Courses are reviewed and approved through faculty curriculum committee and supported through the Center for Community Action and Research at Dyson College. Each year over 100 sections of Civic Engagement courses are taught, there are currently over 90 unique approved courses, and each of the five schools (Business, Computer Science, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences and Nursing) provide at least one course offering.

Target Course(s):
Sociology, Social Problems Community Psychology, Human Services, Social Work, Research Methods, Program Evaluation, Web Design, Special Advocacy, or other social issues and database management-type courses.
Professor: Bridgett Augustino

Names of Community Partners:

Volunteer State Community College in support of 2-1-1 Tennessee that is collectively managed and operated by United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and Family & Children’s Service.

2-1-1 Tennessee Project description:

Over the past decade United Way’s social services referral line, also known as 2-1-1, has greatly expanded access to care across our nation, and in particular to this project, access to care for persons in the Middle and East Tennessee regions by investing in phone-based referral services. The 2-1-1 social services referral line is a free service that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing instant access to thousands of resources statewide. 2-1-1 Information and Referral Specialists can quickly determine the needs of a caller and connect callers to available resources in the community such as food, housing, healthcare, employment assistance, legal help, and disaster aid with instant access to information on more than 5,700 social services and other community resources. More than 160,000 Tennesseans are helped each year with phone-based referral services in Middle and East Tennessee.

Information and Referral Specialists who are employed with 2-1-1 make possible for callers (of any income level, language, or cultural background) to find out about their community and social services. Furthermore, 2-1-1 improves lives in the communities served by discovering and reporting service gaps. Service gap information is shared with major funding agencies such as the United Way, government agencies including the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, collaborative agencies including the Area Agency on Aging and the U.S. Department of Urban Housing, legislators, social workers and community educators to raise awareness, encourage funding increases, provide advocacy, and reassure success of outreach efforts.

Student Prerequisites for course enrollment:

Required technology competencies include sending and receiving email, attaching documents, using browser software to access websites, downloading materials, online data entry (this is reviewed in class), and using basic features of word processing.

Student Learning Goal:

To bridge the gap between conceptual anchoring and critical thinking skills through faculty-coached and context-rich problem-solving methods. Students learn to diagnose and trouble-shoot problems encountered with the verification of public services using a rule-induction eligibility approach that links those services to community needs; skills-building with database management and data entry decisions through peer-mentoring relationships; strengthen interpersonal skills encountered as they solve dilemmas faced in interviewing non-profit and other state/local organizational representatives; setting and maintaining professional goals and deadlines; and recognizing the value in developing ethical and accountability characteristics useful in competing for jobs in their desired field. This process allows students to learn to solve problems that often do not have “right” answers and to begin thinking of/authenticating themselves as an employee in a career role rather than a student. Goals include measurable objectives aimed to describe, unambiguously the worth, merit, or value of the work accomplished by the student; the aim to improve the capacity of students to identify good work and to improve their self-evaluation and self-discrimination skills with respect to work submitted; to stimulate and encourage good work by students; to communicate the Professor’s judgment of the student’s progress (using a scaffolded process); to inform the teacher about what students have and haven’t learned; and to recognize outstanding students for rewards (i.e., student participation at professional conference presentations, shared journal authorship, formal employment referrals, internship placement, and/or continued educational scholarship

Elements of Service-Learning addressed:

Preparation
Student Voice
Diversity
Collaboration
Curriculum Integration/ Links to Standards
Service
Reflection
Assessment
Evaluation
Professional Development

What is the project’s over-all goal?

The goal of this project is to prepare students to collect qualitative public service profile data through telephone-based interviews with agencies and organizations in the State of Tennessee, data entry, and database management in support of the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project through the applied learning (critical thinking skills applied through process of acceptance, modification, and/or rejection) of college students. Students are allowed an opportunity to attain knowledge of the extensive systems of public resources available to people in their State who are experiencing a wide arc of social, psychological, and health problems. Through training, students can apply disciplinary knowledge to measurable skills-building and increased valuation of civic engagement attitudes that are useful to understanding and applying the subject of their academic course and garner much-needed workplace experience, while providing core support for a help-based initiative.

What student service activities does this project include?

Student service activities include the identification, verification, documentation, and reporting of incorrect data about community-based non-profit services and resources within Tennessee that are currently listed as “active” in the 2-1-1 database. Specific service tasks are aligned with the six major social problem categories of focus in the course (following an in-depth learning period regarding patterns of burden experienced by disadvantaged groups, and research methods, including ethics). These tasks are then individually assigned to students for them to identify, contact, verify and supplement new agency/organization public service listings detailing necessary service information for dissemination to the 160,000 annual 2-1-1 information and referral call requests for assistance or the 150,000 annual website visitors which consists of an 80% new visitor average each month.

Tasks range from identification of needed updates to the 5,700 listed public service profiles to data collection (using scripts), to verification of “active” services, data coding and data cleaning, to data entry following a formatted and accredited process of service verification that includes documented communication with service program staff and/or administration. Student service identification for making contact with program staff consists of conducting web-based searches for locating the services and contact information as well as identifying and adding newly implemented agencies that are eligible for inclusion in the 2-1-1 Tennessee database. Students are provided training for all tasks and assigned to work on tasks that are within their array of abilities.

What are the core curricular areas you have drawn learning objectives for the project from?

The components of the Service Learning Project will be completed through a series of six (6) critical thinking & problem solving assignments that are employed throughout the course of the semester. The six assignments are repetitive in task but focused on different areas of curricular content and are based on the overarching sets of social problems defined in particular text chapters. The assignments are meant to provide students with problems to solve such as the diagnosis of errors in service listings, trouble-shooting the updated profile data of the agencies using data inclusion rules, and facing dilemmas with gathering agency compliance for sharing the service profile data. Each student represents a precise geographic or organizational subset of Tennessee (county) in order to methodically sustain the integrity of the 2-1-1 Tennessee databank listings of services. In addition, the subsets of data needs (N=average of 50 service profiles per student, per course) are decided upon based on standards set by the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems and the statewide affiliate, TNAIRS. A conceptual understanding of the specific tasks associated with each assignment can be found in a Logic Model/Rubrics for Service Learning Project in Social Problems (Augustino, 2010), Step 4 (attached). Each social problem/assignment addressed has a 3-part set of questions to guide students in critically thinking about the problem. Individual students provide face-to-face end-of-term grade negotiation contracts with the Professor (attached). Student-generated data from tasks aimed at verification of updated service profile data are digitally submitted directly into the 2-1-1 Tennessee public website using tracked student accounts. The 2-1-1 Tennessee Project Administrator then accepts or rejects data entries upon submission and returns the rejected entries to students for further validation. Students who are assessed with capacity in database management and data entry (earning an A for the course), and who have interest in extended learning, are offered the opportunity to intern the following academic semester directly at the 2-1-1 and Crisis Call Center site for up to six (3) credit hours of coursework. Overall, the course is structured using best practices of problem-solving research that includes the opportunity for students to solve problems more independently in terms of decreasing faculty-coaching through the semester. These problems are authentic and challenging but have built-in ways of checking student progress to prevent attrition and include opportunities to solve issues and integrate those skills as habits.

Learning objectives of the course:

At the completion of this course students have successfully demonstrated the capacity to:

1. Articulate working definitions of various social problems
2. Identify systemic causes of various social problems
3. Describe how systemic causes play out at the local level
4. Reflect on the effects of various social problems on individual lives
5. Identify local actions and policies enacted to address various social problems in the State of Tennessee
6. Articulate how groups and individuals can benefit from specific initiatives, programs, strategies and policies designed to meet their targeted needs

Further, students can successfully:

7. Understand philanthropy, volunteerism, state and local government service systems, and nonprofit organizations and the role of these sectors in our society and economy;
8. Explore the relationships among government, business, and nonprofit organizations,
9. Identify trends, challenges, and opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
10. Learn how to effectively communicate both orally and in writing

Students are provided a rubric for attaining high achievement for their service to the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project with over half of their (60%) course grade derived from their cumulative submissions of documented work in support of the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project. The remaining 40% of the course grade is divided equally between a preparatory examination to assess student’s learned knowledge regarding Learning Objectives 1-4 (above) and understanding the intersectionality of race, gender, social class and sexual orientation as independent variables often associated with prevalence of social problems.

Replication and Dissemination:

This project and its intent to provide usable data for the 2-1-1 Tennessee callers could be greatly enhanced by training other faculty across the State of Tennessee – and other states, to implement the project in their geographic regions for quicker turn-a-round time for verification and annual updating such that callers may have immediate access for crisis and referral information. The cost-savings to this one area alone, multiplied by any additional student services across the nation, could save millions of dollars to non-profit funding systems. It is ideal that students may be taught curricular content while learning advantageous job skills while serving our nation’s population who call into the 2-1-1 systems with critical, immediate need.

How did you arrive at the community need(s) your project will address?

This course-based Service-Learning Project began as an initiative to provide students at Volunteer State Community College the knowledge, skills, and abilities to identify, qualify, and document local initiatives in our school’s twelve-county service area. Students in the first cohort were able to identify 1067 community-based government and non-profit public resources that provide services to people in that geographic area. The Professor, a non-native of Tennessee, became aware of 2-1-1 Tennessee and recognized the near identical products the separate projects developed. Soon after, a meeting with Family & Children’s Service yielded detailed information regarding the comparable difference to the data collection and documentation efforts of the student groups. This partnership meeting detected a number of methodological issues that existed within the 2-1-1 database (and other State 2-1-1 Initiatives) as well as a sorely underfunded budget and one full-time employee and two part-time employees who are responsible for the entire 5,700 annual data collection efforts to verify and sustain service listings. Thus, a need for having a mechanism in place to continually verify, report and sustain the integrity of the data in the 2-1-1 Tennessee database became apparent. Students in these courses are able to provide that service while learning and acquiring new skills useful to their future workplace orientation.

What service activities can students of various levels be involved in to help reach your project goal?

One of the major lessons learned in the early stages of development in this project included the need to identify differing tasks for students of varying experiences. Students can be well-matched to different needs. An appropriate level of care in selecting learning tasks for academically-placed students is critical. Expecting large groups of students to have homogeneity in skills and experience can be a major barrier. Identifying the multiple needs for a project’s tasks/roles to appropriate to student ability and interest is manageable, and less demanding of students who may be struggling in the course. Training, whether it is with the community college freshman or graduate students, must be provided.

How will the community recognize benefits gained from the student service activities?

Over 160,000 residents of Middle and East Tennessee called the 2-1-1 Tennessee information and referral system requesting services this past fiscal year. Historically, social and human service agencies and organizations change with the economy and many do not survive their funding period. Other resource services do not reach their target goals or benchmarks for service. Regardless, this changing climate has resulted in a dramatic change in the listed service profiles about what is and is not, available in our communities. Last semester alone, students updated more than 450 services – more than the allocated administrator/part-time resource specialists can update in a year.

2-1-1 Tennessee has documented that the number of needs per call has been increasing over the last several years. Information & Referral Specialists have substantially decreased the amount of time it takes to locate resources for each person in need; this has been attributed to the capacity of 2-1-1 Tennessee to provide faster connections to multiple types of services within one call. Sending call reports to community agencies and funders provides evidence of increased need for multiple services within households. Without the data collection and database management services provided by the students in these courses to continually verify and update the community service listings, callers-in-crisis may be referred to resources that are either no longer in service, have changed their eligibility requirements, moved locations, or be given resources that have changed telephone numbers or added informational and intake websites. This type of referral could result in lost hope for many callers in need, particularly callers in immediate or suicidal crisis. Too, without the addition of newly identified service profile resource listings into the database by students, callers may not find access to a resource desperately needed.

Did your project planning phase involve students in selecting the service(s) to be performed?

Yes. Students in each consecutive cohort (semester) are encouraged and highly rewarded for efforts to contribute to the learning of new methods of problem-solving to complete tasks. In fact, in Cohort III, students made the decision to slow the uptake of new services to the databank in order to properly verify, correct and edit data already listed. The proposal was made that adding new resources to the database would be counterproductive to the tasks of sorting (verification and editing) the errors in the databank. Thus, the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project Administrator is now able to generate service listings needing immediate update necessary for AIRS accreditation that also follows the academic curricular content to accomplish the overarching course goals. Too, this ability to generate such specific needs allows the assignment of non-caller assignment tasks for students of various learning experience. These self-elected students provide crucial assistance with data entry, coding, and tracking of data.

How do you manage reflection activities?

Reflection activities occur in informal and formal methods. Informal reflection activities are necessary to problem-solve barriers to task completion and are a part of every classroom discussion. We spend approximately the first 5-10 minutes per class period (after the training and beginning of implementation) critically thinking about how to solve specific issues that students meet. Frustration reported by students is received and guidance is provided as needed. Students have reported their thankfulness of not being the person-in-crisis when searching for resources that address specific social problems because of the difficulty in finding help. Students work through a scaffolded “best practice” model of decreasing supervision to plan and complete the assignments that will sustain a course-level, multi-class comprehensive effort to support the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project. Participation in the Service Learning process at VSCC uniformly requires students to complete the following forms that provide formal documentation and liability protection for the college, pre-post survey data for evaluating institutional efforts to meet Service-Learning student outcomes, and a Service-Learning Project Evaluation (c. Fall, 2011) aimed at continually enhancing and streamlining the work with ongoing contribution of best-practice methods of data collection specific to the needs of the Project, and include the following:
1. Student Needs Assessment
2. Guidelines for Students Involved in Service-Learning
3. Service Learning Project Application
4. Waiver of Liability (completed in class)
5. Pre-Service Survey
6. Time Log (completed in class)
7. Post-Service Survey
8. 2-1-1 Project-Specific Service-Learning Evaluation

A final critical assessment test/paper is due for the course that asks students to reflect on one set of resources for one particular social problem, identified in their assigned geographic region. This paper circles back to the learning objectives of the course by asking students to respond qualitatively, to the following questions:

1. Articulate a working definition of one of the various social problems we discussed during the course term.
2. Identify known systemic causes of that social problem in the county you researched.
3. Describe how those systemic causes play out in the county you researched.
4. Reflect on the effects of that social problem on individual lives in the area of service profile data you researched.
5. What local actions and policies are in place in to address the needs of people suffering that social problem in the county you researched?
6. Articulate how groups and individuals in that county can benefit from those specific initiatives, programs, strategies and policies in that county that have been designed to meet the targeted needs of those residents.

This reflection assignment requires a culmination of the class project experience in solving problems using a define-design-do-evaluate method to complete. Students are taught to evaluate their own individual papers using a rubric to define how well the student describes the problem, systemic causes and strategies available; the degree to which students integrate knowledge and concepts from the course text, lectures, and data gathering skills to identify resources appropriately targeted and matched to the needs of that community; the depth of the student evaluation of the agency/organizational resource available and verified for inclusion in the 2-1-1 Tennessee Project database; contributions to learning and best practices of data collection, and lastly, style and structure as put forth in the paper instructions.

Is the learning potential of participating students enhanced?

Results of the 2-1-1 Project-Specific Service-Learning Evaluation (2011-2013) summarily suggest:

1. Students report increasing their civic and personal accountability and responsibility values through the project work. (n=91%)
2. Students reported being better able to apply the academic content of this course to a real-world situation through service-learning (n=97%)
3. Students reportedly gained a better understanding of this academic topic through the service-learning experience (n=89.8%)
4. Students reportedly learned this academic content better because of the service-learning experience (n=84%)
5. The service-learning in the course reportedly helped students to gain knowledge and skills that will help them beyond this class (n=92.7%)
6. The service-learning in the course reportedly helped students to think about career and professional options (n=76.8%)
7. Students reported feeling they contributed personally to this project (n=91.3%)
8. Students reportedly felt that the project made a positive contribution to our community and community partner organizations (n= 100%)
9. Students reported they would recommend that service-learning continue to be incorporated into the course in the future (n=91.3%)
10. Students reported they would consider taking another service-learning class in the future (n=78.2%)

In addition, further performance measures included an eighty-four percent (n=84%) retention rate of students enrolled in these courses through five cohorts with an average final course grade point average of 3.7, highly rated competency scores of the approximately 209 student participants who have provided a minimum of thirty hours each, individually, (total of 6270 service hours) with data collected on over 1700 service listings (with an average data collection and data entry time of one-half hour, a conservative measurement) that translated into direct benefits to hundreds of thousands of Tennessee resident callers and website visitors needing information and referral services with a calculated cost-savings of $210,375.00 to United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and Family & Children’s Service during five academic semester terms the project has been implemented (this includes work by students submitted throughout two winter break periods when school was not in session).

Lessons Learned:

Perhaps due to the ailing economy, this partnership has allowed a window of opportunity in helping to see how collaborations such as this can serve to uphold financially strained departments within our own government institutions. Several opportunities have arisen that could provide students incredible service-learning that can also allow a sustainability of state or local initiatives that are downcast under budget cuts and decreased program funding. Examples include moving specialty call centers for human services marketing campaigns such as the annual Food Stamp Weekend Eligibility Campaign, or the Annual Tax Assistance Hotline to the campus setting and allowing student volunteers be trained in lieu of paid staff. The Tax Assistance Hotline could be an incredible experience for economics or other, similar degree-oriented students. There are many such prospects for our state schools to support our state and local governments and/or non-profits.

Each spring the University of Central Florida sponsors a showcase of student service-learning projects in the Student Union. UCF students who have engaged in service-learning classes have a chance to present their individual or group initiatives and vie for over $10,000 in juried scholarship awards funded by UCF’s Student Government Association, participating colleges and the Office of Experiential Learning. Scholarships and Recognition Awards include:

• Pedagogical Value Scholarship
• Quality of Display Scholarship
• Value to Agency & Community Scholarship
• Caliber of Reflection Scholarship
• Enhancement of Civic Responsibility Scholarship
• Graduate & Undergraduate Engagement Scholarships
• Graduate & Undergraduate Innovative Project Scholarships
• Graduate & Undergraduate Leadership Scholarship
• Capacity Building Scholarship
• Literacy Engagement Scholarship
• Significant Impact Scholarship
• Sustainability Scholarships: Environmental, Economic, and Social Scholarship
• Youth Development Scholarship
• Peer Choice Scholarship
• College Excellence Scholarships
• The Experiential Learning Scholarship
• Engaging the Arts Recognition Award
• Engaging Community Online Recognition Award
• Non-Traditional Literacy Engagement Recognition Award
• Social Justice Recognition Award
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Recognition Award
• Technological Integration Recognition Award

Through class visits and email communications each semester, the Program Director for Service-Learning invites all students to participate in the event. Faculty members are also asked to encourage their students to create displays of their service-learning projects for the spring showcase. Students submit an online application individually or as teams to enter.

All faculty members, students, community partners, and community members are invited to attend. The event is a wonderful opportunity for the university and the extended community to recognize what UCF students are doing to combine course curriculum with civic engagement. Admission is free and refreshments are served.

Website: http://www.explearning.ucf.edu

Go to www.novafellowship.org to learn more and see the short promo video designed for students.

If you would like to bring an experience like this to the students and faculty at your campus, please send an email to charles-wood {at} utulsa(.)edu .

Website: http://publicservice.berkeley.edu/

To acknowledge the time and effort involved in the preparation of applications, the minimum award amount to nonprofits is $1,000. Faculty members receive additional support through the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement. The Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project involves students in systemic evaluation efforts and has been collecting data since its inception in 1999.

Through a competitive process, $5,000 grants are awarded to college courses infused with a philanthropy component to provide students with the intellectual knowledge and practical experiences needed to manage philanthropic funding. Each course awards $4,500 to local nonprofits (501(c)3) as chosen by the class and $500 may be used by the course for administrative expenses.

Students in the course identify community needs and research the nonprofit sector through interviews and site-visits in an effort to select local nonprofit organizations that meet that need. Students issue and evaluate RPFs and engage in a group decision-making process to award funds. In addition, students are required to serve at least 15 volunteer hours with a nonprofit agency during the course.

Participating campuses can apply for funding for up to 4 courses and must demonstrate institutional commitment through the formation of a campus team. The campus team is made up of the following roles: the campus liaison, a development officer, a community liaison, and all participating faculty. At the end of each term, participating students, faculty, and community partners complete an assessment in an effort to advance knowledge and practice in the area of student philanthropy.

Funding for Pay it Forward is made possible through the generous support of the Corporation for National and Community Service: Learn and Serve America.

Students have the ability to designate investment pools for the money and make recommendations for grant awards. Only Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)3 public charities are eligible to receive funding. The Gift Fund provides general account maintenance services and services related to verification of tax exemption for recommended nonprofits free of charge.

Students determine the philanthropic mission for DAFs, conduct community needs assessments, design and issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and make award determinations. Each class is asked to distribute between 50-75% of the fund, with a focus on retaining some funds for additional cycles and on replenishing accounts. The intention of the program is to provide colleges with a vehicle for charitable giving that can be used as an educational tool for the long term. To acknowledge the additional resources necessary to successfully incorporate a giving component into a course and administer a grant competition, the Gift Fund also provides colleges with a $3,000 administrative stipend.

Participating colleges have a team of people involved in the project including campus communications directors, development directors, faculty, and students. Each college is also required to provide a letter of support from the president. Colleges participate in common evaluation efforts and efforts to collect and disseminate best practices.

Agencies provided training and mentoring to interns to develop an understanding of the complexities of the organization as well as the issue of violence itself. The student-community partner relationship was entirely based upon principles of reciprocity: community partners received much-needed summer help and students gained insight and experience around a pressing social problem. The program allowed students who already had a passion for the issue to explore it in greater depth, and by implementing the program over the summer and paying students a salary, they were able to focus fully on the work without having to balance a full-time academic workload or other employment.

The program ensured that students kept their focus on their internship work by providing campus housing and a work stipend to each student intern. These provisions eliminated students’ concerns about costs and the need to earn wages, and allowed our partnering agencies to count the interns’ labor as volunteer help, which was helpful for their grant-seeking and making.

Campus housing served another purpose: to build community among the students and create a shared space for support and reflection. Each week, the interns came together to share a meal, to “unpack” experiences, and to reflect on the work. Throughout the 10 weeks, students shared their thoughts on daily triumphs and challenges, discussed the social and public systems that mitigate the perpetuation of violence, debated possible solutions, and formed their individual notions of how to affect change. Our community partners participated in these meetings as well – not just as experts who shed light on the causes of and responses to domestic and family violence – but as community members who understood the challenges of dealing with these issues in such a direct way. Our partners, as well as Southwestern’s Counseling Services Office, provided critical support for all participants in the program to ensure that they processed their experiences in the field in healthy ways.

The program was one of guided experience in the field and guided reflection at the University – an intentional, structured, experiential, and community-based learning opportunity that mutually benefited both students and community partners. It effectively raised their awareness about a key issue in our community that is often underestimated, misunderstood, or ignored, and each of them has committed to continuing to work on the issue not just as undergraduates, but as professionals and educated citizens.

As the summer portion of the program concluded, students were charged with educating and raising awareness about this issue among the campus and greater community throughout the current academic year. They are actualizing this commitment by serving as leaders in campus programs dealing with violence, developing community-based learning projects related to their summer experiences within their classes, and continuing to work as volunteers for the partnering agencies with which they were placed over the summer. Participating students who have since graduated from Southwestern have already used the experience as a catalyst that led them to a specific research area or social work focus in graduate school, to become Americorps*VISTAs, and to pursue work as child advocates.

By giving students the ability to become immersed in the work of our community partners, creating a consistent and safe place for reflection, requiring students to continue their work in a sustained, protracted way, and removing the financial barriers to participation in such meaningful exploration, we believe this is a model from which other higher education institutions and nonprofits dealing with myriad social justice issues can benefit, from which students can develop genuine understandings of social problems and their complexities, and from which others in the community-based learning movement can learn.

Founded in 1995, Leaders Across Campus matches successful students who have a genuine heart of service with at-risk incoming freshmen, international students, returning veterans, or students with disabilities who plan to transfer.

The program was developed as a counseling intervention to increase the persistence and retention of at-risk students. Using peer mentors to help new students transition to the college environment, this one semester commitment has proven to be highly effective program with consistent retention and persistence rates between 80-100%, significantly higher than the college’s average.

Carefully screened and selected mentors are matched with mentees; both groups attend training and orientation sessions. They meet together as a pair for a minimum of one hour per week. Mentors also attend weekly Team Meetings.

The program offers ongoing training and leadership development sessions for mentors, workshops for all participants covering topics such as personality types, transfer issues, study techniques, stress management, and more. The paired students participate in a campus Scavenger Hunt for the purpose of fully orienting the mentee to campus resources. The program provides opportunities for socializing through events such as the pot-luck Kick-off Party, movie day, Fun in the Park, and the end of semester recognition ceremony called Hands of Hope.

Although the commitment is one semester, many students continue with the program for several semesters; also, there are mentees who continue to be involved, they utilize the skills they developed with the help of their mentors to improve their GPA in order to become future mentors.

Tier I
SALT Enhanced Service Days

Tier II
SALT Enhanced Course

Tier III
SALT Internship, Mission Trip, Cooperative

Tier IV
SALT Capstone

The SALT Project is a comprehensive plan to integrate service-learning into the educational experience of traditional undergraduate students at Lipscomb University. A strategy for developmentally enhancing student learning, The SALT Project allows students to connect their academic experience and spiritual development with significant engagement in the community.

Students interested in going beyond the basic service-learning graduation requirement will be given the opportunity to attain the distinction of SALT Scholar. The SALT Scholar is a student who has become an expert in service-learning in the context of Lipscomb University, and whose investment in service-learning reflects a significant level of engagement. SALT Scholars will receive special distinction at graduation and on their academic transcript.

For more information on the SALT graduation requirement, see http://salt.lipscomb.edu/.

The University of Utah offers opportunities to “”do the work of citizenship through real projects of impact and relevance, linked to their academic learning”" through two principal means:

1) Through 145 courses approved for service-learning credit in over 21 academic units. These units include psychology, communication, medicine, pharmacy, family and consumer studies, and nursing. Each unit completed a departmental planning process to institutionalize service-learning within their unit. Other departments are in the planning process to institutionalize service-learning; still others continue to offer service-learning courses which are faculty-dependent. A long-term goal of the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, which is charged to support and encourage curriculum-based service throughout the campus, is to increase offerings which extend beyond a semester time frame, which are interdisciplinary, and which create permanent community partnerships.

Resources are available to help faculty members and departments to strengthen and expand service-learning course offerings. These include funds for faculty release time, funded service-learning teaching assistants, grants for department-wide planning, and technical assistance from faculty and staff experienced in this pedagogy. Examples of these course offerings include:

• Biology 3460 Global Environmental Ethics, which involves students in work for local environmental organizations doing hands-on service and public policy work. Students in the course have created a community garden on campus and contribute the produce to local anti-hunger groups.
• English 3400, 5410, 5420 Teaching Language Arts courses, initiated in 1998 99, engaged English education students in a partnership with West High School and explored the literacy needs of the high school and area families. Students worked with West High administrators and faculty to create a Family Literacy Center, now staffed by University students and one paid graduate student on a special fellowship. West High dedicated a classroom for the Center, which is now furnished with inviting couches, comfortable chairs, a mural developed by U and West students, and always filled with high energy learners.
• New course-offerings continually come on-line. Next year the University of Utah General Education Program will initiate a service-learning course cluster for a cohort of students titled “”Community Leadership and Service: Urban Issues.”" This will introduce citizenship concepts early in students experience.

2) Through the Service-Learning Scholars Program, an intensive program designed by students for students who want an in-depth citizenship experience. Students explore their community through service (400 hours), link their experiences to their coursework (10 hours of service-learning courses), and identify and meet a specific community need (a final integrative project to address a real community need), with supervision of a faculty, community partner, student committee. Graduating S-L Scholars are recognized at commencement annually.

Contact person: Marshall Welch, Director, mwelch {at} sa.utah(.)edu

Bennion Center Service Learning web site

Contact: Angela Jeter, Director of Continuing Education and Service Learning

The Center for Democracy and Humanity at Mount Wachusett Community College in North Central Massachusetts envisions a world where the values of democracy are embodied in the daily lives of individuals and communities.

In the fall of 2002, MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino announced the “Decade of Civic Engagement,” a college-wide effort to foster increased civic responsibility among its students, faculty, staff and greater community.

The Center for Democracy and Humanity was recently established to oversee the many programs and services offered by the college as part of the Decade of Civic Engagement. The Center coordinates programs and activities to ensure optimum efficiency and collaboration. In addition to the college’s many outreach programs, college faculty are committed to infusing service learning into their curricula and academic endeavors.

To promote civic engagement within the college and its broader community, the Center for Democracy and Humanity employs four strategies:

• Student engagement
• Resident engagement
• Capacity building and
• Systemic change.

In the Classroom

With civic engagement and service learning in the classroom, students gain practical experience that sets them apart in a competitive job market, communities benefit and classroom learning is reinforced. Students also become more knowledgeable, self-confident, active and engaged citizens with effective critical thinking skills. this effort is guided by a team of faculty advisors.

The Center’s Academic Programs

Citizenship Academy – The Citizenship Academy introduces high school students to higher education, civic engagement and community service. While earning college credit, students learn the basics of thinking and writing with clarity as well as how to become engaged in their communities. The academy offers Composition, Economics, Political Science and Sociology courses–all with a civic engagement/service learning component. The academy’s unique curriculum allows students to focus on issues pertinent to their lives and communities.

Service Learning – Service Learning programs involve students in organized community service that addresses local needs, while developing their academic skills, sense of civic responsibility and commitment to the community. by developing reciprocal partnerships, the program strives to serve the community and enrich the students’ educational and civic engagement experiences. Over 1,200 MWCC students have participated in Service Learning experiences, performing more than 7,000 hours of service to the community. In the coming year, faculty mini-grants will be awarded for new and innovative integration of service learning within the curricula.

AmeriCorps Scholars – Through the AmeriCorps, a number of students are chosen each year for the Scholarships for Service program that engages students as part-time AmeriCorps members. The program is designed to both acknowledge and advance campus civic engagement efforts, placing students at the core. Students are required to complete 300 hours of service with a local non-profit organization during the school year as an intensive means of meeting critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment.

In the Community

Center for Democracy and Humanity Community Development and Outreach Programs:

Community Builders and Project Volunteer – Community Builders is a partnership between the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and MWCC to educate, inform and inspire a greater community involvement through new and innovative strategies. Community Builders’ activities increase community action through volunteer promotion and recognition, and by providing tools, awareness and training to community organizations that depend on volunteers for their success.

Institute for Nonprofit Development – To build a more vibrant North Central Massachusetts, the Institute for Nonprofit Development supports organizations to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their missions and impact their communities. A membership-driven organization, the Institute provides training, technical assistance, resource libraries and coalition building services to nonprofits serving the region.

Molly Bish Institute for child Health and Safety – The mission of the Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety is to ensure the health and safety of all children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To meet this mission, the Institute provides hands-on, practical learning opportunities for parents, caregivers and children, and provides a clearinghouse of child health and safety information.

Twin Cities Latino Coalition – The Twin Cities Latino Coalition is a cross-sector collaborative effort involving local educational institutions, private business, public institutions and non-profits to achieve: increased Latino parental involvement, increased Latino K-16 student educational success and sustainable educatinoal systemic change through the implementation of a strategic plan. The Coalition actively works with Latino young people, parents and multicultural leaders to support parents and children’s independence, academic achievement and active civic engagement.

United Way Youth Venture – Youth Venture aims to change society’s views of youth by catalyzing a mass movement of young people who have the vision and drive to make a difference. Youth Venture emplowers young people ages 12-20 by providing them all the tools necessary to create “ventures” – civic-minded organizations, clubs or businesses to change schools and communities. Unique to North Central Massachusetts is Youth Venture’s partnership with ten schools, which work with educators, administrators and students to integrate Youth Venture into their curricula and achieve a graeter impact across the community.

What’s Next Speaker Series – Born out of a plan to bring several notable experts in the field of social change under a single theme, hundreds of residents have attended the What’s Next Speaker Series – public forums that introduce students, residents, community leaders and decision-makers in North Central Massachusetts to innovative thinkers and doers from around the country and world. The goal of the series is to show change is possible, spark creative problem-solving and inspire action.

Contact

Lea Ann Erickson
Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs
(978) 630-9322
l_erickson {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Amy Casavina Hall
Director of Civic Engagement and Outreach
(978) 630-9201
a_casavina {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Fagan Forhan
Coordinator, Center for Democracy and Humanity
(978) 630-9595
f_forhan {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Joanne Foster
Coordinator, Institute for Nonprofit Development
(978) 840-3221 x200
j_foster {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Andrea Hart
Program Assistant
978) 840-3221 x197
ahart {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Karin Olivera
Coordinator, Community Builders and Project Volunteer
(978) 840-3221 x201
k_olivera {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Sayra Pinto
Executive Director, Twin Cities Latino Coalition
(978) 840-3221
spinto {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Rebecca Cyganiewicz
United Way Youth Venture AmeriCorps*VISTA
(978) 840-3221 x203
youthventure {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

The Center for Democracy and Humanity’s offices are located at

110 Erdman Way
Leominster, MA 01453
Tel. (978) 840-3221 x197
Fax (978) 840-4398

During this tree planting ceremony, we explain why the recipient was choosen, we tell about the past recipients, we read The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, we as a group plant the special tree, we take a photo of the tree along with the recipient and any special guests that are present as well as giving the recipient a copy of the book, by Shel Silverstien, titled “The Giving Tree,” and thus the name of this recognition was born.

You can find the write up of the recipient and photo on The GIVE Center website. We have continued with this tradition ever since with each Giving Tree planted on campus. We also have a permanent metal marker engraved with the date and whom the tree was planted for next to the tree. This is an honor that we have bestowed on these very special people for making a difference in someone s live or in our community that they are truly the embodyment of The Giving Tree. This is a special event that is in conjunction with The GIVE Center and our campus grounds crew.

Contact Ms. Kendall M. Stiles, Director of The GIVE (GCSU Involved in Volunteer Efforts) Center or visit the web site for more information.

Contact Ms. Kendall M. Stiles, Director of The GIVE (Georgia College State University Invovled in Volunteer Efforts) Center or visit the web site for more information.

The Program Director for Service-Learning sends out an email in the fall and spring to all SL faculty to encourage their students to create displays of their service-learning projects for the spring Showcase. Students must submit an online application individually or as teams to enter.

All faculty, staff, students, service-learning partners, and community members are invited to attend. This is a wonderful opportunity for the university and the extended community to recognize what UCF students are doing to combine course curriculum with civic engagement. Admission is free and refreshments are served.

Website: http://www.servicelearning.ucf.edu

One of the five goals at The University of Montana – Missoula is to improve the support for and understanding of the Montana University System as a leading contributor to the State’s economic success and social and political well-being. A subordinate objective of this goal is for the university to expand community involvement, service and outreach activities at the campus level. The Office for Civic Engagement s mission and goals operate in accordance with this university goal.

The mission of the Office for Civic Engagement (OCE) at The University of Montana is to promote and sustain opportunities for students, faculty, and the university community to participate as partners in community-based work as a means for civic involvement aimed at addressing identified needs. This mission is accomplished by:

Intentionally developing institutional practices, policies, and capacities to foster pedagogies and activities that equip students with skills and abilities enabling them to be actively engaged citizens in a democratic society;
Serving as a focal point for students to expand professional, academic, and personal experiences through volunteerism and service learning;
Actively promoting citizenship and leadership development through collaboration with community partners to integrate service learning and extracurricular opportunities into the university educational process.

As a means to accomplish this mission, the OCE is responsible for operating and maintaining the following activities and programs.

Student Volunteer Service Projects
Implement extra-curricular community service projects that are coordinated throughout the year in collaboration with community partners, e.g. America Reads/America Counts, Adopt-A-Family, Volunteer Fairs, Clean Start, Alternative Breaks, etc.

AmeriCorps and VISTA Programs
Coordinate and implement the UM-based Campus Corps AmeriCorps program, The Montana Technology Corps AmeriCorps program, The Community Engagement Research Fellowship Corps (CERFC) and the UM Montana Campus Compact VISTA members and Community Partners AmeriCorps program.

American Humanics & the Minor in Nonprofit Administration
Oversee the UM American Humanics program providing students with the opportunity to obtain national certification in nonprofit management and the Minor in Nonprofit Administration program.

Montana ALIVE Project
Implement the Montana ALIVE program designed to provide national service participants from across the state with the opportunity to enroll as UM students and gain graduate-level academic credit for service learning performed during their term of service.

Engaged Scholarship
Promote, support, and sustain academic programs for service learning and community based research.

Website: http://www.umt.edu/dhc/oce/

The Student Life Service-Learning Center coordinates with community partners to find meaningful ways in which service can be integrated into courses. Faculty use the center as a resource. We also provide faculty with tools, and all infrastructure needed to make Service-Learning integration as easy and as meaningful as possible.

Website: http://www.okccc.edu/StudentLife/SLC1.html