By Amy Joaquim

Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that incorporates community service and community-engaged projects into the curriculum of a course. In service-learning courses, students apply classroom knowledge to address real community issues, and their experience in the community deepens their understanding of the course content.

The Office of Leadership and Learning provides support and funding for instructors who are interested in, or already teaching, service-learning courses. Whether you are a seasoned service-learning instructor or you are just beginning to explore the idea, we can support you at every stage of the process, including course development, establishing a community partnership, class presentations, and funding.

The Office of Leadership and Learning coordinates Service-Learning Instructional Mini-Grants to provide funding for instructors seeking to create or sustain a service-learning course. These grants are available to instructors on all career tracks, including full- and part-time faculty members, staff, and teaching graduate students. Instructors can request between $500 and $1,000 per course section to support a service-learning project.

If you are interested in learning more about service-learning or the mini-grants funding, please join us for a virtual information session on Wednesday, May 11, at 2 p.m. Please register to receive the Zoom link.

For questions about service-learning, contact Amy Joaquim, assistant director for service-learning in the Office of Leadership and Learning.