“Meet the CEN” is a series that shines a spotlight on the dynamic individuals who make up the heart of our Community Engagement Network (CEN). As we continue to foster collaboration, learning, and community-building within the realm of community engagement at UBC, it’s our pleasure to share the stories and insights of those who drive this essential work forward.
Meet CCEL!
Meet Shadi Mehrabi, Bruce Moghtader, and Kyle Nelson—Community Engaged Learning Officers at UBC’s Centre for Community Engaged Learning. Together, they connect students, faculty, and community partners to co-create transformative learning experiences that address critical social and environmental issues.
In this interview, the trio shares their collaborative approach to designing impactful courses, supporting community priorities, and fostering reciprocal relationships. From advising faculties to offering toolkits and funding, their work helps embed community engagement at the heart of teaching and learning. They also share candid advice on starting small, centering relationships, and embracing the evolving nature of community-university partnerships.
How does your program support community engagement at UBC?
Kyle — At the Center for Community Engaged Learning, we situate ourselves as a nexus point between students, faculty, and community. We support the coming together to work on critical social and environmental issues. We do this through supports and resources, all centered on the student learning experience.
How do you support faculty?
Bruce — The work that we do will help faculty—no matter what stage of the process they’re in when designing a community-engaged learning course. They can reach out to us, and we can support them from the stage of ideating projects with the community partner, to evaluating their students in the course, and finally to understanding what goes well with the community and the students—and what does not—so they can improve the course in future deliveries.
How do you support community partners?
Kyle — If you’re a community partner, we’re happy to work with you to help scope a project that meets your priorities. We’ll reach out on your behalf to various faculty and student groups on campus to see if there’s a strong project fit to address the critical social and environmental issues you’re tackling.
Can you share a resource?
Bruce — One of the resources we’re really proud of—and that we recently revamped after COVID—is a resource toolkit for faculty and teaching teams to support community-engaged teaching in classrooms.
Shadi — We also offer funding opportunities for faculty members and practitioners across campus to design, deliver, and integrate community-engaged learning into their courses or programs. Additionally, we have a couple of newsletters: one for faculty members and students, and another for community partners.
Can you share an example of your work?
Shadi — We are supporting the Faculty of Dentistry and have been advising them for a while now. They have integrated community-engaged learning into all of their programming—dental, hygiene, and dentistry. We go to their classes, lead workshops, share resources, and provide strategic guidance. As a result, students are experiencing meaningful community-engaged learning in those courses.
Bruce — One of the programs I had the privilege to be involved in was the Faculty Fellows Program. It’s a community of practice where faculty across disciplines come together to discuss the community-engaged learning initiatives they’re undertaking and share their goals and aspirations for working with community and students on specific projects.
What advice do you have for others who want to do community engagement?
Kyle — Some advice that I think would be valuable is to focus on relationships. Start small. Work together. Be honest. Be willing to give and receive feedback—even if it’s critical—and work toward this idea of reciprocity. It’s not a static definition of mutual exchange, but something that is co-created and always evolving.
This means checking in on each other, being open to changing priorities or shifting course, and being reflective about our own practice. Centering relationships as the driver is key—because with good process, good outcomes can follow.
Connect with CCEL
CCEL’s work is centered on supporting faculty and removing barriers to integrating community-engaged learning—whether at the level of a course, a program, or an academic major. The team is available for one-on-one consultations, can provide tailored resources, share examples and stories, and offer support for faculty engaging in community-based teaching and learning.
If you’re a faculty member or practitioner at UBC, and are interested in integrating community engaged learning, you can reach out to Shadi at shadi.mehrabi@ubc.ca.
For any questions about CCEL’s Faculty Fellows Program, you can contact Bruce at bruce.moghtader@ubc.ca.
For general inquires, feel free to contact Kyle at kyle.nelson@ubc.ca or community.learning@ubc.ca.