CPS offers a variety of services aimed at supporting faculty interested in service learning or community-based scholarship. These support initiatives range from a practical course coordination to furthering education about service-learning pedagogy through seminars, conferences, and workshops.
Proposing a Service Learning Course
All new service learning courses should go through your school's regular approval process via CIM, and should be submitted via this form by October 1st or March 1st for the following semester. See the key elements of a service learning syllabus below. Service learning will be reviewed by the Joint NTC-CPS Service Learning Curriculum Committee. Once approved, CPS will inform your department to post the service learning co-requisite.
If you’re proposing a course that is new to service learning, we encourage you to apply for a Course Development Grant.
All service learning syllabi should clearly incorporate these elements:
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Identify the course learning objective(s) that service learning accomplishes and describe that connection.
PUBLIC SERVICE ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:
1. Describe activity students will complete and identify community partner.
2. Describe how students' work is a public service: how does it benefit the public/community, what good does it provide, who will benefit?
STRUCTURED CRITICAL REFLECTION METHOD:
Your reflection assignments should be incorporated into the syllabus schedule, woven into the trajectory of learning of the course, tying the service into the course readings, lectures, and assignments. Reflection assignments should be guided, continuous (not one paper at end of course), and critical. They can be graded and academic in nature, or an exercise in self-reflection. Using both methods would be ideal. Describe the method of structured critical reflection you will use in order to connect the service experience to the learning objective(s) of the course. Both written and oral reflection is beneficial, and CPS can help facilitate reflection discussions in or out of class.
STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT METHOD:
Indicate how you will assess student learning related to the identified course objective(s). Assessment may be based on graded reflection, the final product of work if service is project-based, partner evaluation (if they agree), and/or other assignments related to the identified course objective(s). Service learning should clearly be represented in the course¹s assessment criteria, representing a percentage of the overall grade.
Service Learning Support and Course Coordination
Course coordinators meet with faculty members to discuss the public service graduation requirement, service learning, working in the New Orleans community, and resources available through the Center of Public Service. Course coordinators are an integral resource to the logistical success of quality service learning classes. Coordinators are available to support and guide faculty in the following aspects:
- Initial meeting to orient faculty to service learning, including discussing and brainstorming potential service projects and how service learning is integrated into the course
- Set up an initial meeting between faculty and community partners, if desired
- Give an in-class presentation to students about service learning requirements and expectations
- Assist faculty and partners in setting up an on-site orientation for students before service projects commence
- Advise faculty on integrating reflection into the course through written prompts and/or facilitated discussions
- Are available throughout the semester to consult on potential challenges with the service project
- Assist with collecting and reporting students' service hours, if applicable
SLAs are paid undergraduate student leaders who provide around 4 hours per week of direct support to service-learning faculty. This program is designed to reduce the logistical and administrative challenges associated with teaching a service-learning course. Services that SLAs provide for service learning course planning and implementation include:
- Delivering presentations to communicate the purpose, logistics and context of service-learning
- Leading in-class and on-site orientations with the community partner
- Assistance with the coordination of student placements
- Ongoing problem-solving, mentoring and logistical support for student peers
- Collection and documentation of relevant service learning course documents (acknowledgement forms, timesheets, etc.)
- Assistance with planning and facilitating reflection activities
- Analysis of community partner, student, and faculty mid and end of semester evaluations
All courses coordinated by a Service Learning Assistant are overseen by CPS Senior Program Coordinators who monitor the planning, development, and implementation of the course, providing feedback and guidance to SLAs as necessary.
Course Related Trainings and Reflections
The Community Engagement Advocates are students trained to facilitate dialogues with their peers regarding issues of diversity, equity and inclusion as well as service-learning reflection sessions or various development activities (Complete listing of workshop types listed in the request form). These sessions can take place in the classroom, about community engagement projects, during student organization meetings, in the residence halls and at other campus programs.
Please complete the request form to schedule a team of Community Engagement Advocates to attend your class or program for a 40-minute to 2-hour workshop. Please make all requests at least 3 weeks in advance.
Reflections and Workshops:
- Engaging Communities (Tier 1/Intro or Tier 2/Intermediate)
- Working with Youth
- Mid-Semester and Final Reflections (tailored to your course)
- Race & Racism
- Classism & Inequality
- Gender & Sexuality
- Ableism
- Intersectionality
The Center for Public Service is charged with assisting faculty in the development, implementation, and improvement of service learning classes and promoting the scholarship of engagement. Beyond the one-on-one support we offer, CPS brings experts from the field to campus to offer faculty development workshops throughout the academic year.
Our flagship training is the Faculty Seminar on Service Learning, a 10 week seminar on service learning and a syllabus development workshop, offered every semester. Stipend of $1600 available for tenured, tenure-track, or POP faculty. The seminar covers theory around pedagogy, campus-community partnerships, the place of civic and democratic values in the university, diversity & inclusion, and institutional identify. At the same time, it is grounded by a very practical goal: helping participants develop, revise, and improve their service-learning courses and syllabi. RSVP here or contact rmcbride@tulane.edu for more information.
Community-Engaged Faculty Conference Fund
The Center for Public Service encourages faculty to attend and present at community engagement conferences or conferences in their field to further our University's contributions to the field. To this end, we have limited funding available to support faculty travel for dissemination of their community-engaged scholarship. CPS defines community engaged scholarship as collaborative, change-oriented research or pedagogy that engages faculty members, students, and community members in projects that address community needs. Preference will go to faculty who are presenting at an academic conference, second priority to those attending only. The maximum that can be requested is $1000. The money will be allocated for conferences on a first-come, first served basis. Flight and hotel expenses must be reserved through the Concur/World Travel Services system, per Tulane policy. Apply here.
For more information about any of these resources, please contact Bridget Smith.
