The Community Engaged Learning program at the Community Center at Prospect Hill in Waltham has been suspended indefinitely. Brandeis students will continue to offer some programs through the Waltham Group, but other programs will now be run by the housing development's tenants' association.The CEL program offered tutoring and other after school activities for middle and elementary school students.

On Nov. 17 the Prospect Hill Tenants Association held a meeting and decided that Brandeis students involved with the CEL program will now volunteer at the community center on Mondays and Tuesdays, as opposed to Monday through Thursday as they had earlier in the semester.

To compensate for the students' absence at the end of the week, tenants will be responsible for the programming that was previously run by the volunteers.

According to Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH), one of the professors who leads CEL programming at Prospect Hill, the center will only be open when at least two parents are there on Monday and Tuesday.

Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong wrote in an e-mail to the Justice: "The groups felt that suspending the program was in the best interest of the [Prospect Hill] children and [Brandeis] volunteers, chiefly because of the need for a better organizational structure, more coordination and training and orientation for volunteers. The center has been supported by good will and good intentions since it opened last spring, but now some student coordinators will be studying abroad in the spring or must turn their attention to other commitments,"

Auslander said that the economic crisis sped up these changes and the University had to cut its funding for resources for the CEL programming but that the goal of the program was always to encourage the tenants' self-sufficiency and empowerment, and giving the tenants more responsibility will fulfill that objective.

"The goal of Community Engaged Learning is to empower communities with our partnership so they can build up their own capacity to serve their interests," Auslander said.

Nadia Hemady, a graduate student in cultural production who volunteers at Prospect Hill and helps the tenants with computer training, said she thinks the programming will gain traction if the economy improves. However, she said "the main objective is a strong tenants' association that will empower the tenants and enable them to take control of their destiny at the center."

The ultimate goal of putting more responsibility in the hands of the parents, Auslander said, is to "see more family literacy."

"I think that previously, it was intimidating to have Brandeis volunteers in the center. I think the parents will understand that as parents, they have the skills and capacity to teach their children," he said.

Jacqueline Kohos '11 said that many of the children had behavioral problems that the volunteers felt they were not always equipped to handle.

The shift in responsibility seems to be having a positive effect on the tenants. Auslander said. The community center held a meeting Nov. 17 to discuss these new changes, and approximately 20 parents of the children using the center attended. At the meeting, the teenagers using the center voiced their opinions and said they wanted relaxation time before beginning their homework. Reactions about the loss of programming were mixed among Prospect Hill volunteers. "I think this is a really positive thing. The Community [Engaged] Learning program was supposed to embody relations between students and the tenants, but parents were rarely present. These changes present an opportunity for the parents. Now that they have to be in the center, it gives them a chance to be more involved," Kohos said.

Hemady said that she was ambivalent about the decision. "I think it was necessary from a financial point of view, but it is very unfortunate." Although Hemady said that she thinks the center will still need additional volunteers, like Auslander and Kohos, she said increasing the tenants' responsibility at the center will further their self-sufficiency. "The parents that have offered to be involved in the center have a genuine interest in helping their children and will follow through on their commitment."

Wong wrote in her e-mail that the Waltham Kids Club and Big Siblings, which are run through the Waltham Group, will still be offered, in addition to English tutoring for adults and occasional programming for middle school boys and girls led by Brandeis students.