Since the Shaw Center is at the nexus of academic and community life, we can tap into a wellspring of experiential knowledge. We are an evolving “laboratory” of what works and what does not work in academic community engagement. The Shaw Center welcomes inquiries from faculty who seek expert guidance on courses, programs, risk/liability, training, and student placements.
There are many things to consider as you work to develop a community based service component for your course. We have tried to anticipate some of your questions and address some of your concerns with the list of resources below. The Shaw Center is dedicated to helping you design community based service learning experiences that enhance the learning goals of your course while meeting a real community defined need. While understanding your own pedagogical reasons for coming to service learning is vital to successful implementation, it is also important to work through the logistics (anticipating student needs, understanding transportation needs) of adding a new component to your course.
Incorporating reflection is the key component of designing service learning pedagogy. The Shaw Center houses several resources for incorporating reflective practices in the classroom.
We provide a placement process that incorporates the needs of faculty, student and community partner. Student placements are developed on a course by course basis with the objective of meeting the needs of the community partner. As part of the placement process for students, the Shaw Center developed Community Orientation sessions highlighting demographic and geographic information on Syracuse and Onondaga County to facilitate the transition from classroom to community and help students make informed decisions before beginning their placements.
Resources for Faculty
Guidelines For Service Learning
Classroom Orientation & Placements
For further information or consultation, please contact us.