Higher Education Commons^™

Volunteer Programs & Service Learning Annual Report 2021-2022, Office Of Volunteer Programs & Service Learning

News, Magazines and Reports

Early in the fall semester, we welcomed Colin Petramale to the VP&SL team as the new Coordinator for Community Partnerships, Faith and Justice! Colin manages the frst year Pioneer Service Grant program, in addition to building and maintaining the relationships with our of-campus community partners.

We strengthened the commitment to our partners by on boarding with GivePulse, our community engagement tracking sofware. Nonproft organizations receive free access through their afliation with SHU, allowing them to publicize partnership opportunities; SHU students, staff and faculty can connect with these partners by searching and signing up for upcoming activities. It’s a win-win situation! …

Re-Engaging Individual Capacities In Service Of Civic Capacity: A Model Of Holistic Civic Engagement Education For The University, Jane Gerald Carr

Dissertations and Theses

A healthy democracy requires active civic engagement. Effective civic involvement can be encouraged by education that helps students learn to respect diverging viewpoints and build skills such as critical thinking about policy frameworks. In higher education, we have seen progress in teaching for civic engagement despite pressures to focus narrowly on career preparation. However, it is important to build on this work in two ways. First, the noncognitive and holistic dimensions of civic engagement have not been thoroughly considered in designing civic education. Second, the field could reach its goals more effectively by adopting teaching strategies that directly help students …

Overcoming Institutional Barriers To Service Learning, Talia Smith, Annie Zou, Grace Nelson, Ali Al-Ghaithi

Center for Engagement and Community Development

Partnerships between universities and community organizations contribute to sustainable community development by creating networks of resources that may not otherwise exist among university faculty, students and community members. Service learning serves as a vessel for connecting and strengthening these resources; however, barriers within universities limit effective practice. University faculty members often cite time constraints, coordination challenges, and lack of support as deterrents to the incorporation of service learning projects in their courses. To overcome such barriers, universities can implement institutional structures and programs that facilitate community-engaged learning. A case study of the Service Learning Academy (SLA) at the University of …

Shifting Views: How Experiential Learning Shapes University Students’ Sense Of Civic Engagement And Solidarity On Migration, Karen Larke

Master's Theses

Higher education institutions have put more weight on the use of experiential learning to provide students with opportunities to grow intellectually and develop as engaged citizens. Many recent studies have looked at the quality and educational impacts of a variety of experiential and service learning experiences, yet few have explored what other ideological impacts may result from specific non-curricular experiential learning experiences. This study measured the impact of experiential learning, in the form of week-long migration-themed trips, on undergraduate student’s self-reported levels of solidarity, and related measures of civic engagement and political engagement and activism around migration issues. This study …

“I Can’T Believe I’M In Charge”: How Zlotkoswki’S “Students As Colleagues” Model Prepares Bentley University Service-Learning Students For Civic Leadership, Brian Shea

Community Engagement Student Work

Business schools exhibit a remarkable ability to produce graduates who are exceptionally analytical; however, these students have been shown to lack sensitivity to the impact of actions taken in the workplace, in communities, and in society. Service-learning is a method that has been proven to instill stronger ethics in business students. Bentley University, a business school in Waltham, Massachusetts, models its Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center after the “Students as Colleagues” framework championed by its founding Director, Dr. Edward Zlotkowski (2006). By employing this approach, Bentley positions its undergraduate students as leaders in social impact initiatives, thereby preparing these students …

P-16 Initiative, Uno Service Learning Academy

Newsletters 2015-2016

This newsletter features: Gaining Perspective: Race & Our Juvenile Justice System; Mapping Histories: Learning Across the Ages; College & Career Readiness Characteristics Found in Service Learning; Service Learning Around the World; Student's Collaboration Leads to Environmental Sustainability; Multiple Collaborative Projects Created Diverse Experiences for Students; Students Learn to Speak Mandarin; Infusing Rigor into Service Learning: A K-12 Teacher & UNO Professor's Perspective; A Lesson in Ethics: What Would a Boys Town Middle School Student Do? and Letter from the Program Coordinator.

Uno And Ops Service Learning Partnerships, Uno Service Learning Academy

Programs and Brochures

UNO and OPS Service Learning Partnerships

Sustaining A Successful Community Partnership: A Ten Year Retrospective Of Quality Practices And Sustainability Applied To Service-Learning At The Douglas County Department Of Corrections, Donna Dufner, Judith Monarrez Diaz-Kelsey

Presentations

• One of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s three stated strategic goals is to be “…recognized for its outstanding engagement with the urban, regional, national, and global communities.”
• Starting in fall 2004 the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) implemented a service-learning course that takes college students into the Douglas County Department of Corrections (DCDC) to teach basic computer skills to inmates. To date over 200 undergraduates and 600 inmates have completed the course.
• Quality practices (NYLC 2008) such as progress monitoring, duration and intensity, participant voice, partnerships, meaningful service, link to the curriculum, reflection, diversity, planning, and impact used …

A Decade Of Self-Discovery Through Service Learning, Donna Dufner, Judith Monarrez Diaz-Kelsey

Presentations

• Introduction
• Best Practices
• Link to Curriculum
• College Student Voices/ Reflections
• Duration and Intensity
• Diversity
• Partnerships
• Monitoring/Debriefing
• Meaningful Service
• Video
• Review of Artifacts
• Q&A

Building Civic Participation Of Undergraduates: Umass Boston’S Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (Cesi), Rajini Srikanth, Aminah Pilgrim, Office Of Faculty Development, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Office Of Community Partnerships, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (CESI) is a professional development program that supports faculty and community partners to effectively engage undergraduate students in service-learning and community-based research activities. CESI aims to reinforce classroom learning, foster civic habits and skills, and address community-identified needs.

Service Learning Students’ Perceptions Of Citizenship, Audrey Falk

Education Faculty Publications

This study examines the conceptions of citizenship held by students engaged in a service learning course. Open-ended responses to instructor-developed surveys were analyzed. Results indicated that students primarily viewed good citizenship in terms of community service; however, their ideas about service were limited to passive kinds of service such as helping others and volunteering, rather than active kinds of service such as community organizing. Results were compared with conceptions of citizenship held by students engaged in another course with a smaller volunteering component. Opportunities for broadening service learning students’ understanding of citizenship are discussed.