Programs
Discover and engage with CEL’s wide range of initiatives designed to foster leadership, community involvement, and personal growth. Below you can find opportunities with ASE, App Votes, Community Fellows, Dialogue, LEAD Team, Plemmons Leadership Scholars, and Trailhead — each offering unique pathways to develop skills, make an impact, and connect with other students on campus. Explore the details of the programs and find the perfect fit for your goals and aspirations.
Alternative Service Experience
The Alternative Service Experience (ASE) program immerses students in a service experience in local, domestic, and international communities, and are created and led by trained student Peer Leaders. ASE programs are an alternative to the typical college break because they are focused on serving others instead of self. Participants in programs participate in activities, volunteer work, meals, housing, and conversation communally rather than individually.
App Votes
App Votes in conjunction with the Office of Community-Engaged Leadership created a Voter Coalition to meet the requirement to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to all students. The vision of App Votes is to implement voter registration and education activities and increase student participation in local, state, and national voting and election initiatives this year and in future elections.
Community Fellows
The Community Fellows program seeks to strengthen and nurture Appalachian State University’s relationship with students, faculty, and Community Partners by facilitating resource sharing and exposure to the nonprofit sector. Community Fellows lead Communities of Practice, which are immersive semester-long experiences where a group of students partner with a local nonprofit and work to address a specific social issue through the lenses of education, service, philanthropy, and advocacy.
Days of Service
CEL sponsors a monthly opportunity for service, reflection and education. In this one-day event, participants are urged to consider their impact and greater role in the world around them. All volunteer work directly benefits local communities, with students providing services in a variety of ways, from river and trail cleanups to sorting fresh or boxed food at food pantry centers. Visit Engage to view more details about our upcoming Days of Service events.
Dialogue
Dialogue across differences is an important value at Appalachian State University. To support this, we have partnered with the Constructive Dialogue Institute to support Mountaineers in building skills to practice constructive dialogue: A form of conversation where people with different perspectives try to understand each other – without giving up their own beliefs – in order to live, learn, and work together.
LEAD Team
LEAD Team members are current undergraduate students who serve as peer education facilitators. They are trained to facilitate a variety of leadership development workshops for all students on campus. LEAD Workshops are engaging, relevant, one-hour sessions for any group, class, or organization. Each workshop focuses on a different leadership topic or skill to foster your personal and professional development. You’ll get great experience and information to help you lead and be able to network with other students interested in leadership.
Plemmons Leadership Scholars
Plemmons Leadership Scholars is a cohort-based, four-year scholarship program. Each summer, up to ten scholars are accepted from the incoming first-year class. Scholars join an active community of 40 students and an alumni network of over 250 individuals. Over four years, Plemmons Leadership Scholars foster strong connections with fellow scholars, program directors, and campus administrators; engage in academic and experiential leadership learning; and are challenged to create positive social change on campus and in the local community.
Trailhead Experience
The Trailhead Experience is a five-day program that prepares incoming first-year and transfer students to become community-engaged leaders during their time at Appalachian State University. Hosted by the Office of Community-Engaged Leadership, Trailhead helps students create meaningful connections and build community at App State and beyond!