What is Practicum 096?
The 096 Community Engaged Learning Practicum allows for students to engage in weekly service and reflection through the enrollment of a zero-credit, pass/fail course.
Staff work closely with students to choose their service sites based upon their passions, goals, interests and availability. Currently, the Shriver Center has community partnerships with organizations that focus on various issue areas that serve diverse populations. These include, but are not limited to, animal welfare, education, the environment, food and housing access, healthcare and mental health. Please note that we will continue to update our service chart as new information becomes available (Sites fill, updates on orientation, etc.)
Additionally, there are many opportunities to gain leadership skills through community engagement. Service-Learning Student Leaders guide volunteers in weekly service, facilitate reflection sessions, and foster a positive service-learning experience. Student Leaders receive on-going support from Shriver Center staff and their peers and benefit from bi-weekly training meetings.
Enrollment & Onboarding Process:
For the enrollment process to go smoothly, students must complete these steps in order! Practicum 096: Community Engaged Learning is a permission-based course. This means permission must be granted by the instructors via Peoplesoft. Only after completing the following steps will students be granted permission.
For questions and troubleshooting, please go to our FAQs page.
1. Review Community Partner Chart
Below is the Community Partner Chart for PRAC 096. Please pay careful attention to the following fields:
- Transportation
- Volunteers Needed
- Days/time
Why these fields? In almost all cases, the information here is rigid – meaning, there is no flexibility in the days/times of service; transportation available (or not available); and # of spots for interested students (if the site is full – it’s full!).
Please be careful and make sure that the times the site is active, is also a time you can be active. Account for the time of transportation – whether that’s walking from your class to the Commons, or driving to the partner site from home or campus.
Please note – students enrolled in FYS 102, MLL 306, and ENGL 386 have pre-approved partners. Please refer to the following links and identify your top 3 choices from these charts.
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2. Complete the Placement Survey
Survey troubleshooting:
- After hitting “submit,” do not close the window/tab. Please wait a few seconds – you are being rerouted to staff booking pages!
- If the survey is not displaying below, try clearing your cookies, or open the survey (linked here) in an incognito window.
- Not seeing a community partner listed? This community partner may be full – double check the partner chart.
3. Set up a meeting with CEL staff liaison
Please only meet with staff after completing the placement survey.
Find scheduling calendars of CEL staff liaisons here. Please book the appointment while logged into your UMBC email!
In your meeting, the CEL staff member will finalize your community partner for the semester; review the course syllabus; grant permission to enroll in the appropriate section of PRAC 096; and walk through the unique onboarding/training for your community partner.
Running into trouble? Check our FAQ page.
4. Enroll in PRAC 096 & begin onboarding!
As noted, this is the final step!
After meeting with your CEL staff liaison, you will be granted permission to enroll in PRAC 096. A confirmation message will be sent automatically to your UMBC email; in this message will also be the course number for your section of PRAC 096.
Permission to enroll/add/drop expires 11:59 pm Friday, September 4th 2026. If you missed this date, please reach out to your CEL staff liaison.