What an ACE Can Do for You

Advocates for Community Engagement (ACEs) are student employees of the Office of Service-Learning and Community Action who work directly with Bay Area nonprofit organizations to coordinate USF service-learning experiences. ACEs act as liaisons between the community organizations, USF professors, and fellow students to design and carry out service-learning projects. Their efforts result in partnerships that are meaningful and beneficial for everyone involved. In order to excel at this work, ACEs also receive extensive ongoing training in skill development and social issues analysis.

ACEs are Resources to Faculty by:

Providing in-class orientation: Whether you’re partnering with a community organization hosting an ACE or not, ACEs can visit your service-learning class to explain the basics of service-learning to students and to answer student and faculty questions. They also provide detailed information about the service sites with which they work. Should you choose to partner with those organizations, ACEs can accept student sign-ups for service-learning while visiting your class.

Assisting with service-learning project design: Taking into consideration your course learning outcomes and community organization interests, ACEs can help to design service-learning projects. These projects will use specific skills and knowledge gained from coursework while responding to a community-identified issue.

Monitoring student progress: ACEs are often more accessible than nonprofit volunteer supervisors and can quickly provide you with needed information, allowing you more freedom to concentrate on in-class work. They’ll keep all parties informed of successes and challenges, and will reinforce a sense of student accountability to keep your students engaged in quality service-learning projects and coursework.

Facilitating reflection: ACEs can lead reflection activities in the classroom in collaboration with you, or outside the classroom as supplemental guidance for students in order to ease your workload. This serves to emphasize the connections between what students learn in the classroom and what they experience during their off-campus service.

Click here to contact ACEs.