Community Development

We are called to serve our neighbors. Learning how to make a long-term and transformational impact on a community requires you to understand how communities and people change. Geneva's program is uniquely positioned to equip you with the tools and understanding to "Go and do likewise."

Geneva prepares you to make a meaningful impact in your career, community and life.

Community Engaged Professors

Learn from those active role in the Beaver Falls community

Serve your Community

in organizations like Tiger Pause, TRAILS, and Neighborhood North

Apply Classroom Learning

to real-life problems through public scholarship opportunities

Key Courses

Sociology of Cities & Mill Towns

Discover the effects a city has on its people and culture and examine the qualities of thriving

Poverty/Inequality

Discuss the causes of the U.S.’s wealth gap and the ways families, jobs, schools, and communities have been impacted

Restoring Place

What does it mean to truly love where you live? Learn to care for the community and the theme of place within the context of Beaver Falls.

Christians & the City

Ground yourself in the theological basis of community development as you examine the Bible’s definition of a city and Christians’ calling to engage with community

Experienced & Accomplished Faculty

Keith Martel

Professor of Higher Education, Sociology, & Humanities

Wendy Whelpley

Executive Director of the Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation and the Director of Geneva’s City House

Henry Suhr

Part-time Instructor of Sociology

Marc Dejeu

Part-time Lecturer

Program Overview
Learning Objectives

The goals of the Community Development major are:

To develop students who understand the uniqueness of the human person created in the image of God as the starting point for community development.
To produce professionally excellent people to work various of public, non-profit or faith-based agencies or organizations.
To root students in foundational theory as a basis for their personal philosophy and approach to community development.
To contribute to the ongoing revitalization of the region within which Geneva College is located.

The Community Development major has a direct connection to the flourishing Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation to accomplish these goals.

The learning objectives of the Community Development program are:

Students will explore the nature of power in the social structure and understand how it can affect both individuals and communities.
Students will commit to an approach that sees health as a long-term investment in a community as a way of nurturing their own well-being.
Students will be able to appreciate the wide array of people and cultures that make communities rich in assets.
Students will address both the nature of the built environment and the centrality of social structures as foundational to the healthy functioning of a community.
Students will be challenged to see communities differently as being places of assets and abundance and will celebrate and build from the richness present in the community.

Career Outcomes

Graduates who aspire to have an impact in their communities and their careers through a Geneva Education gain expertise in this field enhanced by academics rooted in Christian values and ethics in Geneva’s program.

17%

The BLS expects jobs for social and human service professionals to increase by 17% in the next ten years, faster than the average profession

$63,000

is the national average salary for Community Development Workers (Indeed.com).

Be prepared for careers such as...

Childcare Worker
Community Development Specialist
Community Advocate
Youth Worker
Public Policy Professional

Further your impact...

Serve the community from within the local government
Become certified in Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI)
Start an organization to serve within your community

Tell Me More

Discover more about our Community Development program

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Related Programs

Sociology

BS Major • Minor

Social Services

BS Major • Minor

Psychology

BS Major • Minor

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