Running head: SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS

SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS9

Case Study: Service-Learning ProgramsAshley TrewarthaLoyola University Chicago

The passage of the Land-Grant Act connected institutions of higher education to community service as a way for education to benefit the public good of states across the nation (Jacoby, 1996). Today, there is greater recognition of the learning benefits of co-curricular activities and community-based service. Colleges and universities across the country are creating centers for experiential learning, public service, and service-learning that attempt to create experiences for students that tie academic coursework with community engagement. Service-learning programs vary by institution, as illustrated through the comparison of centers at Northwestern University, Seattle University, Tulane University, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Descriptive AnalysisNorthwestern UniversityThe Center for Civic Engagement is Northwesterns center devoted to service-learning. The mission on the center is to promote a lifelong commitment to active citizenship and social responsibility (Center for Civic Engagement, n. d., Mission Section, para. 1). The center tries to integrate academics with meaningful volunteer service, research and community partnerships and supports students, faculty, staff and alumni as they enhance their own academic experiences while contributing to stronger communities and a more engaged university (Center for Civic Engagement, n. d., Mission Section, para. 1). Some of the ways in which Northwesterns program does this is through developing cohesive curricular strategies that integrate service and hands-on experience with academic learning, facilitating mutually-beneficial partnerships with community organizations locally and across the globe, and providing training and technical assistant to [those] who facilitate service-learning projects and community partnerships (Center for Civic Engagement, n. d., Mission Section, para. 2). Northwesterns Center for Civic Engagement (n. d.) provides a variety of programs that range from experiential learning, community service, and service-learning. For example, NU in Chicago is an initiative that provides opportunities for students to do a day of service in the city. A longer program is Engage Chicago, which is a summer field study program. The website additionally lists some service-learning courses that are offered, but it is unclear how integrated, reflective, and service-focused the courses are. Seattle UniversityThe mission of Seattle Universitys Center for Service and Community Engagement (n. d.) is focused on connecting the campus and the wider community through sustained partnerships in order to deepen student learning, create a culture of service, and promote a more just and humane world (Mission, Vision and Goals Section, para. 1). The Center for Service and Community Engagement (n. d.) does this through sustainable community partnerships, connecting academic learning with community engagement in academic service-learning programs, intentionally designed projects to help develop student leadership through service, and collaboration across campus offices and departments.Seattle University offers a variety of opportunities for community service. One of the service-learning specific opportunities that Seattle University offers is curricular service-learning courses. From the website, it is unclear what components are required for a course to be considered a service-learning course. Additionally, the Center for Service and Community Engagement provides service days and immersion trips. The website itself does not provide a large amount of detail on service-learning or what constitutes service-learning.

Tulane UniversityThe Center for Public Service at Tulane University (n. d.) seeks to facilitate mutually-beneficial relationships and transformative teaching, learning, and research to address social challenges and foster responsible citizenship (Mission Section, para. 1). The centers website states that it utilizes impactful community-minded inquiry, learning and service and empowers constituents to engage differences and generate creative solutions for social challenges (Center for Public Service, n. d., Vision Section, para. 1). An example of service-learning that Tulane offers is an Academic Service Learning course. The courses, which are required to graduate, are created in collaboration between the university and the community and include reflection-based activities (Center for Public Service, n. d.). The Center for Public Service (n. d.) distinguishes community service and volunteering from public service and service-learning. From a chart on their website, it is clear that service-learning falls under public service which is described as an informed, consensual, and mutually interactive engagement with people, institutions, and the environment, for the purpose of the progressive achievement of civic virtue and the promotion of the public good (Center for Public Service, n. d., Public Service Graduation Requirement Section). At Tulane, service-learning activities are only considered service-learning if they are part of a curricular course. From this, it seems that Tulane Universitys Center for Public Service (n. d.) emphasizes both service and learning that is mutually beneficial, sustainable, and incorporates reflection in a structured course setting in their service-learning model. University of California-BerkeleyThe Public Service Center (n. d.) at the University of California-Berkeley connects people through shared learning and collaborative action for social justice (About Section, para. 2). The website outlines the values of the Public Service Center (n. d.) which includes experiential and reflective learning, creating sustainable relationships that are mutually beneficial, and valuing community partners as co-educators. Some of the public service programs that are offered include alternative break trips, public service internships, and group service work (Public Service Center, n. d.). These volunteer experiences and internships are divided into short-term and long-term volunteer projects, and are distinguished from service-learning. The Public Service Center also provides service-learning courses that incorporate service hours, leadership development, and an academic component (Public Service Center, n. d.). Though there is variety in the types of opportunities for service and volunteer work, all opportunities are founded on collaboration between the university and community partners.University of Wisconsin-MadisonThe Morgridge Center for Public Service (n. d.) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aligns with the Wisconsin Idea, which is the idea that students, faculty, and staff should use the skills and talents cultivated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to improve the state of Wisconsin, the nation, and the world (About Section, para. 10). Some of the values that guide the work of The Morgridge Center (n. d.) include mutually beneficial partnerships with community members, active citizenship, and learning from community experiences.The Morgridge Center provides a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, community service, and service-learning courses. There are multiple requirements for service-learning courses: service throughout the course of the semester, understanding the issues of the course in relation to the community organization, and utilizing skills gained in class at the community partner site (Morgridge Center, n. d.). The center also provides support for faculty teaching service-learning courses. The website specifically outlines that community-based learning (or service-learning) is not an episodic volunteer program; completing minimum service hours in order to graduate; one sided: benefitting only the students or only the community; or absent of formal reflection process (Morgridge Center, n. d., Teach a Community-based Learning Course, para. 3). Of the five institutions, the Morgridge Centers website provided the most support for faculty developing courses that centered around the pedagogy of service-learning courses.Comparative AnalysisOf the institutions that I researched, two are public land-grant institutions; one is a Jesuit and social justice-focused institution; and one is a private institution that intentionally incorporated service to the community after Hurricane Katrina. These four emphasize civic engagement, public service, and education for the public good somewhere in the founding or history of the institution. These four also had centers that specifically highlighted key components of service-learning. This suggests that the values of the institution may play a key role in the development of centers for service-learning and in the development of programs that forge service and learning.One commonality between all of the institutions researched was wording on collaborative partnerships between the university and community organizations and members. Collaborative partnerships can meet a variety of the principles of good practice that Honnet and Poulsen (1998) outline, including articulating clear service and learning goals for everyone involved, allowing those with needs to define those needs, clarifying the responsibilities of each person and organization involved, and ensuring that service and learning is flexible, appropriate, and in the best interests of all involved (p. 1-2). Though each institution highlighted collaboration, only a few mentioned that the collaboration should be mutually beneficial. The balance of who benefits is crucial to distinguishing service-learning from other types of volunteer work and community service. Furco (1996) presents the idea that service-learning should benefit both the provider of the service and the recipient of the service. Northwestern, Tulane, UC-Berkeley, and UW-Madison all included wording on the mutually-beneficial aspect of community engagement that makes service-learning unique from other forms of service. Additional considerations for collaborative partnerships is who determines the type of service provided. Jacoby (1996) outlines the importance of reciprocity, which includes that those being served control the service provided (p. 7). This aspect of collaboration was rarely covered in the five institutions. Collaboration between the university and community partners is crucial, but the type and extent of collaboration is important to determining whether or not service opportunities can be considered service-learning. Numerous aspects of service-learning were not consistently included on the websites for service-learning programs. For example, integrated reflection throughout the service experience is a key component of service-learning (Jacoby, 1996), but was only mentioned in Northwestern, Tulane, UC-Berkeley, and UW-Madison centers websites. Additionally, the balance between service and learning was only minimally covered. Tulane did a good job of this by distinguishing volunteer experience from public service and specifically mentioned that public service included as much learning as it did service. A final aspect that was only covered at UW-Madison was training for faculty developing service-learning courses. Howard (1993) discusses some important principles for service-learning pedagogy that should be considered when creating a service-learning course. Faculty are not trained in service-learning activities and creating service-learning courses requires intentionality and time, so additional support provided by the centers for service-learning is extraordinarily helpful in creating courses that are actual service-learning experiences.ConclusionOverall, there was a surprising amount of variety in centers related to service-learning. What I found most intriguing was that Seattle University lacked key components of service-learning on their website. This could be due to the fact that social justice, community engagement, and reflection are integral to the mission of Jesuit institutions that they felt it was not needed on the website. What was not surprising to me was that institutions founded on public service and education for the public good were the most developed in service-learning programs. This could be due to additional funding or increased value on service-learning and public service opportunities. If I had chosen to research smaller institutions or institutions that were less focused on public service, I may have found greater variety between institutions and more gaps in service-learning centers.

ReferencesCenter for Civic Engagement (n. d.). About. Retrieved from http://www.engage.northwestern. edu/about/index.htmlCenter for Service and Community Engagement (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.seattleu.edu/ csce/Center for Public Service (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.tulane.edu/cps/Furco, A. (1996). "Service-Learning: A Balanced Approach to Experiential Education." Expanding Boundaries: Service and Learning. Washington DC: Corporation for National Service. Howard, J. (1993).Community service learning in the curriculum. In J. Howard (Ed.), Praxis I: A faculty casebook on community service learning. (pp. 3-12). Ann Arbor: OCSL Press. Jacoby, B. & Associates. (1996). Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and Practices. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Morgridge Center for Public Service (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.morgridge.wisc.edu/Public Service Center (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.publicservice.berkeley.edu/