What is Service Learning?
The actual work you do may not be different from what others on campus are doing in service. However, the approach to the work should be different from that of a volunteer. It is your responsibility as a scholar to look more deeply at the issues that affect the people that you serve and to integrate that knowledge into your course content so that your opinions, judgments and solutions are based on that knowledge. You do not receive the extra credit for service; it is for the work you do to enhance learning. The learning is a process facilitated by the class, the action of service, and reflection.

• Service Learning The integration of the development of academic skills and meaningful service to the community. Class syllabus will have goals that reflect the nature of your service.
• Volunteerism Action on behalf of the community in a way which benefits the recipient. There is no connection to academic credit.
• Community Service Primary focus is the service and the benefits to the person involved in service.

What courses are available to SLC participants?
The courses available to SLC participants change every semester, although we aim to provide dynamic courses that also satisfy students' general sophomore year requirements, as specified by their academic college.  Previous courses have ranged from Ethical Traditions & Contemporary Life, Introduction to Sociology, Engineering in Humanistic Contexts, Perspectives on US Poverty, Christian Ethics, Philosophy of Education, and Management Essentials.  For the most complete offering of courses, please click here.

What are the service placements?
Service sites range from tutoring students at Jay Cooke Elementary School in the Logan section of Philadelphia, from Primary Grades, Elementary Grades, and Middle Grades.  Other sites include National Student Partnerships, the nation’s only year-round, student-led volunteer service organization that links people in need with the resources and opportunities necessary to become self-sufficient.  Finally, opportunities are also available at Urban Bridges, a non-profit community based organization that offers after school and summer art and academic-focused programs to school-age children and literacy training, mentoring and tutoring for adults, children, and families in the disadvantaged neighborhood of Olney-Feltonville in Philadelphia.

How much time will service take?
You will be asked to leave time in your schedule before registration for service. Expect 4 hours per week including transportation. However there are other obligations associated with the community. Expect one hour a week for reflection in Alumni Hall. You will be expected to attend all community events and celebrations which are an essential component of service learning.

How do I get to my service site?
You will go by school van. You will be assigned a meeting time and place by the driver of the van.

Can I ever be absent?
To be part of the service learning community, you should be an individual who is making a commitment to a place of work and to people. You are committed to an organization a school, more importantly you are committed to those you serve. Your absence will be felt. Please plan school work, papers and studying so that your service will not interfere with your academic obligation. If you are sick or there is an emergency, you must contact your van driver to tell them you are not going to be there before the meeting time and fill out excused absence form. This form must be turned into Mrs. Aiello in SAC 386. If you have anticipated absence due to illness or crisis you must drop off the form to Mrs. Mary Aiello in SAC room 386. Your request for excused absence will be reviewed by the leadership of the Service Learning Community. You are excused from service during schedules school breaks.

What is the 4th hour?
This is the reflection piece of your service learning commitment. It is a time for reflection, to ask questions and to share your feelings about what you encounter in your service. This is time to talk about the connections you are making between your class and your service. This is time to give back to the community you are serving by thinking in terms of the bigger picture. Are the services offered to the children at Cooke Middle School equal to the services you received as a child? Who is coming to NSP, why are they coming? How do you feel about the answers to those questions? What questions does it raise for you about compulsory education, inequality, race, privilege?? Do you want to know more?? Can you bring questions back to the classroom, to your academic work that might help you answer some of the questions you have. Caution!!! Do not form answers to your questions based on assumptions, previously held stereotypes or what you think you know. That is disrespectful to a community. Do your homework, find facts and continue to ask questions, because what you find might not seem like justice.

• Sessions are facilitated by one professional staff member and one junior coordinator
• You will be assigned readings for the fourth hour
• You will be expected to keep a journal
• Fourth hour is not an option, your attendance is mandatory

Will I be safe if I go off campus?
Although we have never heard of a crime occurring to a service learning student while he/she was performing service in the central city, the possibility is certainly there. The Service Learning staff is very concerned about your safety, so we are recommending the following steps to decrease the likelihood of problems:

• Never go alone to your service site
• Do not leave the building during service hours unless on official business with a member of the community
• Be aware of your surroundings and make smart decisions
• Drive Safely and do not stop until you are back in the Villanova area

What type of housing is available for members of the Service Learning Community?

• All members of the community reside in Alumni Hall
• You will receive a housing preference form by mid February
• You will give us three options with roommates of your choice in alumni Hall
• Your placement will depend on your lottery number since a room in Alumni Hall has been reserved. You will not know your lottery number as other freshman will at housing lottery time
• There are singles, doubles and triples in alumni Hall

Please feel free to visit the Sophomore Service Learning Community and talk to current community members.