1. Pareena G. Lawrence Jennifer Rothchild University of Minnesota, Morris Planning and Implementing a Successful Service Learning Project

2. Why Service Learning?  Limitations of traditional teaching methodology:  Content specific, unable to truly apply the knowledge learned to the “larger world”  Lacks personal connections which engage students in the subject matter  Community relations

3. Who?  Rural or Urban  Morris is 160 miles away from Minneapolis/St. Paul, the closest metropolitan area  5,000 residents which includes the students  Stevens County Economic Commission, Regional High Schools, Chamber of Commerce, Someplace Safe

4. Structure, Organization and Planning  Identify community needs  Create partnerships  Coordinate needs with course goals  Service learning liaison  Integrate/relate the needs into course objectives

5. Planning Continued  Meet with partners at least a month in advance  Executives and staff who will work with students  What is the partners role?  Timeline? Budget?  Relay course goals to partner  Discuss training

6. Communication - Students  Make aware the course has service learning component  Before registration, fewer surprises  Describe time commitment, expectations  Syllabus  Relate project to course objectives  Weave into entirety of syllabus  Make it worthwhile

7. Implementation  Community partner in class  Show students how their work matters  Reiterate project relates to the course  Training  Etiquette, legal guidelines, processes  Training programs

8. Implementation Cont.  Logistics  Who supervises  How they will be graded  Groups  Role of Teaching Assistant  Reflections

9. CHALLENGES  Addressing Challenges and Building in Flexibility

10. CHALLENGES: Problem 1 Mid-semester, the community partner backs out of the project

11. Solution  Provide students with a research paper or project that works as a substitute, or provide students with canned data sources for analysis.

12. CHALLENGES: Problem 2 Some students decide not to show up for their part in the project, hurting both you and the University’s Reputation

13. Solution  Talk to the student, tell them of the consequences of their actions. They may have good reason for their behavior. Sometimes it may be appropriate to reassign a student to a non-service learning track.

14. CHALLENGES: Problem 3 A survey project with data analysis runs long and students do not have time for the analysis piece

15. Solution  Grade students on what they have done. In some cases, you can create a small take home exam to test their analysis skills.

16. CHALLENGES: Problem 4 Due to a particular incident, a partner does not trust a student or a student does not trust the partner

17. Solution  If the situation cannot be resolved, assign the student to a non-service learning track such as a research paper so they can still meet the course requirements.

18. Concluding Thoughts  Key components for success  Structure, Organization and Planning  Communication  Built in Flexibility