Community Partner Resources

We hope you find these resources helpful. Please see our general Resources and Links pages as well.

Questions for Community Partners to ask Faculty

When establishing a partnership with a service-learning professor, you may find it helpful to use the following questions as a guide:

1. Ask the professor to describe their course. They may still be developing a course or may have an established one in mind.
   
2. Why have you chosen to incorporate service-learning into it? What do you hope students will learn through service?
   
3. How many hours of service are required?
   
4. How do assignments pertain to service-learning (that would require partner’s involvement/awareness)?
   
5. Describe to the professor your opportunities for students (including number of hours, times and days, requirements, etc). Are there opportunities for which students from this class might be well-suited (e.g. computer networking, creating public relations mechanisms, analyzing data in database, etc.)? If so, describe these projects to professors.
   
6. What do you require for a service-learning partnership?:
   
   1. # of hours
   2. Syllabus (YES!)
   3. Communication with professor – describe
   4. Participation in class (presentations, reflections, readings, etc)
   5. Length of commitment
   6. Fingerprinting, confidentiality, etc.
7. What timeline will you need to develop and implement this partnership?

Sample Memoranda of Understanding

A memorandum of understanding is a service-learning agreement that establishes the expectations and responsibilities of the community partner and service-learning faculty. We encourage community partners to create a memorandum of understanding for service-learning classes with which they are working. Here are some examples:

• Glide Memorandum of Understanding
• Project Open Hand Memorandum of Understanding
• St. Vincent de Paul Memorandum of Understanding
• Universal Giving Memorandum of Understanding

How to Build Support for Service-Learning at Your Organization

Depending on the size, culture and operations of your organization, building support can entail various tasks and activities. Your agency may be able to supplement volunteer and intern opportunities with service-learning activities that can assist you in meeting community needs. The following tips are meant to help staff create lasting relationships between their organization and the educational institutions they partner with.

1. Identify staff member(s) that will be responsible for the administrative tasks of hosting service-learning students. Staff should have a familiarity with the operations of the organization and be able to field questions from students and faculty interested in partnering with your organization.
2. Create systems that will assist staff in tracking service-learning partnerships. Staff may find it helpful to use Student Intake Forms that provide them with basic contact information and course information. This information can be used to keep up to date on student assignments, course information that is pertinent to your organization and even to recognize and thank students at the completion of their service or at special events/holidays.
   1. If your organization has multiple staff involved in service-learning partnerships be sure to devise ways to remain in constant communication with each other. Be sure students and faculty partners are clear who their primary contact is and who should be contacted with questions or concerns.
3. Host workshops/trainings or informal chats with other staff at your organization to introduce them to the challenges and opportunities of partnering with service-learning students.
4. Invite prospective faculty partners to your organization. Have them see and experience the work that students may be involved in. Faculty will be better able to accurately represent your organization to their students if they are personally familiar with the physical location and services provided by your agency.
5. Host end of semester/year celebration events and encourage students, faculty, staff and members of your organization to hear about the experiences students have had with your organization. Celebration events are a great way to encourage student reflection on their experiences and can sometimes be used by faculty members as a way to grade students in their courses.

Spread the secret! Ask students, clients and faculty to share stories and experiences of the relationships they have developed as a result of service-learning partnerships and publish them on your website or newsletter.

Download How to Build Support for Service-Learning at Your Organization (PDF).

See also:

• Sample Service-Learning Projects and Syllabi