Coursework

Global and Urban Community Leadership Seminar allows students to directly engage urban environments as global-minded social change agents. By exploring current leadership theories and performing intentional service learning in the urban environment, this comprehensive learning experience is designed to challenge students to design and facilitate community engaged learning projects. Students will participate in a series of classroom lectures and leadership development exercises that prepare them to engage public organizations in urban communities.

Graduate

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UNDERGraduate

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Urban College and Community Leadership Development Theory and Practice is a social change leadership course for undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing careers in public and community-based agencies located in urban environments. Throughout the semester participants will engage representatives from public and non-profit agencies from the city of Newark. This series of interactions will provide participants with an opportunity to utilize the urban environment as a living laboratory.

Global Leadership and community engaged learning

For the past seven years, Clayton L. Walton has designed transformative student-centered programming that challenges undergraduate and graduate students as they move through critical stages of identity and professional development. Through a series of community engaged learning initiatives, he offers students an opportunity to cultivate their skill sets as student leaders and global social change agents. Through his partnerships with non-profit organizations and community leaders, he is able to create experiential learning initiatives that provide students with an opportunity to collaborate with faculty, student leaders and community organizers who are actively creating social, political and economic change in urban communities.

This collection of coursework and global initiatives challenge participants to broaden their theoretical and practical understanding of urban public agencies through a global lens. The aim is to combine readings, classroom discussions, and service-learning projects to create a co-curricular experience that prepares future leaders of public and private agencies.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LOCAL

LEARN MORE ABOUT INTERNATIONAL

MENTORING FUTURE LEADERS IN Higher Education

This student-centered experience is designed to provide a holistic professional development curriculum that prepares participants to be competitive professionals. The primary goal is to increase the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs, including but not limited to those of racial and ethnic minority background; those having a disability; and those identifying as LGBTQ. This program has graduated 25 professionals who are currently working in public and private organizations here and abroad.

Graduate Student

Professional Development

This unique initiative provides new professionals with an opportunity to have a high impact experience. More than a professional development series, this initiative is designed to prepare participants to understand the culture of urban colleges and universities, their relationship with the strategic community partners, and how those partnerships shape institutional identity and professional decision making.

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

The NASPA Undergraduate Fellows program is a mentoring program for undergraduate students wishing to explore and better understand the field of student affairs and/or higher education. Students, once selected, are known as Fellows, and are also given the opportunity to attend a national conference, participate in paid internships, and participate in the Summer Leadership Institute.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?!

Innovations & Interests

COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING

Ex. Community Engagement Day

Community Engagement Day is a university-wide service learning initiative that connects members of the university community to non-profit agencies within the Greater Newark and surrounding communities. The selected agencies are engaged in community gardening, urban conservation, hunger/homelessness initiatives and youth development projects. To date, this program has hosted 1,400 participants, logging 8,400 hours of service with over 20 sites.

GLOBALLY ENGAGED EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Ex. Global Transformation Projects: We Care Solar Suit Case Installation

The Global Transformation project initiative has completed over 250 service hours with 27 international partners; projects include school revitalization, sustainable energy and community garden restoration projects. Specifically, the We Care Solar Suitcase project provides health care workers and youth with an effective and portable source of electricity. During a series of pre-departure programs and training sessions, a cohort of students participate in an intensive team building session that introduces them to the capabilities of the suitcase and the installation process. Having learned the installation techniques, participants install and train clinic workers and school officials on how to use and maintain the suitcase. To date, the program has completed 5 solar suitcase installations in Nicaragua and Tanzania, impacting over 40,000 people.

CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMING

Ex. The Lens: Experiential Learning Initiative

Designed as an interdisciplinary initiative, this project provides a platform for student affairs professional and faculty members to integrate scholarship with student development practice. This series of forums, lectures, field trips, and film screenings are designed to examine the social, political, and economic themes within the urban experience. Students are uniquely positioned to be agents within the learning process, working collaboratively with facilitators to engage themes through a personal, intellectual and professional lens.

Education

University of Maryland, College Park
Master of Education, College Student Counseling and Personnel Services

St. John's University
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Sociology, Minor in Social Work and Secondary Education

2003

1997

Clayton L. Walton, M.ED

Clayton L. Walton has spent the last 18+ years designing student development initiatives that challenge participants to intentionally engage their personal and professional development.

As the Executive Director of Globally Engaged Experiential Learning and Assistant Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Clayton promotes a holistic student development philosophy that informs the design and implementation of his coursework and a unique series of co-curricular projects.

His most recent work on global and local community-engaged initiatives introduces faculty and university administrators to advising and programming strategies that prepare students to be social change agents and competitive professionals in the global workforce.