Faculty

Service Learning is a teaching method that faculty use to help students deepen their understanding of course material. Stu­dents participate in on- or off-campus activities and experiences at a business, non-profit, or governmental setting (also known as Community Partners). They participate in these activities in order to respond to social problems.

If you can answer yes to any of the following, then Service Learning may be for you!

• Looking to find opportunities to make a difference in the Sacramento region?
• Do you care about bridging the gap between theory and practice?
• Are you interested in helping students understand and address social and community issues?
• Would you like to create an overlap between your scholarly work and community needs?

Engage in Service Learning

Resources

• Service Learning Toolkit
• Community Partner Letter
• Site Assessment
• Faculty How to Guide for CECconnect
• Online Timelog Instructions
• Community Partner List

Benefits for Students

In Service Learning, students are asked to articulate how their service experi­ence affirms, expands, integrates, or calls into question the academic content of their course. Students consider these issues through the process of structured reflections. This form of experiential learning is mutually beneficial to both the student and the Community Partner.

• Opportunities to deepen their understanding of course material and apply it beyond the classroom.
• Experiences to strengthen resumés and/or graduate school applications
• Career exploration opportunities
• Professional networking resources
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strengthened written and oral communication skills
• Opportunities to develop empathy (understanding the expe­riences and situations of others)
• Tools to build and strengthen leadership skills
• Heightened awareness of the complexities of social problems and social issues

Services for Faculty

Community Engagement Center staff may assist interested faculty with:

• Finding a Community Partner
• Developing a service learning course, syllabus, and outcome assessment tools
• Placing students at community partner sites
• Integration of community-based learning to your retention, tenure, and promotion file
• Handling issues of risk management for your students, and much more

When can you expect to see your course in CEC Connect, and start placing students?

For Fall semester, approximately 126 days prior to the beginning of fall semester

For Spring semester, approximately 70 days prior to the beginning of spring semester

For Summer session, approximately 54 days prior to the beginning of summer session

Faculty Learning Communities

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) provide faculty with a series of workshops focused on a specific aspect of professional development. In this year-long workshop series, faculty learn about:

• The philosophy behind service learning
• The process of creating partnerships with community organizations
• Constructing service learning experiences or projects
• Managing students in service learning projects
• Risk management processes, and many other details

The FLC concludes with a new, fully developed syllabus for a course that integrates a service learning component.

For more information about Faculty Learning Communities, please contact Dr. Choe- Smith, CEC Faculty Associate.

Email Dr. Choe- Smith

Forms

Syllabus Review Form for Service Learning

Syllabus Review Form for Curricular Community Engaged Learning

Community Engaged Learning Tool