Key Questions & Topics

Reflect on the following questions on your own or connect with your Experiential Education Coordinator to discuss.

1. Needs. Consider the learning objectives and needs of your course. Once those are established, meet with potential community partners to discuss needs and partnership ideas. Encourage partner to organize by highest needs first.
2. Type of Engagement. The type of student engagement should meet the needs of both the partner and the course. Service-Learning or Community Based Learning courses have a shared, reciprocal partnership. Review the image below and Service-Learning: A Balanced Approach to Experiential Education by Andrew Furco for more information.
   
3. Position Descriptions: Create position descriptions for any open volunteer, Community Work Study, or internship positions. Need assistance? Connect with Experiential Education coordinators or Employer Relations team.
4. Length of Service: Review the hours per credit tab and consider how much time will be needed for the students to meet the learning goals for the class and needs of the community partner. Start small, laying a foundation to build upon. Consider opportunities in which the needs build upon each other form semester to semester.
5. Logistics: Review important logistical processes related to agreements, risk, and transportation
6. Assessment: To continue improving and sustaining partnerships, integrate assessment and evaluation into the community engaged learning experience, for both the student and the agency partner. Establish an evaluation strategy in which needs and programs are reviewed and reconsidered/revised for effectiveness.

Terms & Definitions

• Civic Engagement – “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non political processes.” – Tom Ehrlich, civic scholar & leader
• Civic Responsibility – A commitment to and active cultivation of the principles of civic engagement as defined above.
• Service-Learning – Curriculum-based hands-on learning with the community that addresses real world issues. Service provides context for translating discipline-based theories into practice. Students apply academic and discipline knowledge to meet community identified needs.
• Direct Service – Working directly with individuals and organizations to address a community issue or need (i.e. tutoring, mentoring, volunteering at soup kitchen, trail maintenance, etc.)
• Indirect Service – Working indirectly with individuals and organizations to address a community issue or need. Often policy or “root-cause” focused (i.e. Fundraising, clothing/food drive, capacity building projects, etc.)
• Advocacy – Planning, creating, promoting, and cultivating awareness initiatives and events to address a community issue or need (i.e. awareness campaigns, education tables, partnering with elected officials, facilitating community conversations/presentations, etc.)
• Active Citizenship – Community is an integral part of an individual’s values and life choices. (Break Away – www.alternativebreaks.org)
• Volunteer – A person who performs a service willingly, without pay or credit in order to support a cause, usually through a non-profit organization. The primary recipient and focus of the service is the agency and issue.
• Public Service – A type of service, engagement, or employment that is performed to fill a specific need of a community, like health, safety, and education.
• Reciprocity – The mutual exchange of resources, knowledge, expertise, skills, etc. between partners engaged in a relationship.

Hours per Credit

Lecture

Community based learning and civic engagement activities that are assigned as part of lecture class content should be included as part of the course contact hours. Addition information can be found in the Academic Regulations of the University Manual.

• Note: Contact hours are the same regardless of semester/session.
• 3 credits: 32.5 – 35 total contact hours
• 1 credit: 11 total hours
• If you would like to increase community based learning hours, consider adding a credit or utilizing Community Service (CSV 301) field experience credit (practicum course, see below).

Practicum

For practicum courses, CCEE recommends the following hours per credit breakdown (35 hours per credit), as shown in the ITR Internship Program example: