What can the Office of Service Learning do for your community organization or event? 

The Office of Service Learning at Stanislaus State is always eager to work with the community to create partnerships that generate active learning opportunities for our students. If you have an internship, research, or service learning opportunity that our faculty and students may be able to assist you with, please contact Julie Fox at jfox@csustan.edu to discuss how we may be of service to help you accomplish your goals.

Community Engagement

Partnership Development & Risk Management

If faculty or students will be volunteering with your agency, and our campus does not have a current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with your agency, we will also need to complete this process (see Required Forms for Partnerships below). Currently, while activities are conducted remotely, students can be assigned to volunteer with you while the MOU development process occurs. If you offer paid internships, the university does not require that we develop an MOU, since the student is considered a temporary employee of your agency or company.  

Prior to our students going out into the community, the California State University system has a liability insurance policy for service learning and internship classes called Student Academic Field Experience for Credit Liability Insurance Program (SAFECLIP).  This program is designed to help ensure that the university and you, our valued community partner, have ongoing safe experiences as we work together to address the needs in our community. 

Required Forms for Partnerships

In order for the university to fulfill the requirements of SAFECLIP, two documents will need to be completed: 1) a signed Memorandum of Understanding, and 2) the completion of the online Community Partnership Request form. The purpose of these documents is to clarify our roles and responsibilities and ensure that everyone has a safe volunteer or working experience.

You are welcome to fill out the Community Partnership Request form, if you would like to begin discussing a possible partnership. You may also contact the Office of Service Learning to learn more about developing the Memorandum of Understanding or other related service learning or internship risk management concerns.

Current Service Learning Projects include:

  • VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program
  • "Pathways to Success" Mentor Program
  • Chemistry in the Classroom
  • Agency website redesigns
  • Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Celebration
  • United Samaritans Foundation "Legacy of Hope" Event
  • Science in Our Community programs: Science Saturdays, Junior Scientist, Science Day
  • Delhi Medical Academy of Science
  • Honor's Service Learning Project at Modesto City Schools
  • AmeriCorp VISTA 

Working in accord with Stanislaus State's Mission Statement, the University seeks to "promote academic excellence in the teaching and scholarly activities …, foster interactions and partnerships with our surrounding communities, and provide opportunities for the intellectual, cultural, and artistic enrichment of the region." Service Learning is a vital component to ensure the University fulfills this mission to serve you and our region. As a teaching method, Service Learning seeks to deepen faculty and student awareness of the responsibility we all share to improve the quality of life in our communities. The Office of Service Learning facilitates and supports these connections that benefit our community, our students, our faculty, and our staff.

Through the Office of Service Learning, Stanislaus State strives to foster an ethic of service and civic engagement by establishing reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships with our diverse communities whereby community partners become co-educators.

For our community partners, service learning and internship students represent a means for increased capacity for service delivery, as well as a basis for future support.

Service learning and internship students have access to a myriad of active learning opportunities in the community, such as mentoring youth, connecting young students to science, increasing an agency's presence in the community, working with underserved individuals and families, or impacting public policy.

Updated: June 06, 2023