUinCLE Challenge

Stay connected with Cleveland and its many assets from wherever you are this Fall 2020 semester through the Center for Civic Engagement & Learning's (CCEL) CWRUinCLE Challenge! This self-paced, everyone-wins competition allows you to choose your own adventure by completing and logging at least one unique virtual Cleveland activity within the categories of art, community, education, nature, and wellness chosen from a pre-selected list of remote activity options. Students who complete at least one activity within each category between August 10 to December 16, 2020 will receive a CWRUinCLE Challenge badge and be entered into a semester-end raffle to win CLE-themed prizes. 

Complete this CampusGroups form by 11:59 p.m. EST on December 16, 2020 after you have finished at least one unique activity in each of the categories. Contact adrian.griffin@case.edu with questions.

Stay connected to your community and discover CLE in a whole new way this semester!
Photo of student groups cleaning up Cleveland beach in Fall 2019.

Students for Refugees

Drawing of globe with two people.A new CWRU student club, Students for Refugees, is forming to provide awareness and engagement around the experiences of refugees. The club is recruiting for students interested in serving as a virtual tutor to youth who are refugees (ranging in grade from elementary to high school) for a minimum of 2-3 hours once per week this Fall semester to provide extra support to families during the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s remote start to the school year. Tutor recruitment will conclude at the end of August, and tutoring will begin in early September. If you are interested in serving as a virtual tutor or learning more about the club, please complete this form.

Provost Scholars Program 

Two Provost Scholars Program participants.The Provost Scholars Program is a partnership between CWRU and East Cleveland City Schools. The program matches East Cleveland middle and high school Provost Scholars with CWRU faculty and staff mentors to improve the Scholars’ academic and career outcomes. The Scholars are also paired with a tutor (that's where you come in!) with whom they meet (virtually) every Thursday afternoon from 2:30 to 3:50 p.m. EST. Interested tutors should complete this application and also register to attend a virtual tutor training on Thursday, September 10, 2020 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. EST.  Contact Kate Klonowski (kak121@case.edu) with questions.

Tutor Youth on Saturdays

Student receiving tutoring through online video conferencing.

The Saturday Tutoring Program provides free tutoring to northeast Ohio youth in Grades 1st-12th on a variety of subjects. While the program usually takes place at Church of the Covenant on campus, it has transitioned to an online format this Fall semester. Interested tutors complete once during the semester a registration form indicating the Saturdays they are available to tutor between September 12 to November 14, 2020. Tutors can sign up for as many or as few Saturdays as they wish, and tutor spots will be filled on a rolling basis throughout the semester. They will then be matched for a 1-hour tutor shift on those Saturdays sometime between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. More information about this semester’s structure is available online (including a short information video), and prospective tutors can contact saturdaytutoring@gmail.com with questions.

Note Regarding Opportunities

Please note that the Center for Civic Engagement & Learning alerts students to a range of community-based opportunities—posted opportunities are a sampling of options, not endorsements. Students should independently research opportunities carefully to make sure the program is a good match for their interests. Additionally, posting of opportunities and events does not constitute an endorsement by Case Western Reserve University or CCEL of a particular political issue, candidate, political campaign, or election.
*All included new story photos were taken prior to the pandemic and the resulting social distancing/mask mandates.