Making the Case for Reciprocal
Partnerships in Service Learning and
Community Engagement
Kelly Ward
Washington State University
Tami Moore
Oklahoma State University
Objectives for the morning…
Bring ideas for service learning and
community engagement close to home
 Provide opportunities for problem-based
learning based on things common to your
campuses and unique to your area/place
 Make service learning more central to
related campus initiatives
 Explore case studies
 Create community
 Have fun!

Maintaining focus on service
learning and community engagement
Making service learning and community
engagement connected and relevant
 Tendency to recycle ideas and not
advance community engagement agendas
 Tying service learning to core issues on
campus
 Developing evidence based arguments

Types of Community Engagement
Co-curricular service (volunteerism)—
projects in the community
 Curricular experiences (service learning,
internships)—tied to courses; reflection
 Engaged research—connecting faculty
expertise with community needs
 Institutional engagement—using campus
resources to meet community needs

Service learning as reflection of
community engagement
Community engagement is the core principle
that can be enacted in many ways
 Via the classroom (service learning),
research, volunteerism, public service,
extension
 Focus on service learning, but many of the
same principles apply for community
engagement in other realms as well
 Service learning ties to curriculum, faculty
and provides opportunity for fundamental
change

Connecting engagement
with larger campus
initiatives…..
What keeps your president
up at night?
Access
 Accountability
 Diversity
 Workforce preparation
 MONEY! Funding! BUDGETS!
 Retention
 Learning outcomes
 Student success
 Others?

Access
The issue…
 Broadening participation in higher education
(students)
 Maintaining a connection with the public who
support higher education (making higher
education understandable and accessible)
Tying to SL…
 Takes higher education off campus
 Exposes multiple audiences to higher education
 Shows prospective students/community what
higher education entails
Access: Making the connection
How to make the connection…
 EVIDENCE-BASED decision making
 Providing evidence from pre-existing studies
(HERI, Campus Compact data)
 Collecting data
◦ Look for what you have


Place students in service learning placements
that have access implications (e.g., schools,
tutoring, mentoring programs)
Focus on outcomes to provide evidence
Development/Fundraising
The issue…
 Increased costs/decreased income (state,
endowments)
Tying to service learning…
• Show connection to mission
• Focus on community/constituent needs
Making the connection…
 Evidence
 Involving community members
Retention
What is the issue at hand?
How tie to service learning?
What need to make the connection?
Common themes
Making the connections
 Providing evidence
 Thinking broadly
 Making clear what it is that higher
education does in the community

Steps to take
Identify the issue
 Brainstorm connection to community
engagement
 Provide evidence
 Collect evidence
 Do good work
 Tell the story

What is the role of higher
education in your community?

Oklahoma Leadership Roundtable
 Leaders from business sector
 Senior administrators from area colleges and
universities
 National “experts”
◦ Facilitated conversation
◦ Focused on relating national trends to local
context
◦ Open to campus community
Why ask about the role of your
institution in the community?
◦ Turned on the Spotlight
 mutual interests
 opportunities to strengthen positive outcomes
◦ Lessons from the Roundtable
 Networking
 Needs on-going commitment to relationship-building
 Make expanding the conversation a priority
 Education
 Highlight opportunities/challenges for
administrators
Starting a conversation…
◦ Identify community issues
◦ Identify campus issues
◦ Identify issues of common interest
WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE
CONVERSATION?
Exploring cases
Identifying strategies to link service
learning with other campus/community
initiatives
 Collective wisdom
 Be prepared to report out:

Describe the case
Respond to case questions/prompts
Ideas for moving forward