A Win for Everyone

February 20th, 2012 - Filed under: Cover Story

Chris Crawford, a junior computer-science major, shows a Cottondale Elementary fourth grader how to build a computer using raw parts.
High Quality Photo

A program housed at the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility is helping UA faculty learn how to instill in students the lifelong practice of community involvement  and service. The Faculty Fellows in Service-Learning Program is a one-year fellowship program for faculty members who have a passion for showing students how to be change agents in their communities. Fellows learn how to incorporate service into their academic courses, enabling students to see the real-world application of what they learn in class.

“Service learning is not a tack-on to a course,” said Teri Henley, the program’s faculty coordinator. “The program teaches faculty how to address service learning in student outcomes, course objectives and assessments, and student reflections.”

Andy Ray, a senior minoring in computer science, designed two websites through Virtual Advantage.

Henley speaks from years of professional experience in the benefits of service learning. Now an instructor in advertising and public relations in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, she was an associate professor at Loyola University New Orleans prior to coming to UA in 2007. She was also director of the Shawn M. Donnelly Center for Nonprofit Communications, where she supervised more than 300 projects for nonprofit clients.

During her time at UA she has worked with more than 20 community partners on service-learning activities. She also work with public relations students who created the promotion campaign for “The Big Read: Alabama Reads,” a 2010 statewide initiative to promote reading and library usage. “Service learning works with the learning in the classroom,” Henley said. “We can also show faculty how service learning can be a useful component in their research. It really fits into all the University’s mission of teaching, service and research.”

Faculty wishing to participate must fill out an application, and must have approval from their department chairs and college dean. Each year 10 faculty members are selected for the program.

SaveFirst gives students an opportunity to interact with individuals and families with backgrounds very different from their own, which often changes their views of those living in poverty.

Once in the program, Fellows participate in a total of six workshops where they learn how to integrate service learning into whatever discipline they teach, whether that be social work, nursing, engineering, history or secondary education. The program is a campuswide effort, open to all faculty involved in undergraduate teaching – tenured and tenure-track faculty, professional and administrative educational staff and adjunct/lecturer instructors – from any department on campus.

Priority will be given to undergraduate courses taught by faculty members who are new or only marginally experienced with the pedagogy of service learning.

Fellows receive a small grant as well as individual coaching as they develop their service-learning plans. These plans may call for the creation of a new course, or the refinement of an existing course by adding a service-learning component.

Either way, the goal of the effort is to open avenues of learning and experience for students, who may not have realized that the knowledge and skills they are gaining in class could be the same knowledge and skills they use in their roles as ethical citizens and contributing members of their communities.

In addition to enhancing their academic courses, the fellowship program equips faculty to become advocates and resources for service learning within their departments, encouraging their peers to integrate it into their curriculum.

The 2010-2011 Faculty Fellows class with Judy Bonner (right), UA provost, and (left) Teri Henley, faculty coordinator of the program, and Stephen Black, director of the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility.

Why service learning? 

In the 2011-12 Service Learning Report, CESR Director Stephen Black wrote, “The University of Alabama is committed to positively touching lives within our state and across the globe, and this mission – embraced by students, faculty, staff, alumni and administrators – has become part of our culture.” Service learning strengthens that culture.

Service learning also helps provide UA students the best education possible. Stepping out of the classroom and into the community gives students a broader, more realistic view of the world. Applying the knowledge gained in their academic courses to real-world challenges requires students to use creativity. It calls upon them to practice critical thinking, and shows them the importance of cooperating with others to work for social justice and the betterment of society.

Service learning is done in cooperation with community partners. By working with these experienced individuals and organizations, students can also gain or hone skills useful in their future careers. The academic goals, career aspirations and community passions of UA students can all come together through service learning. At the same time the University’s relationship with the community is strengthened, and the community organizations benefit from the students’ efforts.

“It’s a win for the University, the faculty, the students and the community,” Henley said. “Service learning is a win-win for everyone involved.”

All photos courtesy of CESR.

Close