2007-2008 Service-Learning Fellows Program

APPLICATIONS DUE APRIL 30, 2007

Program Overview

THE SERVICE-LEARNING FELLOWS PROGRAM is a year-long faculty development program that provides an opportunity for selected faculty members to investigate, develop, implement, and integrate service-learning into their teaching, research, and public service work while becoming recognized campus leaders in service-learning pedagogy and community engagement. Fellowship applications are accepted during the Spring semester each year in a competitive review process and include a $2500 fellowship award.

The Service-Learning Fellows Program is supported by the Office of Service-Learning and is open to all permanent, full-time UGA faculty members including academic tenure track, academic professionals, public service faculty, and clinical faculty members with an interest in service-learning. Previous experience in service-learning pedagogy or familiarity with service-learning or civic engagement research is not required.

WHAT IS SERVICE-LEARNING? Service-learning is an educational approach that utilizes meaningful service experiences and structured reflection to transform academic learning. At its core is a belief that service experiences can enrich and transform student learning through active engagement and collaborative action with community partners to address real-world needs and issues. Increased student engagement and understanding of personal, academic, and community/civic dimensions of learning are important outcomes of service-learning experiences. As a form of experiential education, "service learning responds to students’ desire to be in the world, learning from experience as well as classes, and to put their education to use for the good of others” (International Partnership for Service Learning).

At the University of Georgia, service-learning is most commonly linked to academic coursework and can can be described as "a course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students: a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs, and b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility." (Bringle, R., & Hatcher, J. A service-learning curriculum for faculty. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2, pp. 112-122.)

PROGRAM GOALS

The goals of the Service-Learning Fellows Program are to

• Increase familiarity and exposure to service-learning theory and current research;
• Provide opportunities for the fellows to further develop skills associated with effective teaching and learning strategies utilizing service-learning research and pedagogy;
• Develop and implement a service-learning component in an academic course or study abroad program;
• Explore evaluation and assessment strategies for measuring service-learning’s impact on students, faculty, and community members;
• Share ideas with colleagues from other disciplines and potentially develop collaborative, interdisciplinary service-learning projects;
• Develop and strengthen relationships with community and global partners;
• Collaborate with OSL leadership to provide input into long-range service-learning initiatives and strategic planning;
• Encourage and support faculty research on service-learning benefits, teaching strategies, and impact on students, community members, and faculty development; and
• Cultivate a core group of campus leaders engaged in service-learning pedagogy and community engagement.