Local community outreach has been conducted principally through a public lecture series and through two programs:  a series of youth conferences that have brought Metroplex high school students to the U. T. Arlington campus for a day of activities and a 27-hour seminar for Spanish-speaking immigrant parents who have children in public schools (Maestros de la Comunidad), usually conducted in nine sessions over sixteen weeks. CMAS has helped Tarrant County College organize Maestros de la Comunidad seminars at TCC Northwest campus and Southeast campus, and at Mountain View College. It also has organized or co-sponsored three one-day parents' conferences with workshops run by parents who have completed the seminars.  Finally, in 2003 CMAS initiated a continuing education course for graduates of the MdeC seminars and other community leaders interested in promoting civic participation.

The Center also has an international community outreach program known as the Mexican/Mexican-American Dialogue, a forum created jointly with three other university centers in the United States and Mexico to facilitate a discussion of the role of the Mexican-origin community in the US and Mexican policy process and a public conversation on the broad concerns of this community.  The Dialogue held its first conference at U. T. Arlington on November 9-10, 2001.