Community Organizing Certificate

Courses / Requirements

Students enrolled in the program must complete at least 21 credits of courses within the guidelines provided. A 2.50 GPA must be achieved in courses prescribed for the certificate.

Students may take only 12 credits from a single department, and only 6 credits out of the 12 available for elective courses (components 3 and 4) from a single department.

 

Students who wish to enroll (or have enrolled) in programs offered by other groups, including unions, environmental organizations, and others, may petition to the Program Committee for approval.

Program Components Overview
(21 credits)

1. Required Introductory Course (Learn More)

ED POL 111, Organizing for Social Action in Urban Communities (3 credits)

2. Required External Practical Training Course (Learn More)

ED POL 508: Problems of Change in Community Organizations 3 (credits)

3. Historical Perspectives on Organizing, Inequality, and Social Change (3 credits) (Learn More)
 

4. Practical and Foundations Electives Courses (9 credits total) (Learn More)

5. Required Capstone Internship/Seminar in Community Organizing(Learn More)

ED POL 442, Intermediate Community Education Practice (3 credits)

Intern with a community organization (100 hours min.).
Meet for bi-weekly discussions.

1. Required Introductory Course

Organizing for Social Action in Urban Communities (3 credits)

Basic techniques of strategy development for implementing community programs

2. Required External Practical Training Course

ED POL 508: Problems of Change in
Community Organizations 3 (credits)

Enrollment in this course involves participation in a community organizing course offered by a non-UWM organization approved by the Program Committee.

Currently, the Midwest Academy 5-day training program is approved. Student should contact the Program Committee to obtain approval before attending any other program or combination of programs.

Students must write a paper analyzing their experience at the training course to receive credit for the course.

3. Historical Perspectives on Organizing, Inequality,
and Social Change (3 credits)

ED POL 508: Problems of Change in
Community Organizations 3 (credits)

3 credits chosen from the following options.

AFRICOL 218: Conflict and Cooperation in Black-White Relations 3
AFRICOL 322: Order and Disorder: The Quest for Social Justice 3
AFRICOL 344: Political Movements & Organizations in the Afroworld 3
AFRICOL 411: Change in African-American Communities 3
AFRICOL 414: Race, Injustice, and Change in America 3
ED POL 461: The Chicano Experience 3
EXCEDUC 300: The Exceptional Individual 3
HIST 266: Race, Racial Thought, and Prejudice in the United States 3
HIST 267: The History of Latinos in the United States 3
HIST 269: Asian Americans in Historical Perspective 3
HIST 271: The 1960s in the United States 3
HIST 440: History of the American Working Classes 3
HIST 446: Black Americans Since the Civil War 3
HIST 460: The History of Poverty in America 3
HIST 468: The American Feminist Movement 3
HIST 473: History of Wisconsin Indians
(The training course to receive credit for the course.)

4. Practical and Foundations Electives Courses (9 credits total)

• 3 credits to be taken from one area and
  
• 6 credits to be taken from the other.
  
  

Practical Electives

Leadership
AD LDSP 507: Introduction to Group Leadership 3
AD LDSP 537: Leadership and Management of Volunteer Programs 3

Communications/Public Relations/Applied Writing Skills
COMMUN 103: Public Speaking 3
COMMUN 264: Persuasive Speaking 3
COMMUN 350: Intercultural Communication 3
COMMUN 363: Communication in Human Conflict 3
COMMUN 364: Theory and Practice of Persuasion 3
COMMUN 510: Organizational Communication Analysis 3
ENGLISH 214: Writing in the Professions 3
ENGLISH 435: Advanced Professional and Technical Writing 3
MHRLR 222: Advertising Copywriting and Design 3
MHRLR 224: Principles of Public Relations 3
MHRLR 524: Advertising and Public Relations Campaigns 3

Fund Raising
ED POL 421: Proposal Writing 3

Evaluation/Applied Research Skills/Statistical Understanding
AFRICOL 220: Introduction to Statistics in Africology 3
AFRICOL 222: Introduction to Social Research, Data Analysis, and
Computer Analysis in Africology 3
AD LDSP 647: Evaluation of Adult & Continuing Education Programs 3
ED POL 507: Action Research on Milwaukee Institutions 3
MATH 465: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics for Social
Sciences and Education 3
POL SCI 392: Survey Research 3
SOCIOL 604: Research in Urban Minority Communities 3

• Students may only count one of either AFRICOL 220 or MATH 465 towards their Community Organizing Certificate.
• With permission of advisor another statistics course may be substituted for AFRICOL 220 or MATH 465.

Organizational Change in Non-Profit Organizations
AD LDSP 607: Coordination of Staff Development and Training Programs 3

Organizing/Negotiating
COMMUN 665: Introduction to Mediation 3
ECON 341: Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining 3
ED POL 208: The Group as a Framework for Effective Community Change 3
ED POL 410: Conflict and Change 3
ED POL 611: Community Organizing 3
ED POL 688: Fieldwork in Multicultural Education 3

• A second internship in addition to ED POL 442 may be approved in some cases by a student's advisor.
• Internship must occur at the time credits are taken and written permission must be included in student's file prior to enrollment.

ED POL 508: Problems of Change in Community Organizations 3

• A second practical training may be approved in some cases by a student's advisor.
• Practical training must occur at time credits are taken and written permission must be included in student's file prior to enrollment).

NURSING 311: Nursing, Health, and the Political Process 3
URBPLAN 655: Negotiation Theory and Practice for Urban Planners 3

Foundations Electives
Economics, Politics, and Urban Contexts in the United States
AFRICOL 228: Introduction to Black Political Economy 3
AFRICOL 261: Survey of African American Political Philosophy 3
AFRICOL 341: Black Politics and City Government 3
ANTHRO 431: Urban Anthropology 3
ARCH/URBPLAN 141: Urban Plning Solutions to Contemporary Urban Problems 3
ECON 248: Economics of Discrimination 3
ECON 323: Urban Economics 3
ECON 353: Economic Development 3
ED POL 304: Politics of Community Based Educational Change in Cities 3
ED POL 403: The Milwaukee Community 3
HIST 450: Growth of Metropolitan Milwaukee 3
HIST 463: History of the American City 3
POL SCI 105: State Politics 3
POL SCI 213: Urban Government and Politics 3
POL SCI 450: Urban Political Problems 3
SOCIOL 377: Urbanism and Urbanization 3
SOCIOL 603: Urban Minority Communities 3
URBPLAN 661: Neighborhood Planning and Revitalization 3
URB STD 250: Exploring the Urban Environment 3

Social Science Perspectives on Organizing, Inequality, and Social Change
AFRICOL 218: Conflict and Cooperation in Black-White Relations 3
AFRICOL 411: Change in African-American Communities 3
AFRICOL 414: Race, Injustice, and Change in America 3
COMMUN 672: Communication and Social Order 3
CRM JST 372: Criminal Justice Policy and the Community 3
ED POL/SOCIOL 610: Reproduction of Minority Communities 3
ED POL 625: Race Relations in Education 3
EXCEDUC 300: The Exceptional Individual 3
PSYCH 219: Topics in Power and Conflict 3
SOC WRK 206: Society, Poverty, and Welfare Programs 3
SOC WRK 630: Women, Poverty, and Welfare Programs 2/3
SOCIOL 102: Social Problems in American Society 3
SOCIOL 233: Social Inequality in the United States 3
SOCIOL 320: Social Change in American Indian Societies 3
SOCIOL 323: Perspectives on Latino Communities 3
SOCIOL 324: Comparative Race Relations 3
SOCIOL 325: Social Change 3
SOCIOL 333: Social Class in Industrial Society 3
SOCIOL 338: Small Groups 3
SOCIOL 343: Collective Behavior 3
SOCIOL 450: Environmental Sociology 3
SOCIOL 475: Seminar in Feminist Sociology 3
SOCIOL 603: Urban Minority Communities 3

Option for a Student-Designed Issue Area:
May replace up to 6 credits of either Foundations or Practical Electives.The established issue areas for the Certificate focus on UWM's urban mission, on the U.S. context, on the relatively recent history of organizing and inequality (with the exception of broader survey courses), and on local as opposed to regional or national contexts.

However, there are many courses at UWM not listed above that may be especially relevant to students with interest in a particular area of organizing. Therefore, with the written permission of the Program Coordinator, students with special interests may develop an issue area that may take the place of up to 6 credits of Practical or Foundations electives.

Examples of possible student-designed issue areas might include:
International Contexts and Organizing
Organizing in Rural Settings
Health Care Organizing
Organizing around Issues of Sexuality and/or Sexual Orientation
Contesting the Criminal Justice System
Organizing around Disability Issues
Pollution and Inequality

Courses for a student-designed Focus Area will only count towards the Certificate if they are taken after a student is officially admitted to the Program, and must be officially approved prior to enrollment. Students must show evidence that they cannot pursue their interest under the current constraints of the Practical and Foundations Electives. A maximum of three credits of independent reading may be included in this student-designed focus if a relevant course or topic is not available at the University.

5. Required Capstone Internship/Seminar in Community Organizing

ED POL 442: Intermediate Community Education Practice 3
Prerequisite: ED POL 508

Students will intern with a community organizer (100 hours minimum). In collaboration with the course instructor, students and the organization they are interning with will develop a memo of understanding describing student duties and desired experiences. Students will meet for one hour bi-weekly to discuss short readings and their ongoing experiences. The internship must take place concurrent with enrollment in this course. The Program Committee is the final abiter with regard to the relevance of internship opportunities to the mission of the Certificate.