Serving the Community at Kingsborough Community College

Although Kingsborough Community College was poised for the introduction of service-learning as a pedagogy that would provide an opportunity to enhance Kingsborough's already strong involvement in the community, the challenge lay in setting up an infrastructure that would allow service-learning to succeed and flourish. Research was conducted on a myriad of service-learning national models and ultimately the examination of best practices led to the understanding that each institution must establish its own unique model, one that is compatible with its unique culture, administration, and resources. Kingsborough's model is grounded in a strong collaboration among the lead faculty members, a student affairs practitioner who serves as the service-learning project director, and a service-learning coordinator. This team approach, one in which the responsibilities of each member of the team are clearly delineated, has proven to be highly successful. [authors]