Running Head: CASE STUDY #3

Case Study #3
Monica L. Cano
Loyola University Chicago

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Elon University houses The John R. Kernodle Center for Service Community Engagement. The
center organizes Elon Volunteers!, Alternative Breaks Program, Campus Kitchen at Elon University,
Academic Service-Learning, and Service Experiential Learning Requirement. The centers web page
offers faculty resources as well, including detailed support for creating an Academic Service-Learning
opportunity and professional development. Additionally, the center seems to be one program
component integrated into a larger civic engagement mission. Elon University defines civic
engagement as the process of learning about the assets, needs, and concerns of the larger communities
of which we are a part and the willingness to collaborate with others to help define and achieve the
common good (Elon University, 2014). Elon has been honored by the Carnegie Classification on
Civic Engagement as a model campus. The university also received a Presidential Award in the
Presidents Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/students/servicelearning/default.xhtml
Georgetown University engages in service learning through the Center for Social Justice
Research, Teaching & Service. The center focuses on three primary areas: community and public
service, curriculum and pedagogy, and research. The website includes information about the overall
center like the CSJ programs, partnerships, and opportunities to enact GUs social justice mission
(Georgetown University, 2014). The other sections are labeled Get Engaged, with tabs for students,
faculty and staff, and alumni. Faculty have the opportunity to become CSJ Fellows, incorporate
Community-Based Learning in the classroom, or support for Social Justice curriculum infusion. There
are also community-based and social justice research, including funding for student assistants.
http://csj.georgetown.edu/
At the University of Loyola University New Orleans the Office of Academic Affairs has a area
devoted to Community Engaged Learning, Teaching and Scholarship. There are sections on the
website for Service Learning, Community-Based Work Study, and Community Engagement. The

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Service Learning section has information to support students, agencies, faculty, and reflection
throughout the process of integrating service or community engagement with an academic course.
There is quite a bit of straightforward information on defining the difference between service learning
and community service, internships, etc.
http://www.loyno.edu/engage/
Goucher College has their information set up as a Community Service and Social Justice
programs. There are weekly volunteer opportunities, Community-Based opportunities, student leaders
for civic action, and Community-Based Learning. At Goucher, Community-Based learning is
described as linking service to academics. There are a number of courses incorporating this technique
that are listed. The website also discusses the importance of reflection for community based learning.
However, the website provides very limited information and no information at all about faculty and
staff opportunities to try a Community-Based learning course.
http://www.goucher.edu/student-life/getting-involved/community-service-and-social-justice
The George Washington University maintains its Service-Learning opportunities through the
Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. They feature on their website: courses, a symposium,
Service-Learning projects, Service-Learning partnerships, student resources, faculty resources, and
research/publications. In the section under Academic Service-Learning there exists is a list of the seven
criteria that all courses must meet to be considered Academic Service-Learning. Contact information is
also provided for professors interested in creating a course offering. Faculty can take part in a faculty
seminar that covers many aspects of creating a Service-Learning experience, including syllabus
development and Service-Learning Theory. The website includes useful resources for faculty, and a
brief overview of the High-Impact of Service Learning.
http://serve.gwu.edu/academic-service-learning
In researching the different Service-Learning websites, I found varying degrees of information

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on what Service-Learning courses needed to incorporate. George Washington University's criteria

explicitly echoed Jacoby's (1996) components of service-learning- reflection and reciprocity. Elon
University provided faculty resources to facilitate in the creation of an Academic Service-Learning
course, but did not really give a detailed explanation of what a course needed to do to meet that
requirement. Instead, the course was described as a credit-bearing experiential approach to working
with community-based practitioners (Elon, 2014). At Loyola University New Orleans, a service
learning course can be offered where service learning is an optional part. This to me left a very
ambiguous tone about what a service learning course would even be. The other criteria portion was to
decide on either a project or placement model. Goucher College provided no explanation about what a
course needed to fulfill to be offered as a community-based learning course. Georgetown included a
thorough explanation of the criteria for a community-based course, as well as information on models,
the advisory board, and the process for obtaining approval. Although there has been a greater
consensus around the definition of Service-Learning within the field, including the works by Furco
(1996) and Jacoby (1996), there is still a lack of follow through with implementing policies to regulate
the quality of service-learning courses. I found it interesting that some universities had nothing that
would really qualify as service-learning given the principles of reciprocity, reflection, and curricular
structure.
Subsequently, a somewhat confusing piece regarding service-learning was the actual language
being used. Goucher College, for example, offered community-based learning opportunities, but the
way the descriptions were very much on par with the service-learning criteria. There was an emphasis
on engaging in the community, reflection, and learning that seemed to speak to Jacoby's (1996)
influence. Georgetown University proudly acknowledged their intentional choice to offer communitybased learning rather than traditional service-learning. They decided upon this language because it
reflected a greater commitment to the community partnerships as a learning experience for students. A

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strong understanding of service-learning as Jacoby (1996) defined it, would refute the idea that servicelearning does not emphasize community partnerships. Overall, I was surprised that Georgetown's
approach seemed to be so outdated.
On the other hand, looking at those institutions that used some variation of the phrase servicelearning showed some of the discrepancies that Furco pointed out. Elon University and George
Washington University both used the connected term of service-learning, but had to preface it with
academic. Personally, this language implied that there was already assumed to be a connection
between academics and service-learning. This contradicts Furco's idea that learning goals, and the
academic classroom, are an essential part of service-learning. Loyola University New Orleans
reflected the same general understanding of what service-learning should look like under Furco or
Jacoby, but used the term Service Learning. Initially, I remember being impressed by their very
concise and well-informed approach to explaining Service Learning. After realizing that even with the
correct concepts, the university was not utilizing the Service-Learning terminology, it made me
question more thoroughly the program mission.
As a whole, this case study highlighted how very broadly Service-Learning opportunities (and
experiential learning as a whole) have been grouped together under various departments or centers.
Some universities claimed to offer service-learning, while in actuality not really providing any. Other
institutions had wonderful programs, but were sort of lumped in with a number of other service related
opportunities. Loyola University New Orleans was the only program to be housed directly within
Academic Affairs. Given the academic components of creating any course, and wanting to have a
service-learning course be considered a serious academic option, it did make some sense to run the
program through Academic Affairs. Yet, other schools that were sort of independent in a center
dedicated to civic engagement, social justice, or service could also benefit from being within an
environment dedicated to similar experiences. This appeared to be especially true in cases of

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universities where the centers were responsible for both creating and maintaining community
partnerships. Goucher College, for all it's limitations in terminology, operates two amazing
community outreach programs: The Futuro Latino Learning Center and Goucher Prison Education
Partnership. Elon University houses its own charter of Habitat for Humanity, and a Campus Kitchen to
address hunger needs in the surrounding area. There exist wonderful possibilities to design servicelearning programs when the community-based organization is a part of the same center as the the staff
helping to design the course. Placement seemed to be an important, as well as confusing, part of
understanding the role that service-learning plays within the university.
This case study showed how service-learning has yet to be fully accepted in reputable
universities across the country. Although Jacoby (1996), Furco (1960), and others have created strong
literature around how to facilitate these learning experiences, there is still hesitation within the teaching
and learning communities to wholeheartedly integrate these approaches. Even when a university
appeared to really incorporate or value service-learning, the subtle language choices raised some
challenges to that. Unfortunately, there is still the general feeling of service-learning fighting for
legitimacy in the academic realm. The case study was not a negative activity personally, because I
recognize that there is often push back to change. Colleges and universities are hesitant to restructure
what they have done for years, but the bits and pieces of service-learning pedagogy integrated show
that progress is happening.

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References

Furco, Andrew. "Service-Learning: A Balanced Approach to Experiential Education." Expanding

Boundaries: Service and Learning. Washington DC: Corporation for National Service, 1996. 26.
Jacoby, B. & Associates. (1996). Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and Practices. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.