Faculty development & resources
Faculty Workshops
The Agapé Center and ELI-SL Advisory Committee, seek to offer at least two workshops, per semester, geared toward fostering high quality service-learning courses and pedagogy. Workshop topics range from best practices in service-learning pedagogy, to strategies for developing reciprocal partnerships, to using service-learning to foster student learning outcomes related to issues of diversity, power and privilege.
Contact the Agapé Center for more information at agapecenter@messiah.edu.
Faculty Grants
The Agapé Center for Service & Learning is pleased to offer course-specific seed grants to faculty desiring to integrate service-learning into the curriculum. Funds should be used to assist faculty with expenses directly related to the service-learning experience (i.e., vehicles/transportation; project-based expenses; food/catering; supplies; in-class speakers; course development, etc.). Faculty may request up to $300 per service-learning course. Please contact the Agapé Center at agapecenter@messiah.edu for more information.
An application must include:
- A cover page - including applicant's name, contact information, and course information (i.e., semester; course title/number; academic department)
- A purpose statement (i.e., outline program activities, objectives, & anticipated outcomes for students & the community)
- A brief description of the community partner/agency
- A tentative syllabus for the course to be developed or revised
- A proposed, itemized budget of the amount requested. Please describe how funds will be used to implement the service-learning project.
- If applicable, outline a list of internal grants received in the past three years
The following criteria will be used by the COE Service-Learning Committee to award Service-Learning Faculty Seed Grants each year:
- Demonstration of Reciprocity. The degree to which service-learning accomplishes both the learning objectives for the course and the community goals for the service-learning project.
- Identification of content, service and reflection components in the syllabus.
- The description of how funds will be used clearly demonstrates that funds are needed to successfully implement the service-learning project.
- Preference will be granted to ELI-SL designated courses.
- Preference will be granted to new service-learning projects.
- Preference will be granted to proposals to use funds for the direct benefit of the community partner or a population in need.
- The availability of alternative funding sources.
Grant awards will not exceed $300.00. Partial grants may be awarded, as needed, in order to conserve available funds.
Applicants awarded the Service-Learning Faculty Seed Grants will be required to:
- At the completion of the course, submit a one-page summary to the Director of the Agapé Center. The report should include the following:
- Brief summary/overview of the service-learning project
- Evaluation of the community partner
- Description of student learning outcomes
- Identified challenges and areas of growth for future service-learning projects
- Photos and direct student quotes (if applicable)
- Return any unused funds to the Agapé Center for Service and Learning (ORG: 2087).
- Participate in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) with other faculty engaged in service-learning at Messiah College. The goal is to build community among service-learning faculty and share resources and experiences around service-learning.
Service-Learning Conferences & Publications
International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE)
The annual IARSLCE conference is scholarly venue to disseminate new knowledge on service-learning and community engagement. The focus of presentations, symposiums, and keynotes is on research incorporating a variety of theoretical, methodologies, and perspectives. The conference also serves as a gathering place for networking and association business meetings for members. A significant component of the conference is the mentoring of graduate students and new faculty members interested in advancing their own research agendas in this field.
Website: http://www.researchslce.org/conferences/
Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
The mission of the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education is to promote networking among practitioners, research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships, sustainable programs, and a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement.
Website: http://www.gulfsouthsummit.org/
The mission of the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement (JHEOE) is to serve as the premier peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal to advance theory and practice related to all forms of outreach and engagement between higher education institutions and communities. This includes highlighting innovative endeavors; critically examining emerging issues, trends, challenges, and opportunities; and reporting on studies of impact in the areas of public service, outreach, engagement, extension, engaged research, community-based research, community-based participatory research, action research, public scholarship, service-learning, and community service. JHEOE is a peer-reviewed, open access journal published quarterly online at the University of Georgia.
For past issues and submission guidelines, visit the journal website.
The Journal of Experiential Education (JEE) is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal presenting a diverse range of articles in subject areas such as outdoor adventure programming, service learning, environmental education, therapeutic applications, research and theory, the creative arts, and much more. The Journal of Experiential Education is a peer-reviewed subscription journal published quarterly by Sage Publications in partnership with the Association for Experiential Education.