UTexas

Division of Campus and Community Engagement

The Division of Campus and Community Engagement (DCCE) works with a broad range of student, faculty, staff, and community constituents to make The University of Texas at Austin a national model for access and belonging in higher education. The Division strives to create a welcoming community on campus that fosters an open and robust learning environment that supports all students, faculty, and staff. It also works to help the University meet its mission of service and create pathways for success for K-16 students throughout the state.

The Division includes more than 50 units, programs, projects, and initiatives and works in four strategic areas: student success, campus engagement, community engagement, and access and belonging.

The Women’s Community Center serves as a place for Longhorns of all genders to connect, find resources, and get support. Women in Stem (WiSTEM) aims to close the STEM gender gap by creating an inspired and diverse community of STEM leaders. 

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health funds and advocates for programs in mental health service research and public policy analysis. The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health funds and advocates for programs in mental health service research and public policy analysis.

The Center for Leadership and Learning (CLL) offers a variety of programs and services to assist University students, including graduate school prep programs, study abroad opportunities, mentorship, success coaches, STEM tutoring, and many other resources and connections. Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship uses entrepreneurship as a method for promoting student success on campus and in their careers, collaboration among disciplines, and student impact on community issues through initiatives like Product Prodigy and WIELD TX. The First-Gen Longhorns program provides valuable student success resources and a community on campus for the University’s growing number of first-generation college students. The McNair Scholars program is a federally funded program that encourages and prepares students to pursue graduate and professional school. Other initiatives within the CLL include Global Leadership and Social Impact, Strive Grad Prep Academy, and College-to-Career. The CLL supports students to complete college successfully and become top-notch competitors in the global job market upon graduation. 

The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) fosters and supports the development of academic service-learning classes on campus and connects students, faculty, and staff to service projects on campus and throughout the greater Austin area. The John S. and Drucie R. Chase Building pays homage to one of the first Black students at UT, John Saunders Chase. The University purchased the first commercial building that he designed to serve as the CCE East Austin location. It functions as a center for community engagement activities and collaboration around important issues such as economic development, education, and health care access. It also houses the Texas Grants Resource Center, which helps students, faculty, and the public find funding for research projects and nonprofit activities.

The Center for School Partnerships (CSP)  works with public schools throughout the state to help students from Title I schools prepare for college. The CSP includes the Neighborhood Longhorns Program which works with approximately 6,000 Title I students in the Austin Independent School District; five UT Youth Engagement Centers in Austin, Dallas, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio that help students prepare for college; and ADVISE TX, which places recent UT Austin grads in 21 schools across the state to serve as college advisers.

The Center for Access and Restorative Engagement serves as a resource to cultivate belonging throughout the university community. It serves as a learning hub for restorative justice practices, which are designed to address and mitigate concerns with the goal of balancing support and accountability between or among affected parties.  Disability and Access works to ensure that all students have equal access to the University’s programs and services. Eligibility and specific accommodations are based on appropriate documentation and individual student needs. The Disability Cultural Center serves as a hub on campus for community, education and advocacy for disabled students, faculty, staff and all members of the university community.

The University Interscholastic League (UIL), created to provide leadership and guidance to public school debate and athletics teachers, has grown into the largest organization of its kind in the world, sponsoring regional and state-wide academic and athletic competitions. UIL reaches every school district in the state and has played a large role in developing young leaders and in providing avenues for success of public school students.

The University of Texas Elementary School is a research-based demonstration school located in East Austin that serves as a training and development site for future teachers, school nurses, speech therapists, social workers, counselors, and psychologists. The University of Texas-University Charter School includes 24 campuses around the state that serve approximately 2,000 K-12 students with special needs, including a number of students in foster care settings.

For a complete listing of programs, centers, and initiatives, explore the menu on the Division of Campus of Community Engagement homepage at community.utexas.edu