Undergraduate Experience

Service Learning

Service learning is a teaching and learning method that connects meaningful community service with academic learning, personal growth and civic responsibility.  National Youth Leadership Council, 1991

Since Fall 2005 837 MCLA students have done 10,319 service learning hours for 22 professors in 71 exciting courses.

MCLA subscribes to the following principles of Service Learning:

• Students learn and develop through active participation in service experiences that meet community identified needs.
• Integrates the student's service activity into their academic curriculum and provides structured time for the student to reflect on his/her experience.
• Provides students the opportunity to utilize newly acquired knowledge and skills in real life situations.
• Enhances what is taught in the school by extending learning beyond the classroom and helps foster a caring for others.
  Fenstermacher, 1990.

                                    Service Learning Advisory Committee

The MCLA Service Learning Advisory Committee serves to promote, guide and oversee service learning at MCLA.  The core committee is comprised of Deans from Academic and Student Affairs, faculty service learning coordinators, the coordinator of the Center for Service and Citizenship, student representatives and critical community partners.  The committee meets regularly once a month and is integral in advancing service learning on campus.

Service Learning Operations Group

This is a smaller group that meets more frequently and attends to the  mechanics and details of service learning on the MCLA campus.  The Operations Committee trains new faculty, sends faculty to regional service learning conferences, provides curriculum support to faculty, provides grants for course development and connects service learning students to possible community projects.

 

Service Learning Resources

• Service Learning 101 - Meet with Faculty Service Learning Coordinators and/or the Coordinator of the Center for Service and Citizenship, as well as any member of the Service Learning Operations Team, to gain an introduction and overview of service learning.
• Course Development - Receive assistance defining specific academic service learning possibilities for your class and incorporating service learning into your syllabus
• Community Partner database- a comprehensive listing of local community organizations.
• Workshops, conferences, manuals - Faculty are encouraged, and often financially supported, to attend service learning workshops, conferences and luncheons on and off campus. A comprehensive 70 page guidebook is available, as well as other handouts that faculty can use in planning, implementing and evaluating service learning coursework.
• Grants - Often there are grants that faculty can access in support of their service learning interests. Contact any of the above mentioned people to receive more information.

Below is a sample list of some of the more common service learning classes and projects.  You can download a complete list here.

• SOWK 355 Service Learning and Social Work 
  
• SOWK 241 Introduction to Social Work
• SOCI 341 Social Stratification
• CCCL 100 Computing and Communication
• CCAP 300 Capstone Seminar
• ENVI 101 Introduction to Environmental Studies
• ENVI 320 Methods in Environmental Research
• ENGL 396 Public Relations
• CSCI 101 Computer Science
• AMGT 430 Arts Management

MCLA Service Learning Contacts:

Myles H. Witney, Ph.D., ACSW
Chairperson and Professor
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work
(413) 662-5473
m.whitney@mcla.edu

Spencer Moser
Coordinator
Center for Service and Citizenship
(413) 662-5251
spencer.moser@mcla.edu

For more information click here to visit the Center For Service