Faculty

Service Learning

Service Learning is an effective teaching method in which meaningful service is a critical component of the course curriculum and assessment of student learning. This teaching strategy increases faculty-student interaction while contributing to the students' social, intellectual, and professional development, as it requires active student participation in a way that challenges their assumptions and strengthens critical thinking. Service Learning is characterized by critical reflection and a collaborative partnership among the instructor, students, and community, with a focus on both student learning and social impact. 

The Office of Service Learning and Academic Internships facilitates and supports these connections that benefit our students, faculty, and community as we all share the civic responsibility to improve the quality of life in our communities.

Student Learning Objectives for Service Learning

The Service Learning program goals are framed through the lens of student learning, and the faculty has developed specific student learning objectives to accompany these important service learning program goals. Students participating in service learning are expected to achieve the following student learning outcomes:  

• Apply discipline‐specific and/or interdisciplinary knowledge and critical thinking skills to community issues. (Program Goals 1,2)
• Demonstrate critical self‐reflection of onesʹ own assumptions and values as applied to community issues.  (Program Goals 2,3,4)
• Demonstrate knowledge and sensitivity to issues of culture, diversity, and social justice as applied to community engagement. (Program Goals 2,3,4)

Service Learning Faculty Mini-Grant: 

The Office of Service Learning supports faculty community-based curriculum and research through the annual Instructional Support Mini-Grant Program. Grants up to $1,000.00 are awarded to full-time faculty and full-time lecturers who support efforts to enhance instruction and promote innovative teaching and learning strategies around service learning and community-based coursework.

The Service Learning Faculty Mini Grant Application is open until October 31, 2025.

Complete Faculty Mini Grant Application (Best to open in Google Chrome). 

Please contact Breanna McIntyre at bhale1@csustan.edu for more information about this program.

Benefits of Service Learning for Faculty 

• Connecting academic disciplines to social issues and problems.
• Identifying areas for research and publication related to the current issue.
• Connecting meaningful service to current issues as they relate to academic areas of interest.
• Engaging students with a teaching method that departs from the lecture-driven classroom.
• Providing increased student contact while contributing to student development.

See the full Benefits table for the impact.   

Service Learning Articles & Documents

• Best Practices for Managing Risk in Service Learning
• Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators
• High-Impact Practices and Gains in Student Learning: Evidence from Georgia, Montana, and Wisconsin by Jessa Valentine, Ph.D., Derek Price, Ph.D., and Haisheng Yang, M.A.,
• Reimagining Service Learning in the Digital Age by Laken Brooks 
• Using Structured Reflection to Enhance Learning from Service Campus Compact

10 Steps for Implementing Service Learning