Community partners are those individuals or organizations that host, supervise, and benefit from the work of student service-learners. Understanding your partners and building strong relationships with them are key steps to creating rewarding experiences for your students.

Work culture

Work culture can differ greatly between your institution and community organizations because staff members operate according to policies and philosophies that often may be unfamiliar to outsiders.

For example, staff at your community partner and faculty at your institution may keep different work hours, which will affect their ability to reach one another. Partners may also have different expectations regarding how and when to communicate.

For these reasons, it’s important to discuss work culture at the beginning of the relationship. Here are some questions you might ask to familiarize yourself with the work culture of your community partner.

• What are your typical work hours?
• What is your preferred mode of communication?
• Is there a form of communication we should not use?
• What is considered a reasonable response time in your workplace?
• Do your employees answer phone/text/email when off duty?
• How should we reach you in an emergency?
• Do you have a set of workplace policies we should know about?
• Does your workplace have a code of conduct we should be aware of?
• What is the dress code for your workplace?
• Is there anything special about your workplace culture that our students should know?

When interacting with staff at your community partner, remember these individuals take on service-learning supervisory roles and other partnership responsibilities in addition to their already full workloads—almost always without extra compensation. Like your faculty members, these staff members may be committed to service-learning but face challenges in balancing their involvement with other responsibilities.

Communication and expectations

To ensure a positive experience for all parties, it is essential you and your partners communicate regularly regarding expectations and progress before and during the semester.

To facilitate open communication, consider taking these actions.

Create a service-learning assignment document. This document should outline the service role or project in detail, so all parties understand work hours, responsibilities, evaluation methods, and supervisory structure.

Review learning goals with partners. Meet with community partners to review students’ learning goals and partners’ needs before the semester starts. Be sure assignments satisfy both parties.

Discuss evaluation methods. Review methods in detail with your partners to ensure they will collect appropriate data and report it in time for final grades.

Invite partners to your classroom. In this face-to-face meeting, partners can introduce themselves and share information about work culture and expectations at the start of the semester.

Review changes together. Agree that changes to service roles or projects will be reviewed and agreed upon by all parties to minimize disruption and ensure that both learning goals and partner needs will still be met.

Agree to maintain open communication. Conduct regular check-ins (optimally at predetermined times or intervals) throughout the semester. Ongoing communication can help avoid the escalation of a glitch or foible into an urgent problem.

Assign a teaching assistant. If possible, assign a teaching assistant to manage day-to-day communications. Be sure to introduce him or her to the community partner’s staff.

Partnership challenges

Partnership challenges are an inevitable part of any collaboration, but they don’t have to derail a project. Proper preparation, open communication, and a willingness to compromise are key factors in successful partnerships.

To minimize conflict, take the following measures.

Discuss expectations with students. Review expectations and conduct with your students and encourage them to treat service professionally.

Resolve differences proactively. Make every effort to help the student and the community partner resolve differences in a productive way. Removing a student from an assignment should occur only as a last resort.

Listen to both sides. If a student has a complaint about his or her assignment, take it seriously, but also remember to consider the perspective of your partner. Despite the best preparation, student expectations can often clash with the service reality.

Revisit expectations. Help students work through unpleasant surprises by reviewing expectations for the assignment. If necessary, also review expectations with the community partner.

Make necessary adjustments. Consult with both the partner and the student when adjustments are necessary.

Collaborate. Remember, the most effective solutions will be those arrived at through collaboration and mutual respect.

Integrating service-learning into such existing course assignments as research papers, evaluations, and final presentations is an ideal way to deepen students’ grasp of course content.

General guidelines for service-learning course assignments

Connect service and classroom learning. To maximize the benefit of service-learning, treat the connection between your classroom and the community as a two-way street. Your course should include assignments that draw on students’ service-learning experiences. Assignments should also prompt students to use course concepts to interpret service experiences.

Integrate assignments. Avoid assigning students separate “service-learning assignments” and “regular assignments.” Instead, think about ways you can encourage students to draw upon their service experiences while completing more traditional course assignments.

Use learning management tools. Posting on your preferred learning management platform or blogging about service are both powerful ways to get students started.

Encourage reflection. To instill the practice of reflection in your students, create assignments that engage students at each level of the What? So What? Now What? cycle.

Follow through. Assignments that incorporate service-learning should require students to use examples of situations they have experienced or observed during service. Students who have been consistently discussing, blogging, or otherwise reflecting on their service experiences will find it much easier to think of relevant examples when the time comes to write an essay, give a presentation, or complete an evaluation.

Ways to integrate service-learning into course assignments

Use existing assignments. Add one or more questions to existing essay prompts, written tests, or oral presentation assignments.

Use service-learning as a reference source. Require students to use their service-learning experience as a source in a research paper alongside more traditional external research sources. In this context, experiences, observations, or other information from the community partner would become evidence in the paper.

Promote professional fluency. Ask students to use the terminology or language learned in class when discussing their service. This technique will help students become fluent communicators in their profession.

Questions you can use in assignments to spark critical thinking and reflection

Each set of questions asks students to consider their experience from a different perspective.

1. How service experiences corroborate course content.
   • Can you provide an example from your service experience that illustrates a concept discussed in the course?
   • How does your example align with the concept?
   • How does your knowledge of the concept help you understand what you experienced during your service?
   • What have you learned about the benefits of applying theory to real-world situations?
2. How service experiences challenge course content.
   • Can you provide an example from your service experience that complicates or contradicts a concept or theory discussed in the course?
   • How does your real-world example challenge or conflict with the concept?
   • How would a proponent of the concept respond to your challenge?
   • What have you learned about the difficulties of applying theory to real-world situations?
3. How service experiences compare with course content.
   • Can you view an aspect of your service experience through the lens of two or more theories or perspectives discussed in the course?
   • How do these different lenses help you to interpret your experience in different ways?
   • Have your service experiences changed your opinion about which theory or perspective you agree with?
4. How course content might form the basis of a critique of the service-learning experience.
   • How could course concepts be applied to improve your personal performance in your service role or project?
   • What have you learned about the areas in which you could use improvement?
   • How could course concepts be applied to improve the function of your partner organization?
   • In light of course concepts, what should stay the same, change, or be added to the organization’s programming or policies to help the organization better accomplish its mission?
5. How service experiences have encouraged students to think more broadly about career choices.
   • What has your service taught you about the rewards or challenges of a career in this profession?
   • In light of your service, how can professionals in this field contribute to the community?

A well-structured grading rubric plays an integral role in the shape and function of any course. For service-learning in particular, it can:

• Clarify student expectations and accountability.
• Dispel any confusion or anxiety about service-learning.
• Reinforce the role of service-learning in the course.
• Focus class time on substantive content rather than administrative issues.

Evaluating student service-learners

As in any course, evaluation focuses on the ability of students to meet course learning objectives. Consequently, students should be graded for their learning, not their service.

When evaluating students, consider the following strategies.

Integrate your grading. Grades shouldn’t be separated into “service” or “learning” grades. When service is fully incorporated into the coursework, it should be difficult to parse out the grade value associated with each.

Avoid vague guidelines. Full integration of service-learning into academic coursework can create grey areas. Despite this, your grading rubric should be precise. In fact, because service-learning departs from the kinds of traditional assignments students expect, you should supply clear and precise grading criteria, especially for assignments that ask students to draw upon their service experiences.

Hold students accountable. If students do not participate fully in service-learning assignments, learning will be compromised. Consequently, the grading rubric should create accountability for the performance of service-learning responsibilities.

Be flexible. You may or may not choose to grade students for group meetings, communication with the partner organization, and other aspects of project-based service-learning assignments. Regardless of your choice, student progress will be demonstrated in the quality of the final project.

Reflect on your criteria. Evaluations should measure the student’s ability to deepen his or her grasp of course content through service. Ask yourself how students in your class will demonstrate and earn credit for the connections they’ve made between service and course content.

Set standards in advance. The more structured, specific, and concrete the grading rubric, the better.

Provide examples. Samples of past student work will help students understand what merits a high grade.

Components of the final grade

Major assignments. Whenever possible, papers, presentations, and test questions should provide students the opportunity to connect their service experiences to the course content. This requirement should be written into the criteria for each assignment.

Supporting reflection assignments. Blogs, reflection papers, and class discussions should rely on guided questions that compel students to think critically about their service and its connections to course content.

Additional feedback. Since faculty members cannot monitor all aspects of the service-learning experience, data from a survey of your community partners, such as this sample Service-Learning Community Partner Evaluation, can be helpful. Feedback from service-learning teaching assistants can also provide valuable insight into student performance. Student self-evaluation or peer evaluation may also be used. Feedback may address the following questions.

• Is the student serving consistently and exhibiting professional behavior?
• Is the student taking initiative and seizing upon opportunities to learn through service?
• If the student has not fulfilled service requirements, could the student have done more to make the best of the situation, or were there circumstances beyond the student’s control?

Compliance with the service-learning process. Points can be awarded or taken away based on logistical requirements.

• Handing in forms on time.
• Communicating with relevant parties such as faculty, the teaching assistant, and the partner organization.
• Completing timesheets and submitting them to faculty with the appropriate supervisor signatures (if applicable).
• Completing a survey, such as this sample Service-Learning Student Evaluation at the end of the semester.

These requirements are important to the smooth functioning of the service-learning experience and should be treated like all other course assignments.

To ensure the success of your program, make certain your students know what they are signing up for and take steps to prepare them. With prior notice, students can plan their schedules, prepare relevant questions for faculty, and begin class with a positive attitude.

Introducing service-learning in your course

Before the first day of class.

• Write service-learning into the registrar’s version of your course description and into your syllabus so students will see it as a legitimate aspect of the course before class begins.
• Communicate with all registered students through your preferred means of communication to announce the use of service-learning in the course. Even if service-learning is mentioned in the course description and syllabus, students may not notice or understand what service-learning entails.

On the first day of class.

• Alert students to the form and function of service-learning in your course and explain any service-learning requirements.
• Address service-learning during the presentation of the course syllabus. Set clear expectations for students, so they understand the specific ways they should connect service experiences with course content.
• Schedule at least 30 minutes for a “Welcome to Service-Learning” presentation. Use this time to outline the service-learning assignment(s) and to respond to student questions and concerns.
• Provide students with specific instructions for initiating service-learning to help ease student anxieties.

Preparing students for service-learning

Use “pre-flection” to encourage students to think about community contexts, best practices of service, and student or community partner expectations and assumptions. This instructional strategy asks students to reflect on an upcoming assignment before it has begun. Pre-flection helps students prepare to serve effectively and with sensitivity to the community, so they may learn as much as possible from their service-learning experience.

Pre-flection activities may run from 40 to 90 minutes and should take place during class time. They may include:

• Classroom presentations
• Community walking tours
• Other interactive activities

Pre-flection is best implemented before or soon after students begin serving, typically during the first four weeks of the semester. Determining appropriate pre-flection activities will depend on course level, profession, type of service to be performed, and community or population to be served.

It can be tempting for busy faculty to skip this important step when implementing a service-learning initiative, but examining evaluation responses and taking feedback seriously is essential if faculty hope to improve the service-learning experiences offered in their courses.

Why you should assess your program

The use of assessment tools that accurately collect quantitative and qualitative information about your program will enable you to:

Assess multiple dimensions of your service-learning initiative. Evaluating student learning and shifts in attitude, community partner performance, and the integration of service and classroom learning, will help you determine the value of your service-learning effort.

Track outcomes. Keeping track of student-reported learning outcomes will alert you to changes in the quality of their service-learning experiences.

Adapt materials. New iterations of your service-learning initiative based on evaluative feedback will help you better meet student and community needs in future course offerings.

Report outcomes. The data you collect can be put to use in reports requested by your institution, applications for future funding, or as part of a research study.

Reflect on performance. Model the kind of reflective behavior you encourage in your students by regularly requesting feedback on course objectives and assignments.

Sample service-learning assessment tools for faculty

Assessment Tool	Implementation Timeline	Uses of Data
Service-Learning Pre-Service Intake Form	Students participate in weeks 1–2 of the semester.	Assess student attitudes toward service-learning. Determine level of preparation. Plan semester accordingly. Compare to the Service-Learning Student Evaluation.
Community Partner Midsemester Check-In	All service-learning community partners participate midway through the semester.	Evaluate individual student performance in service roles and projects. Assess challenges and successes of the partnership. Collect feedback for partnership improvement.
Service-Learning Student Evaluation	All service-learning students participate at the end of the semester.	Assess student learning or changes in attitude. Collect feedback for future course improvement.
Service-Learning Community Partner Evaluation	All service-learning community partners participate at the end of the semester.	Evaluate individual student performance in service roles and projects. Judge extent to which service met community-identified needs. Collect feedback for partnership improvement.
Service-Learning Faculty Member Evaluation	All service-learning faculty participate at the end of the semester.	Interpret student and community partner evaluation responses. Plan for next semester.

Interpreting student evaluations

Student responses to open-ended evaluation questions often include feedback that will help you improve your course. Inspiring testimonials that describe positive and sometimes transformative experiences with service-learning will also validate your efforts. Less positive feedback can also be extremely useful. However, take care when interpreting student feedback. The root causes behind some student reactions are not always immediately evident.

Following are typical student responses to evaluation questionnaires and the kinds of questions you might want to consider posing as a result.

The assignment was pointless. Or, the assignment didn’t make sense.

How can you more clearly explain an assignment’s rationale? Service-learning will be a new experience for many of your students, so you will need to be explicit about the reasoning behind your teaching methods and assignments.

Service took up too much time.

Sometimes service demands more of the student’s time than you, your students, or your partners expect. Do service roles or placements need to be adjusted in order to keep the time commitment reasonable? Alternatively, do you need to adjust the balance of other assignments in your course to allow for students to fulfill their service commitment?

My service didn’t relate to the course content.

It is very important to address this issue. If students perceive service as an irrelevant add-on to the course rather than an integral part of the learning experience, they will see service-learning as nothing but a burden on their time. Even when the connections between service assignments and the course material seem obvious to you, students will need well-guided, structured, and frequent opportunities for reflection in order to reach their aha! moments.

When students express feeling a lack of connection between service and academic work:

• Develop assignments to help students make the connection more easily.
• Look for more opportunities to align service experiences with existing class discussions.
• Consider whether service roles or projects need to be adjusted to better align with course content.
• Ask yourself how rigorous reflective assignments and activities can better guide students to make these connections themselves.

Limitations of student evaluation data

Remember that data can only tell you so much. When interpreting data, keep the following points in mind.

Data limitations. These data will be self-reported, and the evaluations will reflect the biases and motivations of the respondents.

Response rate. The percentage of your students who submit evaluations could have a significant bearing on survey outcomes. Look closely at the response rate. A high rate may indicate that evaluation responses reflect the experience of the class as a whole, but it is harder to draw conclusions from a more limited survey response. When response rates are low, this may indicate a lack of engagement, which merits attention.

Some dissatisfaction is to be expected. You can never make everyone happy. As important as it is to pay attention to negative feedback, do not let a small number of complaints overshadow positive responses. Some students may resist service-learning for reasons having nothing to do with the course design or the experience offered by the community partners.

Interpreting community partner evaluations

Feedback from your partners is an invaluable part of a successful service-learning program. Their evaluations can provide insight into both student performance and community needs while also helping you shape future assignments. The satisfaction of the partners is also integral to continuing the relationship, so feedback should be taken seriously.

Consider the following suggestions when creating and interpreting partners’ evaluations.

Select a mix of metrics. Look for measures that can capture the quality of student service as well as the extent to which service met the identified needs of the community.

Maintain perspective. Remember that if an organization is partnering with multiple faculty during the same semester, responses may apply to the service-learning partnership overall, rather than to your specific course.

Establish a timeline. Ask for individual student or project evaluations in time to consider them for final grades. Partners should have agreed to this timeline during the communication and expectations phase of planning.

Compare partner and student perspectives. Are partner and student perspectives on service outcomes consistent, or do one party’s responses prompt you to reexamine the responses of the other? Discrepancies can help you judge the effectiveness of your communication plan and determine if it requires modification.

Service-learning faculty self-assessments

As informative as student and partner evaluations can be, the overall evaluation of service-learning in your course will not be complete without your input.

To prepare for a self-assessment:

• Look over student assignments and blog entries.
• Review your notes and memories regarding class discussions.
• Consider other documentation that will reflect student thinking and performance.

Then ask yourself what changes your students exhibited over the course of the semester. How did they develop:

• A deeper understanding of the course material?
• Engagement with and enthusiasm for the course material?
• Oral and written communication skills?
• Attitudes toward the community and civic responsibility?

When you have evaluated the progress of your students, ask yourself:

• To what extent did students reach the desired learning outcomes?
• What role did service-learning experiences play in reaching these learning outcomes?
• Did student achievement differ in other courses where service-learning was not used?
• In what ways can service-learning experiences be better integrated to play a more powerful role in helping students reach desired learning outcomes?
• Did integrated service experiences promote valuable learning outcomes that weren’t anticipated or that weren’t articulated in the original course goals or objectives?

• Community Partner Midsemester Check-In
• Sample Course Syllabus
• Service-Learning Community Partner Evaluation
• Service-Learning Faculty Member Evaluation
• Service-Learning Pre-Service Intake Form
• Service-Learning Student Evaluation