The Center for Service Learning (CSL) of Keystone College is actively involved in promoting civic responsibility throughout the campus community.
Service Learning Initiatives
First, the CSL assists with and expands upon the College s existing service learning initiatives. Currently, every Keystone student must take IDS 101: College Seminar, which is a three-credit course designed to acclimate new students to college studies and life. A key component of this course is a major-related service learning project. The CSL is responsible for providing expert service learning support for the approximately twenty-two sections of the course each year. The CSL also provides assistance and training to other faculty members interested in incorporating service learning into their courses. Examples of such service learning projects include: Human Services majors hosting the on-campus display of the Names Project AIDS Quilt, Physical Therapist Assistant majors volunteering at the Riverside Rumble International Wheelchair Classic, Sports and Recreation Management majors running programs at a local nursing home, Economics and Business majors working with low-income families, and Liberal Studies/Education majors mentoring/tutoring disadvantaged students through Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
Campus-Wide Service Activities
Second, the CSL also directly develops and administers volunteer service projects in which the entire campus community can participate. Such projects during the current academic year include: Special Olympics Softball Game, March of Dimes Blue Jeans for Babies, Millennium Tree of Giving, Junior Achievement Shadow Day, National Volunteer Week Activities, and the American Heart Association Heart Sale. The CSL also runs an Alternative Spring Break Trip to Washington, DC. This trip first exposes the students to issues of homelessness, poverty, and justice through service work at after-school programs and soup kitchens. It then empowers the students to address these issues through discussions with members of Congress.
Volunteer Coordination
Third, the CSL encourages civic responsibility by acting as the volunteer coordinator for the College. The CSL is constantly being contacted for assistance by local community agencies and organizations, particularly by those who address low-income and literacy issues. The CSL then attempts to meet these needs by finding volunteers from the campus community. Whenever possible, the CSL provides the volunteers with transportation and training. In this capacity, the CSL also assists the campus clubs with their service project requirements. Volunteers have recently been provided for such community partners as the Friends of the Poor Thanksgiving Dinner, NEPA Community Reading Day, Christy Mathewson Park Project, Jaycees Children s Christmas Parade, United Way Day of Caring, Friendship House Children s Fair, Scranton Tomorrow Heritage Week, Lupus Foundation Family Walk/Run, District Attorney s DWI Program, and Tyler Hospital Grounds Clean-Up.
Providing leadership and citizenship development opportunities is the fourth way the CSL promotes civic responsibility. The CSL participates in the Intercollegiate Leadership Wilkes-Barre Program. Through this program, a select group of Keystone student leaders meets once a month with student leaders from other local universities to develop skills, engage in service work, interact with community leaders, and network. In addition, the CSL coordinates Keystone s participation in Pennsylvania s “”Day in the Life of Democracy,”" which includes a voter registration drive and a guest speaker. The CSL also facilitates leadership training both on campus and throughout the region and hosts conferences for local Learn and Serve grantees. Moreover, the CSL houses the only active Circle K Service Club (the collegiate affiliate of Kiwanis) in the Scranton area. Finally, the CSL hosts public lectures on civics-related topics. Recent speakers have included: Judge Richard Conaboy, former Chairperson of the Federal Sentencing Commission; Brian Reap, Member of the Scranton City Council; US Congressperson Don Sherwood; Senator Robert Mellow, PA State Senate Minority Leader; and Attorney Eric Brown, Assistant DA from NY County.
