The Service-Learning Toolkit provides faculty with resources to build/support a high-quality service-learning course.
Faculty teaching a course using the service-learning pedagogy are asked to complete the Chancellor Office Center for Community Engagement's (COCCE) Community Engaged Learning Survey (CEL).The CEL survey provides a series of questions designed for CSU faculty to identify where a course falls along the spectrum of CEL; resulting in the assigning the SL attribute in the Student Information System. Please complete the Community Engaged Learning Survey prior to the semester you are offering the course. For more information about the survey.
Faculty Guidebook
The Faculty Guidebook (PDF, 2.9MB) is designed to be a reference tool for faculty involved in service-learning. This guidebook will provide you with necessary resources for your service-learning course(s).
Service-Learning Course Development Worksheet
The Service-Learning Course Development Worksheet (PDF, 158KB) provides a step-by-step guide and suggestions to assist in the design of a service-learning course from scratch or revise a current course.
CSUCI SERVES - University Approved Partners
Finding the right partner for your service-learning class is an essential part of making the course successful for students. The CSUCI SERVES database showcases over 85 university approved organizations (have signed MOUs with CSUCI) in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas that are interested in partnership with service-learning courses. These organizations participated in a community partner orientation and are familiar with the concept of service-learning and their role as a co-educator.
Faculty and students participating with university approved organizations are covered by the CSU’s Student Academic Field Experience for Credit Liability Insurance Program (SAFECLIP). If there is a claim or lawsuit in connection with service learning, SAFECLIP provides indemnity, including legal defense costs for students, faculty, campus and community partners.
The following links will assist faculty in getting started with the CSUCI SERVES database.
- CSUCI SERVES Video - Faculty Instructions (5:35 minutes): Provides an overview of course management.
- CSUCI SERVES Faculty Guide(PDF, 1022KB) : Provides instructions on how to use CSUCI SERVES to set-up your service-learning course.
Including Service-Learning In Your Syllabus
Would you like your students to recognize the knowledge and skills they will learn and discover the value of your SL course, while also experiencing a welcoming and inviting connection to you and the content? What if you could do all these things before your students ever set foot in the classroom? Watch Creating a Syllabus for Service Learning that Students will Love to Take and Faculty will Love to Teach facilitated by Dr. Whitney Scott and Dr. Svetlana Tyutina, CSU Northridge.
The following two links from the Journal of Effective Teaching and Learn and Serve present elements of best practices that faculty may want to want to include when integrating service-learning into the course syllabus.
Guide for Community Partnership Meetings
The Guiding Questions for Service-Learning Partnership Meetings (PDF, 91KB) is meant to guide objectives and details of a service-learning project and establish partnership and project expectations between a faculty member and community partner organization(s). This document is implementation meant to be a guide for community partners and faculty to establish mutual expectations, discuss project objectives and details and contribute to the implementation of socially just and impactful community engagement. implementation
The Art of Reflection
Reflection is integral to service-learning because it connects and reinforces in-class work, course readings, and service experiences. It provides an opportunity for students to think critically about service experiences, examine and challenge personal values, beliefs, and opinions, while allowing students to ask questions, share ideas and experiences, challenge current solutions to community issues and develop plans to address community needs.
Additional Reflection Resources
Service-Learning Reflection Journal, Sass, M. (2013) Service Learning Reflection Journal. Purdue University Learning and Service Engagement series. Center for Instructional Excellence: West Lafayette, IN [e-book]
Remote Service-Learning
The pandemic created an opportunity for the high-impact practice and pedagogy of service-learning to sustain university-community connections and create teaching and learning opportunities while remotely serving community needs.
As a result, many of community partners will continue to offer remote service-learning opportunities. Learn more about strategies for teaching and incorporating service-learning in a virtual environment.