NASHVILLE, Tenn. — National leaders in the field of service-learning will meet with Vanderbilt administrators Sept. 12 to discuss ongoing efforts to fully integrate the University’s distinguished service-learning program into the classroom.
"This event marks not only the culmination of many years of work to engage the campus in service-learning, but also the next step toward moving this outstanding concept into our academic departments and centers," said Sharon Shields, assistant provost for service-learning.
Service-learning combines community-based service with related academic work while providing structured time for critical reflection about the experience, Shields said. Students are able to use the information learned in the classroom to help solve real-life problems while developing a greater empathy for the challenges of people who do not the resources to reach their full potential. Approximately eight to 10 service-learning classes are offered across the curriculum at Vanderbilt each semester, and Shields hopes to increase this number so that every student has the opportunity to take at least one of these courses prior to graduation.
The daylong meeting at the University Club,titled "Leadership for an Engaged University: Transformation through Service-Learning," includes a keynote luncheon address by Andrew Furco, director of the Service-Learning Research and Development Center at the University of California at Berkeley. Furco designed a comprehensive system for evaluating the service-learning experience that is used by more than 30 programs in five states.
Another scheduled speaker is Jim Applegate, senior fellow at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and a University of Kentucky professor who has a strong interest in communication issues and practices for students and faculty.
Janet Eyler, professor of the practice of education at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, and Dwight Giles, a former Peabody faculty member, will participate in a panel discussion about implementing service-learning in the curriculum. The two, who are winners of the prestigious 2003 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning, will be honored at a reception hosted by Peabody at the conclusion of the program.
For the second year, Vanderbilt’s service learning effort was recognized in the U.S. News rankings as one of the publication’s academic "Programs to Look For" ñ those programs shown to "enhance learning" and "lead to student success."
During the past three years, more than 30 Vanderbilt faculty members have been trained through a yearlong seminar to incorporate service-learning into their discipline. Shields noted that this meeting of deans, department chairs and center directors is an important part of the University’s effort to make Vanderbilt the premier international service-learning research center.
For more information about the meeting, contact Meaghan Mundy at meaghan.e.mundy@vanderbilt.edu or go to the Vanderbilt Service-Learning website at www.vanderbilt.edu/vsl/.
Media Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu