Getting Started
In order to get started and obtain basic information, call
the Office of Academic Service-Learning at (718) 990-7903 to talk
to one of the administrators or drop by at any time. The
Office of Academic Service-Learning is located in Bent Hall Garden
Level - Reception Office. We will assist you in creating a
Service-Learning component for your class. We can also help
you to find appropriate community service sites.
To begin the initial planning process, you must decide:
- Which of your courses would be most appropriate for an Academic
Service-Learning option?
- What course objectives might be realized through an Academic
Service-Learning experience?
- Will this project be a group or individual endeavor?
- What type of community service site will be required for your
Service-Learning project.?
- Will the Service-Learning site be chosen by you, the facutly
member or will the student choose a service-site from the Office of
Service-Learning core community service agencies?
- How will you match the Service-Learning option with an
alternative course assignment for the other students in the
class? For example, 25% of the final grade for completing the
Service-Learning project or for completing a research paper.
Adding a Service-Learning Component to your
Syllabus
It is essential that you offer your students specific
expectations of how you would like the Service-Learning option to
be carried out in your class syllabus. In order for
Service-Learning to be a successful pedagogy, the student must
understand that there is a partnership between your course
objectives and the needs of the community. Students receive
credit for the successful achievement of the course learning
objectives through performing a community service. In
order to achieve this, it is necessary to include an explanation of
Service-Learning in your syllabus.
This consists of the following:
- How will the Service-Learning experience fulfill course
objectives?
- What Service-Learning sites are required for the assignment?
(i.e.: Soup Kitchens, Nursing Homes, Schools, etc.).
- What mechanism will be required for the students to demonstrate
learning achieved? (i.e.: paper, log, journal, class
presentation, class discussion, etc.).
- Is the Service-Learning project optional or required for all
students.?
- How will the student sign-up for Service-Learning ?
(i.e.: Through the faculty member or through the Office of
Academic Service-Learning.)
- What is the latest date to sign up for a Service-Learning
project and when is latest date to complete the project?
- Please feel free to utilize the
Office Of Academic Service-Learning as much as possible! Send
your students to us for placement; we are very familiar with
agencies and their needs. If you have a special project or
idea, we can help you find agency placements.
Send a copy of your course syllabus to the office of academic
service-learning.
Complete course information will help us to better place your
students .
During the Semester…
During the first two
weeks:
Consider arranging for a representative from the Office of Academic
Service-Learning to present in your class.
They will:
- Explain the Academic Service-learning Program as it applies to
your course.
- Introduce and explain all documentation needed for the Academic
Service-Learning Program (logs, contracts, journal
guidelines, etc.).
- Present a sampling of the Community Service Sites that are
available for their Academic Service-Learning Project.
- Present to your students information concerning the Academic
Service-Learning Service Fair. (See We’re Here to Help
You!)
At the mid semester point:
- Remind your students to hand in completed contracts to the
Office of Academic Service-Learning.
- The Office of Academic Service-Learning will deliver copies of
the completed contracts to faculty members along with a “Correction
Sheet.” The “Correction Sheet” should be circulated in your
class so that students can document any changes from the original
contract.
- Faculty members are asked to please return the “Correction
Sheet” to the Office of Academic Service-Learning so that updates
can be made to the semester database.
- The Office of Academic Service-Learning will utilize the new
information on the “Correction Sheet” in order to make follow up
phone calls to the Community Service Sites in order to verify
student placements.
During the last two weeks of
class:
- Collect the completed time logs from the students participating
in Academic Service-Learning.
- Inform students about the Academic Service-Learning Essay
Contest. Forward student entries to the Office of
Academic Service-Learning in Bent Hall Garden Level, Room 18.
- “Academic Service-Learning Student and Faculty Evaluation
Forms” will be forwarded to you through inter-office
mail. These forms will also be posted on the Web.
Distribute the forms to students for completion. Complete the
faculty evaluation form. Send all evaluation forms back to
the Office of Academic Service-Learning in Bent Hall Garden Level -
Reception area.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.”
Benjamin Franklin
We’re Here to Help You!
The Office of Academic Service-Learning is here to assist
faculty in any way possible. We are available for classroom
orientations, individual consultations and faculty workshops.
Academic Service-Learning has several programs to encourage and
support faculty participation. For further information on any
of the following programs, please contact our office at any
time.
- Academic Service-Learning Development Grants —The
Service-Learning Development Grant is intended to support the
integration of service experiences with the curriculum objectives
of existing courses.
- Academic Service-Learning Faculty Award—This award is presented
at the annual New Faculty Convocation and is intended to celebrate
the creative potential of service to educate and to serve the
community. The faculty member will be recognized for a
standard of excellence in teaching that not only leads students to
a more vivid understanding of the course content, but also develops
a compassionate and informed response to community needs.
- Academic Service-Learning Publishing Incentives—The Office of
Academic Service-Learning will present a publishing prize of
$250.00 for an article about Academic Service-Learning at St.
John’s University that is accepted by a referred journal.
- Academic Service-Learning Speakers’ Bureau—The Office of
Academic Service-Learning has formed a Speakers’ Bureau of our
community service site supervisors. They are available to
offer their perspective to issues that your class may be addressing
or finds relevant.
- Academic Service-Learning Service Fairs—Service Fairs are held
during the first month of each semester and are specifically
designed to address Academic Service-Learning course
expectations. Agency supervisors provide information about
the agency mission and service needs as well as to accept student
placements on that day.