Lincoln (Neb.) - Nov. 3, 1997 - College students in Nebraska will be able to translate their community service activities into more than just a good feeling with a grant to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The one-year, $300,000 Learn and Serve America Higher Education Grant will allow students to incorporate service activities into their course work and indirectly earn academic credit for it.
UNL's Marilyn Bugenhagen, who will oversee implementation of the grant through the Nebraska Consortium for Service-Learning in Higher Education, said that while elementary and secondary schools have a long history of promoting community service, there has not been a developed educational track for post-secondary students in service-learning.
Bugenhagen, director of student involvement at UNL, said many Nebraska college students already have a strong background in service in their home communities when they arrive on campus. The grant will allow them to extend that service ethic while being exposed to people of diverse social, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
"An example of how we want to relate service-learning to the classroom would be a faculty member incorporating service- learning into the curriculum," Bugenhagen said. "Students would perform community service, then write about what they learned and how it contributed to their own life or the community. This challenges students to think critically about their experiences and takes community service one step further. If students develop these skills at the college level, they're likely to continue to serve throughout their professional lives and become even more highly productive citizens."
Bugenhagen said 20 colleges and universities have committed to collaborate on developing service-learning in higher education in the state. She said the consortium will hire a director to coordinate the statewide effort.
UNL's partner institutions are Central Community College and College Park in Grand Island, Chadron State College, Clarkson College, College of St. Mary, Concordia Teachers College, Creighton University, Dana College, Doane College, Hastings College, Metropolitan Community College, Midland Lutheran College, Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing and Allied Health, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Northeast Community College, Southeast Community College-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Kearney, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Western Nebraska Community College.
Learn and Serve America promotes service-learning
initiatives in schools, universities and communities. Through its
programs, Learn and Serve America provides opportunities for more
than 750,000 young people to connect community service experience
with academic learning, personal growth and civic responsibility.
Administered by the Corporation for National Service, Learn and
Serve America funds schools, colleges and community organizations
that use these resources to create new service-learning programs,
replicate existing service-learning programs or provide training
and development to staff, faculty and volunteers. Specific
programs address local needs in at least one of the following
areas: education, public safety, human services and the
environment.
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