1. Shannon Healy
CSLC Interns
Community Service Learning Center

2.  What do you want to get out of this seminar?
 What organizations do you represent?
 What’s your personal role with service?

3.  Definitions and Differences
 Characteristics
 Benefits
 The 5 Critical Elements
 Enhancing Your Projects
 Activity
 The CSLC/Wrap-up

4.  Volunteerism
 Service-Learning
 Academic and co-curricular
 Community Service
 Philanthropy
 Experiential Education
 Civic Engagement

5.  From the National Commission on Service-
Learning:
 “… a teaching and learning approach that
integrates community service with academic
study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility,
and strengthen communities.”

6.  From the Corporation for National and
Community Service: “Service learning…”
 Promotes learning through active participation
 Provides structured time for students to reflect
 Provides opportunities to use skills and
knowledge in real-life situations
 Extends learning beyond the classroom
 Fosters a sense of caring for others

7.  An episodic volunteer program
 An add-on to an existing school or college
curriculum
 Completing minimum service hours in order
to graduate
 Service assigned as a form of punishment
 Only for high school or college students
 One sided; doesn’t benefit only the student or
only the community

8. Civic
Engagement
Volunteerism
Service
Experiential Learning
Education
Community
Service Philanthropy

9. Focus
Service Learning
Primary Intended Beneficiary
Recipient Provider
Service-Learning
Community Service Field Education
Volunteerism Internships

10.  Service learning can also be organized and
offered by community organizations with
learning objectives and structured reflection
for their participants

11.  Experiences coordinated by the CSLC can
help you develop through this continuum.

12.  Where do you think the average GVSU
student falls in the spectrum?
 Where do you fall in this spectrum?
 Where do most of the members of your
organization fall?
How do we become active citizens?.....

13.  Students remove trash from a stream bed
 They are providing a service to the community as
volunteers

14.  Students remove trash from a stream bed
 Analyze what they found
 Share the results with the neighboring
community and offer suggestions on how to
reduce pollution
 Then reflect on their experience
 That’s service learning!

15.  Positive, meaningful, and real to the participants
 Cooperative rather than competitive
 Promotes teamwork and citizenship
 Working with real problems in real-world settings
rather than simplified problems in a textbook or
generalized issues
 Identifying the most important issues within a real-
world situation through critical thinking
 Promotes deeper learning – there are no “right answers”
in the back of the book
 Has an impact on the student and the community

16.  National studies suggest that students in
effective service learning programs:
 Improve their academic grades
 Have increased attendance in school
 Develop personal and social responsibility
 Improve character
 Engaged students also learn
 Positive values, leadership, and citizenship
 Job skills and how to prepare for careers after
college

17.  Community Voice
 Orientation and Training
 Meaningful Action
 Reflection
 Evaluation

18.  Each organization/community has a unique
voice and needs
 These should be included in the development
of any service learning project
 It’s a collaboration – Talk with them!

19.  Responsibilities
 What community is it in? Which
organization? Who do they serve? What is the
issue?
 What difficult situations might arise? How do
you address those?
 Group/Team Building

20.  Necessary and valuable
 Are both sides involved and committed?
 Is the project engaging? Challenging?
Meaningful?

21.  What?
 As a participant, what did you do? See? Feel?
 Initial observations on the project
 So what?
 Why was this important?
 What have you learned? How has your view
changed?
 Now what?
 What do you do next?
 How to take this understanding and continue!

22.  What’s the impact?
 You – learning experiences
 Agency – effectiveness
 Community – needs met
 How can we improve/grow/change?

23.  Examples of service projects you currently
take part in?
 Adopt-a-Highway
 Strike Out Arthritis
 Bowl for Kids
 No ideas yet? How can you get started?

24.  With all these definitions and elements you
just learned – how can you apply those?
 Not everything can or should be turned in to
service learning.
 Barriers: Time, resources, etc…
 Baby Steps!

25.  Break into groups
 By organization type, if possible!

26.  In Residence Halls
 Community Councils
 RA’s/MA’s
 Assistant Living Center Directors
 Other service and philanthropy based
organizations
 Academic departments
 Community organizations
 The Community Service Learning Center!

27.  Who they are
 What they do
 Where you can find them
 When opportunities are
 Why you should get involved

28.  Into the Streets
 2 Fridays each month 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.
 Travel time includes travel to and from sites
 Alternative Breaks Info Night
 10/6/09 9:00 p.m.- 11:00p.m
 Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center
 Make a Difference Day
 10/24/09 Pew Campus 8:30 a.m.
 Pew Campus
 First Year Service Experience
 11/20- 11/21/09
 location TBA

29.  Into the Streets
 2 Fridays each month 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.
 Time includes travel to and from sites
 MLK Day of Service
 1/16/10
 Volunteer and Internship Fair
 1/28/10 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
 Henry Hall
 Service and Advocacy Week
 2/22/10 - 2/26/10
 Community Outreach Week
 3/29/10 - 4/2/10

31. Valerie Jones
Assistant Director for Leadership & Service Initiatives
jonesval@gvsu.edu
Bunmi Fadase
Coordinator of the Community Service Learning Center
fadasol@gvsu.edu
Joshua Lee
Graduate Assistant for Community Service Learning Programs
leejoshu@gvsu.edu
Shannon Healy
Graduate Intern for Service Initiatives Community Service Learning Center
healysha@gvsu.edu 1110B Kirkhof Center
331-2468
www.gvsu.edu/service
service@gvsu.edu