Partnerships for Higher Education Service-Learning

Source: Tanis Vye Mihalynuk & Sarena D. Seifer, Community Campus Partnerships for Health, September 2002; Updated: NSLC Staff, October 2004

Introduction

Partnerships serve as the foundation of service-learning programs in higher education. These partnerships can exist in different configurations depending on the nature of the program: between faculty and community agency staff, between academic institution and community agency, between student and community agency client, faculty and student, and so forth. This document focuses on service-learning partnerships between faculty and community agency staff, and between academic institution and community agency. It is written for administrators, faculty and staff from colleges and universities who seek to strengthen their service-learning partnerships. You may wish to consult the related tribal NSLC fact sheet on "Building Effective Partnerships for Service-Learning"

As you review this document, consider the following questions:

• How can you build a solid foundation by developing a trusting relationship with your community partners?
• What strategies will you use to achieve 'gain-gain' relationships, whereby your community partners and your academic institution both benefit from student participation in service-learning?
• How can you move away from the 'community as placement site' model to the 'community as partner' model of students serving and learning in community settings?
• How can you build partnerships into all aspects of service-learning?

Developing relationships

Forging service-learning partnerships can be challenging, but fortunately there are principles and best practices that can make the task less daunting. An initial step is the development of relationships with key individuals within community-based organizations. There are many ways to do this; below are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Build on existing faculty, staff and student relationships with the community. Identify the faculty, staff or students who are already involved in community service, community-based education and community-based research. Which community organizations and coalitions are they connected to? Explore how these relationships might be strengthened and expanded.
• Contact the office of service-learning (or equivalent entity) on your campus. On many campuses there exists an office of service-learning, community service or collegiate volunteers that serves as a "matchmaker" between faculty and community-based organizations. Resources may be available there, from community connections to funding sources to support partnership development.
• Contact your local United Way. The United Way can be an access point to a variety of non-profit organizations in your community. The office might also be familiar with coalitions that working to address specific community issues.
• Meet face-to-face early on, preferably in the community. Phone calls and e-mails are often an expedient way to communicate, but can never fully substitute for in-person interactions. Meeting a prospective partner in the community, on their turf, can make for a more comfortable and less formal first interaction, and also allows you to gather some important information about the context in which your students might be working in the future.

Assessing assets and needs

Conducting a thoughtful assessment of the assets and needs that community agencies and academic institutions can each contribute to the service-learning experience is time well spent. Several useful tools for conducting such assessments are available on this website.

Assess community assets and needs for service-learning. For example, which community-based organizations and collaboratives already have partnerships with the campus that can form a foundation from which to build new relationships? What unmet community needs or concerns lend themselves well to student involvement through service-learning?

Assess campus assets and needs for faculty, staff and student involvement in the local community. For example, what opportunities exist among faculty, staff and students for community service, service-learning, collaborative evaluation and research? What institutional goals and objectives might be enhanced by relationships with local community-based organizations and collaboratives? How might community members and representatives contribute to policy decisions within the institution, such as serving on admissions and curriculum committees?

Asking these questions early in the development of service-learning partnerships can help uncover opportunities and strategies for success.

Choosing partners

You should consider what agency characteristics may be important to the success of a particular service-learning experience. For example,

• Non-profit vs. for-profit status - depending on intended learning objectives, the status of the agency may be important.
• Accessibility - is the agency accessible to students by walking or public transportation? If not, how feasible will it be for students to get there? Is the agency accessible to students with disabilities?
• Safety - does the agency and its surrounding area provide an undue risk to student safety? Are adequate safety measures followed? For example, if the neighborhood has a high crime rate after dark, is an escort available to accompany the student to his or her car?
• Supervision - is the partner able to designate a staff member or volunteer to serve as an accessible supervisor during the student's term of service?
• Nature of service - is the partner able to offer the student a high-quality service-learning experience connected to the goals of the course? For example, if one goal of the course is for students to understand the root causes of homelessness, will students have an opportunity to work directly with homeless individuals?
• Historical experience with students - has the partner previously had students as volunteers, interns or service-learners? How have students rated their experience?

Developing principle-centered, ethical partnerships

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's 9 principles of partnership can help guide and inform the development of service-learning partnerships. We recommend using the principles as an outline to follow when beginning serious discussions with partners as the service-learning experience is designed, implemented and evaluated. A brief illustrative article on each partnership appears on the CCPH website.

Ethical dilemmas and implications inherent in service-learning partnerships must also be considered. For example, one ethical obligation of faculty members who design service-learning experiences for their students is to avoid harm or burden to the community. This obligation raises such questions as:

• Does the transience of the student's placement have a negative effect on clients, the community agency, or the student's moral and professional development?
• Does students' presence take away from agency staff responsibilities?
• Are students adequately supervised or are they working beyond their depth?
• Is there a risk of the agency becoming overwhelmed by students?
• Is the skill level of the student conveyed to the agency staff and clients?
• Is the client truly free to choose care by the student?

A particularly helpful article that delineates the ethical dilemmas and issues that commonly arise in community-based education of all types (including service-learning) is
Quinn SC, Gamble D, Denham A. (2001) Ethics and community-based education: balancing respect for the community with professional preparation. Family & Community Health. Jan;23(4):9-23 (see abstract below).

Negotiating formal partnership agreements

Codifying a relationship in writing can serve many useful purposes, including: ensuring that all partners have a shared understanding of the nature and extent of their work together, holding all partners accountable for the roles and responsibilities they have agreed to and clarifying legal obligations and the management of risk. We recommend that at a minimum, written partnership agreements include the following components:

• The name of each partner organization and the names of key staff from each organization
• Each partner's expectations and anticipated benefits of the partnership
• The roles, responsibilities and key tasks for each partner, along with a corresponding timeline
• The partnership's intended outcomes
• The partnership's financial and staffing consideration, including a fundraising plan if additional funds are needed.
• The partnership's risk management plan and what each partner's role will be in risk management.
• The partnership's anticipated products and any copyright or ownership issues
• The partnership's evaluation plan what each partner's role will be in the evaluation.
• The partnership's plan for publicity and what each partner's role will be in publicizing the program.

Click here to view a sample checklist for a partnership agreement.

Incorporating partnerships into all aspects of service-learning

Community partners and actions intended to strengthen partnerships can be incorporated into all aspects of service-learning: student recruitment, student orientation, community service, reflection, faculty development, curriculum development, and assessment & improvement. Examples for each aspect of service-learning are provided below.

Student recruitment

• During your school's admissions process, applicants' prior community service and leadership experiences are considered to be desirable. The school's community partners are involved in the interviewing and selection process.
• At the start of the academic year, a community agency fair is held on campus. At the fair, agencies from the local community that are involved in your service- learning program each staff booths that display materials about their services and student opportunities. This provides an opportunity for students to become acquainted with the resources available in the community and with opportunities for community service and service- learning.
• At the start of the academic year, your community partners design and lead a tour of the community for incoming students. This provides an opportunity for students to learn about the community context in which they will be serving and learning, and helps to prevent artificial barriers between life on campus and life in the broader community.

Student orientation

• Prior to their service-learning experience, students are oriented to relevant demographic and other characteristics of the community they will be working in.
• Community leaders, advocates, and/ or a person who has been directly affected by the issue under study lead an orientation session in the community-based agency in which the students will be working. Ice breakers and role plays are incorporated into the agenda focusing on cultural sensitivity and possible scenarios that the students may encounter. This is followed by a tour of the facility. Refreshments are served.
• Students who have previously taken the service-learning course and community partners are involved in the planning of the orientation.

Reflection

• Before, during and after their service-learning experience, students participate in opportunities for critical reflection that are an integral component of the service- learning experience.
• Community partners are involved in designing and implementing the reflection activities. These activities take place in the classroom and in the community.

Community service

• Your service-learning course involves a group of undergraduate students addressing poor nutritional behaviors among elementary school students.
• Local elementary school teachers have expressed an interest in not only teaching elementary students about nutrition and its role in mood and performance, but in mobilizing the community to address the issue of the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• During the course of the semester, the 5th grade students participate in an experiment to see the effects of eating a healthy breakfast and comparing this to not eating a healthy breakfast. Additionally, the 5th graders conduct a health assessment to determine the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in their local markets.
• The findings compiled by the elementary students and nursing students are shared with the local community.
• Steps are considered to mobilize the community on ways to bring more produce to the community.

Faculty development

• In developing your upcoming faculty development workshop, you consider the assets that community- based agency preceptors bring to your faculty development seminars.
• You decide to create a workshop, "The Role of the Community Preceptor in Student Education." Community preceptors are involved in the design of the workshop, and some members of the community who receive services are also invited to share their experience in working with the preceptors. This allows all stakeholders to share their lessons learned, strategies for effective student learning, and roles that community members can play in the service- learning experience.
• The final component of the workshop is a faculty reflection exercise led by university- and community- based faculty involved in service- learning.
• You offer a package of benefits for community-based preceptors that responds to their expressed desires. The package includes an adjunct faculty appointment and access to free email, library services and on-campus parking.

Curriculum development

• In preparing for service-learning courses, you invite community partners to serve on your curriculum advisory committee.
• In this role, the community partners provide input into what courses are most appropriate for the community setting (not all courses can or should be service-learning courses), what their expectations are for the students, and how they may be able to contribute to the learning objectives of the students.
• This committee also provides an opportunity for frequent communication with the community partners.
• When the community partners attend the curriculum advisory committees, they have parking available to them. When they are unable to attend a meeting, you follow- up with them via their preferred method (e.g., email, phone).

Assessment and improvement

• In the past, your course evaluations examined the impact of community- based learning experiences on student learning. However, you have decided to take a different approach; you have decided to examine the impact of service-learning on all stakeholders involved, including students, community partners, and faculty.
• You approach your community partners to determine their interest in participating in the evaluation, including shaping and designing the evaluation, and implementing the various components of the evaluation (ie; disseminating surveys). Your community partners agree to participate since it was outlined earlier in your service- learning partnership agreement!
• Once the evaluation summary has been finalized, the report is shared with all community partners and institutional leaders.
• Students, community partners and faculty involved organize a forum to discuss the findings and identify recommendations for future service- learning efforts.

Resources

The following non-exhaustive list of resources, including books, journal articles and web sites, is intended to inform the development of sustainable service-learning partnerships. partnerships between communities and higher education institutions. Please note that there is a wealth of literature on community-university partnerships not specific to service-learning that are not included here. We also encourage you to peruse the extensive holdings of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

Annotated print resources

© 2004 Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
Photocopying for nonprofit educational purposes is permitted.