For Service Learning Faculty

The Office of Service Learning also 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 that support efforts to enhance instruction and promote innovative teaching and learning strategies around service learning and community-based coursework.

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

The Center for Community Engagement at the CSU Chancellor's Office developed these working definitions and rubric to help unify service-learning across all 23 campuses. 

• ATTRIBUTES
  • Attributes are back-end notations in the student information system that provide additional course-type information.
• 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. (Thomas Ehrlich (Ed.) Civic Responsibility and Higher Education. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000)
• CIVIC LEARNING GOALS
  • Civic learning goals are the knowledge, skills, and values that make explicitly direct and purposeful contribution to the preparation of students for active civic participation (Howard, 2001).
• COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING
  • Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is the collaboration between institutions of higher education and community partners (entities, organizations, or groups with whom a relationship can be developed) in which students learn and develop through participation in the collaboration; the outcomes of which benefit the common good.*
• COMMON GOOD
  • Distinguished from private or individual interests, the term "common good" refers to the material, cultural or institutional interests and goals that members of a society have in common that embody sustained mutual respect. (Adapted from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.)
• COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
  • Community Partners (entities, organizations, or groups with whom a relationship can be developed) in which students learn and develop through participation in the collaboration; the outcomes of which benefit the common good. Reciprocal community partnerships and processes shape community-based activities and course design to enhance student understanding of the importance of community learning. Community-engaged learning experiences may include organized service activities, project- or place-based learning activities.
• CRITICAL REFLECTION
  • Critical Reflection is the powerful process of making meaning out of a purposeful combination of experiences and academic content. It adds depth and breadth to meaning by challenging simplistic conclusions, comparing varying perspectives, examining causality, and raising more challenging questions. (Barbara Jacoby, December 2010)
• CURRICULAR COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING
  • Curricular community-engaged learning is a course-based community service experience characterized by reciprocal partnerships that enhance student understanding, the outcomes of which benefit the common good.
• SERVICE-LEARNING {referred as COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNING on some CSU campuses)
  • Service Learning is a teaching method in which meaningful service is a critical component of course curriculum and assessment of student learning. It is characterized by critical reflection and a collaborative partnership among the instructor, students, and community, with a focus on both student learning and community impact.
• SERVICE-LEARNING/COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNING COURSE
  • An academic course (in any discipline) that provides students opportunities to participate in organized service activities that align with community focus areas while linking the community service experiences to the course content. This makes service learning a very different experience than community service.

*Functional definition for CEL activities

 Downloadable  PDF of the definitions and full rubric with descriptions... coming soon.

Working in accord with Stanislaus State's Mission Statement, service learning seeks to "promote academic excellence in the teaching and scholarly activities of our faculty, encourage personalized student learning, foster interactions and partnerships with our surrounding communities, and provide opportunities for the intellectual, cultural, and artistic enrichment of the region." Service Learning is recognized as a High Impact Practice 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 and Academic Internships facilitates and supports these connections that benefit our students, our faculty and our community.

The benefits of service learning are equally shared among the community, the student, the faculty, and the university. When the stage is set for a high-impact service learning experience, the performance will result in any number of academic, professional, social, political, or individual enhancements.

Academic research and practice relating to Community-based Education provide many opportunities to publish academic articles or books.

Click on the following links to connect with colleagues engaged in service learning practice and research and to learn what other service learning organizations are doing on the state, regional, and national levels:

Some links may require membership subscriptions for accessibility. These links may be accessible if connected to the university server.

• Incorporating service learning into your curriculum is an effective teaching strategy that increases faculty-student interaction while contributing to student social, intellectual, and professional development.
• As a High Impact Practice pedagogy, service learning can be an important component to deepen student learning and participation more fully in their disciplines through off-campus activities in addition to the traditional, lecture-driven curriculum.
• It requires active student participation in developing learning objectives and interacting in our society in a way that challenges their assumptions and strengthens critical thinking.

Service learning represents an opportunity for an engaged scholarship for students and faculty. Engaged scholarship connects the knowledge of the University with the knowledge in our communities to address public issues that include artistic, social, cultural, scientific and economic development. Through this engaged form of teaching and research, faculty become leaders in their contributions to the core mission of the University.

CSU's Essential Community Engagement Fall 2020 Webinar: Critical Reflection (Oct 30, 2020) 

• Watch the recording of the Zoom session - Access Passcode: &%La4GZu 
• View the PowerPoint PDF from the Critical Reflection Webinar

Chancellor's Office Common Attributes Initiative for Service Learning Courses (June 23, 2020)

Recently, the Chancellor's Office implemented a system-wide common set of attributes used in CMS to tag courses that offer either "Service Learning (SL)" or "Curricular Community Engaged Learning (CCEL)". These tags are used to load courses into the StanServes S4 site with the intention to effectively identify and track SL or CCEL courses uniformly across the CSU. The following links below provide detailed information about the new attributes, as well as the form that faculty complete to assign the appropriate attribute to their course. 

• Watch the recording of the Zoom session - Access Passcode: 8J&31&92
• View the PowerPoint PDF from the Zoom Meeting
• Complete or view the Attribute form for your courses. 

Creating Virtual and Remote Service-Learning Experiences: A 3-Part Series

View the Resource Overview about putting Service Learning Online

• Developing a Remote Service Learning Course (With Experiential and/or Service Learning in Mind) – April 30, 2020
  • View the PowerPoint PDF from Session 1: Developing a Remote Learning Course
  • Watch the recording of the Zoom session - Access Passcode: &%La4GZu
• Enhancing Remote Learning Through Virtual or Place- or Project-Based Service Learning Experiences – May 4, 2020
  • View the PowerPoint PDF from Session 2: Enhancing Remote Learning Through Virtual or Place-/Project-Based
  • Watch the recording of the Zoom session - Access Passcode: 7w%x4.5^
• Incorporating Critical Reflection into Online Service Learning Courses – May 7, 2020
  • View the PowerPoint PDF from Session 3: Incorporating Critical Reflection to Online
  • Watch the recording of the Zoom session - Access Passcode: 4u&L4BoL

• Best Practices for Managing Risk in Service Learning
• Reimagining Service Learning in the Digital Age by Laken Brooks – September 23, 2020 – Insider Higher Ed.
• 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., DVP-PRAXIS LTD – February 2021 – Lumina Foundation Article

Community Connections Listserv
To subscribe to listserv, send message to: majordomo@lists.servenet.org containing in the body of message: Subscribe Community Connections and Your Email Address (remove any appended signatures and leave subject line blank)

 Points of Light Foundation Community-Based Organization Service-Learning Listserv
To subscribe to listserv, send message to: listserv@listserv.pointsoflight.org containing in the body of message: Subscribe CBOSL, City, State, and First Name Last Name

 U.S. Department of Education's EDInfo Listserv
To subscribe to listserv, send message to: listproc@inet.ed.gov containing in the body of message: Subscribe EDInfo and First Name Last Name (remove any appended signatures and leave subject line blank)

Confronting Anti-Black Racism on College Campus: 2-day Professional Development Training for Educators – August 12 & 13.
Learn more at Anti-black-racism-training

Facebook Group for Community Service & Service Learning Professionals in Higher Education
Great for Networking with Service Learning faculty, staff, and others across the USA. View The Facebook Group

Turlock Community Collaborative Directory - A Non-Profit Service Agency Resource Guide

While we may be teaching and studying from home, many of our local community service non-profits, public service agencies, and businesses continue to provide needed services in our communities. There are opportunities for you to help members of the Collaborative virtually/remotely! We are making available this valuable local resource guide so that you can still make a difference throughout Stanislaus County.

Please visit the Turlock Community Collaborative Directory to open a pdf copy of the directory.  Also, note that agency personnel may change at any time; however, you can always utilize the general contact information.