Welcome to the Brewer Center
The Senator Stephen M. Brewer Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement promotes positive social change through equity-minded, student-centered, and data-driven programming that benefits our surrounding community and Mount Wachusett Community College.
The Brewer Center’s innovative programs engage students, faculty, and staff with the community through Community Engagement, Internships, Volunteerism, and Service-Learning Support
The Brewer Center works with faculty that require service learning for their course. Many times, this service learning requirement is referred to as an internship or an externship. The Center works with faculty and their students to pair them with a community partner (mainly a non-profit) to complete their requirements. In addition to the pairing process, the Center assists students in completing required paperwork (which is an all online process) prior to beginning their service (i.e. CORI forms, Student Intern Forms, etc.)
After you sign up with a course that lists an internship-required component, please feel free to reach out to us so that we can assist you.
Looking for an internship for additional experience? Please contact Career Services for their expertise.
Community Engagement
Community Partner Planning
The Center works to build relationships with community partners throughout Massachusetts and limited areas in New Hampshire. We have conversations with partners to assess their needs and see how our MWCC students can best assist them, while also fostering a robust experience for the student’s professional development. Currently, we have worked with 147 different partners and continue to expand to meet community and student needs. Learn more about how you can be a community partner.
Give Pulse
Give Pulse is our online software that assists students in tracking the hours they complete. Whether it is an internship experience, volunteering, or a group dedicating hours for their club, Give Pulse is the place to track! Give Pulse trainings are offered to anyone that requests them. Please read more on tracking hours and Give Pulse here. You can also email community@mwcc.mass.edu for information.
Support Received During the Semester
In addition to preparing the student with paperwork, pairing them with a site, and Give Pulse, the Center works to support the student throughout the semester. From Give Pulse issues to ideas students have that they want to assist their site with, the Center is here to provide support for the student’s experience.
Service Learning
What is the difference between service learning and volunteerism?
- Both service learning and volunteerism benefit the community
- Service learning is connected to a particular course and helps you learn the course material. To earn service learning hours:
- Your instructor must provide service learning as part of the curriculum (either required or optional)
- You must document the connection between your service and the course content.
Volunteering
Love photography? Working with animals? Maybe you prefer designing marketing materials or cultivating a garden.
Have you seen or witnessed an equity issue within your community? Is there something you would like to change in your community? Not sure where to start? Let’s talk about it!
We have conversations with partners to assess their needs and see how we can best assist them through volunteerism.
Through these conversations, we work to combine these together to pair someone interested in volunteering with work they will connect to.
- What are your interests, passions, or hobbies? Example: “I love photography!”
- What is an issue you are interested in and passionate about? Example: “I am interested in working with domestic violence victims and assisting them with support and giving them their power back.”
- How can you combine your passion and interest issue? Example: “I could create a photography series for people to get their portrait taken and provide a space for them to share their story. That photo and story can then be given to them.”
Give Pulse - Give Pulse is our online software that assists students in tracking the hours they complete. Whether it is an internship experience, volunteering, or a group dedicating hours for their club, Give Pulse is the place to track! Give Pulse trainings are offered to anyone that requests them.
Support - We work to support anyone at MWCC who is looking to volunteer. Whether you are a student, staff, or faculty - we are here to help! If you have a community partner that you are interested in working with or have worked with, and want to expand our resources, please feel free to contact us. If you are a community partner, please feel free to read more here about how to partner with us.
Service Learning
Service learning is an opportunity to engage in your community as part of a MWCC course. Tied to your course’s learning objectives, this experience takes what you are learning in the classroom into the community to address a specific community need. Not sure if you are taking any service-learning courses? Consult with your instructors, or with the Brewer Center to brainstorm potential projects.
Give Pulse
Give Pulse is our online software that assists students in tracking the hours they complete. Whether it is an internship experience, volunteering, or a group dedicating hours for their club, Give Pulse is the place to track! Give Pulse trainings are offered to anyone that requests them. Please read more on tracking hours and Give Pulse here. You can also email community@mwcc.mass.edu for information.
Support Received During the Semester
In addition to preparing the student with paperwork, pairing them with a site, and Give Pulse, the Center works to support the student throughout the semester. From Give Pulse issues to ideas students have that they want to assist their site with, the Center is here to provide support for the student’s experience.
Civic Outreach
Community Engagement, Internships, Volunteerism, and Service-Learning Support
The Brewer Center works with faculty that require service learning for their course. Many times, this service learning requirement is referred to as an internship or an externship. The Center works with faculty and their students to pair them with a community partner (mainly a non-profit) to complete their requirements. In addition to the pairing process, the Center assists students in completing required paperwork (which is an all online process) prior to beginning their service (i.e. CORI forms, Student Intern Forms, etc.)
After you sign up with a course that lists an internship-required component, please feel free to reach out to us so that we can assist you.
Looking for an internship for additional experience? Please contact Career Services for their expertise.
Why Get Involved?
Engaging in service experiences at MWCC is a great way to learn new skills, give back to your community, create new connections, and even build your resume!
At MWCC, when you engage in service learning, community-based internships, or volunteer opportunities, the service hours you complete are notated on your official academic transcript, which looks great to potential employers, institutions of higher education, and scholarship applications. Depending on how many hours you complete and log on GivePulse (more info on: Tracking Service Learning & Volunteer Hours), you may also qualify for our Service Recognition Program.