Nazareth University: A Case Study Summary

Over a century ago, Woodrow Wilson implored higher education to seek to answer the questions and challenges of our community and nation by sharing ownership of the issues that define the well-being of our society. More recently, President Barack Obama stated: “Our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern”. Service to others has been an integral part of my life that I anticipate continuing through adulthood. A service project that I completed over the summer taught me about the resiliency of the human spirit and the importance of widening my circle.

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

Last May, I traveled with Alternative Breaks to New York for community service. During this service, I worked with Meals on Wheels who dedicate their time to provide food for the elderly of Manhattan. As I delivered the food to the seniors, I got a sense of fulfillment because I made them smile by providing them with food. Thus, I chose MDC’s Single Stop because I wanted to make a difference in my home campus by providing and assuring nourishment to those that do not have it just like I did in New York. As my first two years of college comes to an end, I wanted to leave a mark of my own here at home at Miami Dade College North Campus. During the month of September, I decided to partner up with a few of my peers to serve at MDC’s Single Stop.

Wayland Baptist University, a place where you become a pioneer in excellence, creates teachers at the top level and teaches important skills for your chosen career.

My Name is Sidikat Ishola and I am a senior attending Houston Baptist University. I am currently a Government major and a Latin American studies minor. I have an interest in our governmental system as well as foreign policy. Within the arena of foreign policy, I have a particular interest in Costa Rican government and interests. I plan to attend law school in the fall of 2017 with a focus in international law.

I highly recommend this course continue to require service learning as a component of Academic Foundations. It is never a bad idea to get the students involved on campus and get them familiar with the facilities we have located on campus. Getting involved with the community and individuals active is a positive aspect of this

Similarly to every motivated individual, I tend to wonder how my actions will impact the world. Fortunately, the Norbert O. Schedler Honors College’s principal characteristic is the ability to mold students into catalysts of “socially responsible change.” Leadership, scholarship, citizenship, and self-authorship act as the foremost foundations of advancement, and provide a unique path for students to serve locally, nationally, and globally. All foundations stem from the college’s values of academic and personal excellence, inquiry and exploration, integrity and social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and interdisciplinary understanding.

The rise of learning communities on college campuses has presented additional opportunities for student affairs professionals to play a role in curriculum and instruction (Ellertson&Thoennes, 2007; Hunter & Murray, 2007). Learning communities allow students to interact with peers who have similar academic or extracurricular interests, and typically include targeted instruction geared toward community learning goals, such as leadership or international relations. Student affairs practitioners in these setting are free to design service-learning projects, academic coursework, and programs that meet the specific needs of each

Experiences in service offer more opportunities to be taught than for your deeds to make an impact. These experiences have established and strengthened the fundamental moral principles that I live my life by. Throughout my education, they have been challenged and developed by academics, missions, and cultural experiences. Education can only carry one so far if it’s lessons are not implemented in service to this world. Through fostering a love of people and the world, I have found that learning sparks curiosity, curiosity kindles exploration, exploration illuminates discovery, and discovery ignites

Throughout my professional career in higher education, I have grown a strong interest in serving non-traditional and community college students. This unique population thrives when they have access to student support services and transformative educational opportunities. I have the desire to be in a position where I am able to dictate how these students are serviced and, or how accessible educational opportunities are to them. I received my Bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University in Family and Community Service with aspirations of being a social worker, but shortly after leaving the institution I gained employment in Thomasville City School system. There I had the chance to mentor and teach transferable life skills and soon realized

To engage ourselves in learning is to bring ourselves closer to understanding the world around us. I come from a background which encouraged learning not simply for a test or competition, but for the expansion of the proliferating mind. Learning without engagement is fruitless because it lacks the spark of curiosity required for any hope of tangible academic progression and helping the society around us. Through making learning engaging through discourse, I believe my potential contribution to the Trinity community is a rare one. Through engaging the community in conversation, ideas can be shared which ultimately leads to a deeper understanding how we can help the world through what we do in academia. My deep-rooted mission to the Trinity Community is one where I can help the college engage the wider urban community to become excited about learning, which ultimately leads to a society where the voice of the people is heard, and our work at the College will help the people to wholistically become a more intelligent

Since the 1990s, service-learning and volunteerism have become pervasive throughout higher education. Many campuses now have a center for civic engagement and have hired service-learning coordinators. Large organizations and initiatives have dedicated themselves to promoting and enhancing engagement research and practices. We even have engaged campus awards and designations at the national and state level. Civic engagement is a professional field of study and practice and it is our best hope for bringing in a discussion about sense of community.

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members

NC State’s focus on student life outside the classroom, specifically it’s devotion to serving the surrounding communities of North Carolina is one way I feel I could contribute to campus diversity. Having attended a Jesuit high school, volunteer work has always been an important part of my life. I found out about the Alternative Service Break program after exploring the numerous activities and clubs that NC State offers its students. I was drawn to the program because of the mission’s straight-forward focus to make a difference in the community through, “public service, civic engagement and service-learning.” Additionally, the ability to develop a close network of like-minded peers and mentors, who share similar values and interests, would

The Society for Experiential Education defines service learning as, “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience” (Staton 1). Service learning is a great opportunity to get extra learning experiences while also experiencing the community around the universities campus. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning from their instructors, peers, and readings to genuine tasks that occur outside the four walls of the classroom while simultaneously helping others” (Staton 1). Universities are using service learning to expand beyond the classroom and provide students with experiences that will