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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
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Following are suggested activities that colleges and universities can undertake to increase public awareness of the benefits of service-learning during the the National Learn & Serve Challenge. These activities will also showcase the value that your individual campus brings to the community through service-learning. These activities are meant to be representative examples, not a comprehensive list; feel free to adapt and add to these activities to best suit the circumstances of your campus and its surrounding communities.
For college presidents:
Publicize the value of your service-learning efforts by:
- Highlighting your campus’s service-learning initiatives on your website
- Connecting your service or service-learning staff with your media relations staff to report on the impact of service-learning through press releases, campus newspapers, your alumni magazine, and other outlets
- Showcasing the dollar value of your institution’s service to the community at a town or city council meeting or at an on-campus event
Go public with your campus’s commitment to service-learning and community engagement by:
- Discussing it at matriculation
- Including it in the president’s message on your website
- Noting its impact in public speeches and/or writing
- Signing the Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education (http://www.compact.org/resources/declaration/signatories/)
For faculty:
Promote service-learning on your campus by:
- Working with community service/service-learning staff, students, and community partners to hold a service-learning fair on campus
- Inviting community partners to speak in class or at campus events
- Writing a letter to community partners thanking them for their participation and detailing the mutual benefits of your partnership
- Contacting your media relations staff to discuss an exciting service-learning initiative
For students:
Learn about service-learning by:
- Asking faculty members about service-learning course options
- Talking to community service or service-learning staff on your campus
- Looking into alternative spring breaks or other off-campus activities
Take action during the National Learn & Serve Challenge by:
- Holding meetings or dialogues to discuss service-learning with other students
- Organizing a day or week of service, with time for reflecting on the experience and relevant public issues
- Working with service-learning staff to bring community partners to campus or to organize a tour of partnering organizations
For community service/service-learning staff:
Organize activities during the week of the National Learn & Serve Challenge, such as:
- Holding service events to follow up on student orientation activities to stress that service-learning is an ongoing priority
- Working with faculty, students, and community partners to organize a service-learning fair on campus
- Planning a visit to the local Town or City Hall or to the State House to report on the value of your campus’s service-learning work
Take the time to document and report on the impact of your work by:
- Tracking the value of service-learning, both in numbers (e.g., total service hours performed) and in stories that illustrate the impact on students and the community
- Reporting this impact to your president, faculty, and students through internal memos, campus newspapers, and other means
- Connecting with media relations staff to discuss overall impact as well as specific initiatives
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