Chapter 12: Commitment to Act

Sepia-toned background with images of McMaster Campus. Yellow highlighted text box with black print reads: Principles of Community Engagement. Blue text box with black print reads: For community-engaged work to be principled, you must commit to act on this new knowledge by applying it to the project. By acting on what you have learned from the experience, all stakeholder benefit.
Screen shot from “The Principles of Community Engagement.”

Community engagement with academic institutions has long been critiqued for an approach that prioritizes study and research over action and change. Professors have been criticized for putting careers ahead of community impact. Students have been criticized for engaging to advance only their own learning, sticking around only until that goal is satisfied.

“Commitment to Act is aspiring to make a positive difference in the community by sharing and acting on our knowledge to contribute to the greater social good” – Jacob, Civil Engineering IIThe principle of commitment to act requires professors and students to see their work through by using the knowledge gained from community engagement to contribute to an appropriate change in the communities.

Doing so is not easy. Professors play a critical role in this regard, ensuring that student assignments and engagements are structured so as to create actionable change. But students have a large role as well. As a student, it is critical to consider your commitment to act at the outset of engaging in community work and be honest with community partners about the time and capacity you have to participate. As you are able, look for ways to engage with the community partner either through volunteering or bringing this work into co-curricular or other classroom opportunities. Seek the support of your professors in doing so.

 

What can you do to demonstrate a Commitment to Act?

  • Stay open and receptive to feedback
  • Always strive to improve
  • Remember to learn alongside community members and partners
  • Use a solution-driven and positive attitude

 

Mishquatul and Jacob talk about their experiences of Commitment to Act in this short video clip (access to closed captions in tool bar):

Watch the whole 27-minute video, “The Principles of Community Engagement Module” [27:38].

 

Checklist: Commitment to Act?

Commitment to Act – here are some questions you might ask yourself:

  • Do I have sufficient time and energy for this work? What steps will I take to ensure this?
  • What will I do if I need to exit the work early in the process?

 

License

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Fundamentals of Community Engagement: A Sourcebook for Students Copyright © 2022 by McMaster Office of Community Engagement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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