Office of Service-Learning
Mission
The Office of Service-Learning supports innovative academic and program focused service-learning for the University of Connecticut. The Office acts as a resource for students, faculty, and staff interested in the pedagogy of service-learning and serves as a liaison to University community partners. The Office will assist the University in reaching goals stated within the academic plan through providing goal-specific academic service to nearby communities, embracing diversity, cultivating leadership, integrity, and by developing highly engaged students, staff, and faculty civically and socially through service-learning classes.
Definition
Service-Learning is a method of teaching, learning, and outreach which intentionally links community service to an academic course or program through specific learning goals, structured reflection, and assessment. Service-Learning enhances students’ academic and civic development and meets the self-identified needs of the community. (A Strategic Direction for Service-Learning, submitted to the Provost by the Service-Learning Committee, July 2005)
Goals
- Provide a positive educational experience to the students by utilizing coursework and linking it directly to serving the community while guiding the students through reflection of their service-learning experience.
- Build and expand the knowledge and abilities of faculty members to create and implement service-learning courses.
- Build awareness of, and demand for, service-learning courses among undergraduate and graduate students.
- Develop tools and procedures to assess student learning outcomes and program effectiveness as an integral part of University of Connecticut’s assessment initiative.
- Create and maintain valuable community partnerships to ensure strong support networks that will benefit both the University and the community at large.
Faculty Fellows
DOWNLOAD the Faculty Fellows list (2008-2010) (MS Word)
Contact
Julia M. Yakovich - University Coordinator of Service Learning
University of Connecticut Office of Service-Learning
UConn Greater Hartford Campus
Library Building, Room 106
1800 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117
Telephone: (860) 570-9076
Fax: (860) 570-9304
EMAIL: julia.yakovich@uconn.edu
Examples
Video: UConn Alternate Spring Break
Articles
- UConn Advance: Game plan needed to combine service learning, PTR, says speaker
- Boston Globe: A novel course for enlivening Moody Street
- Mineapolis/St. Paul Star Tribue: Editorial: 'Service learning' more than a fad
- New York Times: At Columbia, Students Mix Studies With Volunteer Work, for Credits
- New York Times: Does Service Learning Really Help?