Service-Learning faculty Associates Program
The Service-Learning Faculty Associates Program is a semester-long learning community designed to support faculty members in creating new service-learning courses. The program:
- Provides training on the critical components of a service-learning course.
- Offers a learning community with other faculty also developing service-learning courses.
- Assists in the identification of community service sites that match course objectives.
- Allocates $500 in your name to your department to assist in the development of your service-learning course.
You also can develop service-learning courses without participating in the program. The Service-Learning program staff will provide technical assistance to support you in implementing this innovative teaching strategy. Special programs can also be arranged for groups of program or department faculty members. Contact Lynn Pelco, the Service-Learning Program Director, at lepelco@vcu.edu or (804) 827-8215 for more information.
Service-Learning Faculty Associates Program Application
The Service-Learning Faculty Associates Program will help you learn:
- The theoretical and empirical foundations for service-learning pedagogy
- Ways to ensure that your new service-learning course meets VCU’s definition of service-learning by following the procedures described in Service-Learning Course Designation
- To identify community organizations that match the learning objectives of your course as well as effective ways of collaborating with community organizations
- To increase your students’ understanding of service-learning pedagogy by describing service-learning and reflection within your course syllabus
- To develop strategies to enable your students to complete their service hours and to reflect on the ways in which their classroom-based learning informs their community service
- Ways to evaluate the impacts of your service-learning course on students and community
- About the Service-Learning Teaching Assistants program and how a service-learning teaching assistant can assist you in implementing and evaluating your new service-learning course