Mission

 The mission of the Center for Community Engagement, Learning, and Leadership is to foster life-long learning and commitment in students toward their growth and development as citizen-leaders.

 History

 The center was opened in the fall of 2004. It birthed from a growing student life program that encompassed many traditional aspects of student activities. To give proper staff focus and resources to all these programs, the students life area was split into a center that supports for more traditional activities the Student Organization Resource Center, and the Center for Community Engagement, Learning, and Leadership (CELL).

 East Tennessee State University is now committed to two strategic initiatives for the next five years to grow student participation in civic engagement and to grow leadership education programs and participation.

 Service-Learning programs began in 1994 at ETSU with the awarding of a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Soon the East Tennessee Consortium for Service-Learning was established and flourished for six years through CNCS support and leaderships from ETSU. In April of 2000, the National Points of Light Foundation recognized the Consortium as the 1614th Point of Life. The American Reads Program developed in 1997 and has been providing literacy education support in North East Tennessee for over eight years. The tutor corps averages forty tutors each semester with a client load of 4-5 children for each tutor. The Service-Learning Program boasts over 1000 students engaged annually in Service –Learning courses.

 A new look at leadership education began in the mid 1990’s, as the students of this mostly commuter campus told us that leadership programs were important to them, but students wanted course credit for them. An upper division, 3-credit class, Leadership Studies (MGMT/ELPA 4460) was created in 1998. A faculty committee was established and chaired by the assistant Vice President for Student Life to explore and design an Interdisciplinary Minor in Leadership Studies. This minor was approved by the Board of Regents to begin in the fall of 2001. A living-learning community in servant leadership came to our attention through the Greenleaf Center annual conference in 1999. Soon a program called Leadership House was established in 2000 and modeled after similar programs at Butler University, and the University of South Florida. In 2004 a campus-wide Leadership Task Free was established and chaired by the Division of Student Affairs to provide support for the growth of leadership education. A special leadership training room was set aside and furnished. Resources to certify 10 faculty and staff members to teach the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People began in 2005 with the goal of providing this personal development program to all interested students, faculty, and staff.