Running head: SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS

Case Study 3: Service-Learning Programs

Nicole Gottleib
Loyola University Chicago

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I assessed five institutions in the Chicago area for my service-learning program review,
due to my interest in staying in the Chicago area after graduation. The five institutions reviewed
were DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Wheaton College, Elmhurst College, and
Governors State University. What I found interesting in my initial search of the Chicago area
was how only a few of the bigger institutions in the city seemed to have dedicated centers for
service-learning, and that the first institutions listed in the results were very mission-focused
(with Loyola being near the top of the Google search each time). However, I was surprised to
discover that just within the five institutions I focused on in the Chicago area, there was a variety
of faith-based, private secular, and public institutions represented with service-learning
programs. The following section will outline each institution and program elements, followed by
a section that analyzes and compares some of the themes and trends within all five programs,
which also incorporates literature focusing on effective service-learning programs.
Overview of Service-Learning Programs
DePaul Universitys Steans Center
The Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning and Community
Service Studies at DePaul University is the dedicated center for meeting one of the central
purposes of the mission of the institution. The Steans Center provides a unique mission that
outlines its focus on human dignity and the quest for social justice, and lists the following
elements of community partnerships to represent how they accomplish their mission: advocate,
support, build, implement, encourage, and develop (DePaul University [DU], n.d.). Each of
these elements are outlined on the centers website in more detail, describing how they relate
both to the mission of the institution as well as to the community they are aiming to help through
service-learning. The Steans Center (DU, n.d.) also develops partnerships with colleges at

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DePaul in order to encourage those colleges to cultivate community partnerships of their own.
This includes the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Science and
Health, which provide service-learning opportunities in the areas of geography, nursing,
womens and gender studies, and environmental science (DU, n.d.).
Also falling within the Steans Center (DU, n.d.) is the Monsignor John J. Egan Office
of Urban Education and Community Partnerships (UECP), which encourages engagement and
service-learning with public agencies and community-based organizations and schools,
focusing specifically on critical social issues. Another initiative within the Steans Center (DU,
n.d.) is the Community Food Systems Initiative, which focuses on aiding Chicago community
members who face access challenges relating to food, and especially food sustainability systems
within economically distressed urban communities. Overall, the Steans Center (DU, n.d.) at
DePaul University is a well-defined and specific program focused on service-learning that relates
to the institutions mission and its Vincentian values.
Roosevelt Universitys Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation
The Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation (MISJT) at Roosevelt
University is the institutions center focused on social injustices while engaging in actionoriented projects that lead to progressive social change (Roosevelt University [RU], 2015).
The core focus of MISJT is to disrupt the cradle-to-prison pipeline that exists within our
society, and in order to do so, students engage in specific, long term, collaborative projects
with community partners (RU, 2015). One of the initiatives out of MISJT is what the
institution calls transformational learning, which connects students with community partners and
social justice leaders and allies on a local as well as national level, allowing students to learn
outside the classroom (RU, 2015).

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One of the elements included on the Mansfield Institute website is a detailed description
of transformational learning, which highlights the following foundations: service within
communities that is also connected to coursework; meaningful volunteering that meets the
needs of the community partner and the student; reflection on service through coursework; and
engagement across differences (RU, 2015). In addition to the detailed descriptions, the site
also provides faculty and students with resources on how to find partners in the community as
well as links and information that can help faculty implement transformational learning within
their classrooms. Similar to DePaul, Roosevelt University provides students with a dedicated
center focused on service-learning and social justice, which are both topics related to the
institutions mission, though without the faith-based element.
Wheaton Colleges Office of Christian Outreach
The Office of Christian Outreach (OCO) is Wheaton Colleges service-learning program,
which was designed to help students learn by combining their faith, academics, and service
(Wheaton College [WC], 2013). The OCO includes a specific mission, just as the previous
two centers outlined, though it is a one-sentence mission that emphasizes the faith element of the
institutions focus and does not outline the learning element in as much detail as the other two
centers (WC, 2013). Although the description of the OCO states that it is an office dedicated
to offering the Wheaton College community opportunities to learn through service and
delineates how the OCO combines partnerships with national and international organizations and
faculty and staff, the office does not highlight any of the ways the volunteer work is combined
with learning activities (WC, 2013).
The core focus of the OCO is on ministries, including ones that students can join on a
regular basis throughout the school year, spring break ministries that include week-long mission

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trips, and international summer break ministries. Each type of program is briefly outlined on the
site, with details focusing more on the faith elements rather than the combination of service and
learning (WC, 2013). Overall, the Office of Christian Outreach at Wheaton College
emphasizes service, volunteering, and mission work, but does not provide explicit details about
the learning elements combined with the service elements through the office and at the
institution.
Elmhurst Colleges Center for Professional Excellence
The Center for Professional Excellence is the Elmhurst Colleges department dedicated to
developing students career goals, but it also incorporates the institutions service-learning
program. The service-learning program at Elmhurst is focused on building reciprocal
partnerships with communities in which students serve to learn and community members teach
to experience empowerment (Elmhurst College [EC], n.d.). The program emphasizes the
connection between academic knowledge and social service, although the website does not go
into significant detail about the way those two elements are linked. However, it does outline that
there are options for service-learning through the program, including a few hours of practical
coursework; a January Term, spring break, or summer immersion activity; or a long-term
commitment crossing over several courses (EC, n.d.). The final option within that list seems
to be the most similar to the other previously-mentioned serving learning opportunities.
Neither the Center for Professional Excellence, nor the Service Learning program, outline
a unique mission, unlike the previous programs at other institutions. Additionally, the overall
institutional mission does not emphasize service-learning, but the vision for the future includes
details about civic engagement and community collaboration and partnerships (EC, n.d.).
Elmhurst College is a faith-based institution, though the faith emphasis is not as strong as a few

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of the previously-mentioned institutions, such as DePaul University and Wheaton College, and
the service inclusion in the mission seems to relate to that element of faith. Overall, Elmhurst
College highlights the inclusion of a service-learning program within their Center for
Professional Excellence, but it does not include details about significant connections between
service and learning (EC, n.d.).
Governors State Universitys Civic Engagement and Community Service Center
The Civic Engagement and Community Service Center is the program offered at
Governors State University (GSU) that is dedicated to civic engagement and social justice. This
program aims to be a resource for students, faculty, and community members alike, providing
details about service opportunities for students, information for faculty on how to incorporate
service-learning and activities focused on civic engagement into their courses, and a center for
community organizations to connect with when they are looking for volunteers and partnerships
(Governors State University [GSU], 2015). This institution focuses specifically on serving
their local community, the Chicago southland region, and does so via academic programs,
community outreach efforts, and by delivering higher education to underserved and
underrepresented populations (GSU, 2015).
There are a few specific projects offered through the Civic Engagement and Community
Service Center, one of which is titled the Civic Reflection Pilot Project, which provides
students with opportunities to reflect on their service-learning experiences and facilitate
discussions on campus through faculty partnerships (GSU, 2015). Additionally, the Civic
Engagement and Community Service Center is in partnership with two other centers and
programs at GSU, including the Faculty Scholarship and Teaching Center. This center provides
faculty development programs, including workshops on service-learning pedagogy, and aids in

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meeting the institutions core value of civic engagement (GSU, 2015). Overall, Governors
State University focuses on service-learning, though using the term civic engagement more
frequently, and emphasizes incorporating civic engagement into curriculum and making it
pervasive rather than peripheral so that the campus and civic action are fully integrated (GSU,
2015).
Themes and Trends Found within the Service-Learning Programs
When comparing all five service-learning programs, there were a few clear similarities
as well as some considerable differences. Two of the trends I found across all five institutions
were related to the inclusion of service-learning within the institutions mission and how that
correlated with the details provided about service-learning opportunities at the institution; and
the various terminology used to define service-learning, which was often interconnected with
confusion over what service-learning truly entails, due to differences or missing details in
programs. As I highlight these themes and trends, I will integrate literature that defines and
outlines effective service-learning in order to highlight why I found some institutions to be more
impressive in their creation and incorporation of service-learning and others to be lacking in
some areas.
I also want to quickly highlight one additional theme I noticed as I moved through my
review of service-learning programs, which I briefly touched on in the introduction to this review
and analysis. Since I decided to only highlight institutions in the Chicago area, I struggled to
find a wide variety of service-learning programs in the area, which meant that I felt some of the
programs and/or centers I included did not seem as strong in their service-learning emphasis as I
had hoped to find, especially since this may become a career interest in my future. However, I
defend the inclusion of some of these smaller or less-detailed programs because it allowed me to

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better grasp the definitions of service-learning especially effective and successful programs
included in the literature and readings provided on this topic, and allowed me to learn more
about some of the institutions in Chicago of which I know very little and had not previously
considered. I also have hope that this is a growing field, and a field that uses multiple terms and
may incorporate service-learning into institutions in different ways, and that Ill continue to
notice growth and clearly outlined programs and centers at more Chicago institutions in the
future now that I have a better idea of what to look for.
Prior to attending Loyola University Chicago, I did not understand the importance of an
institutions mission, and how much a mission can shape the entire curriculum and programming
across campus. However, now that I have gained a better understanding of the importance of
institutional missions, I have become more aware of institutions that emphasize and integrate
their missions within departments and centers on campus. Examples of such institutions are
those that focus on community service and social justice within their mission, and also have
dedicated centers for service-learning and civic engagement. I found that these institutions
specifically DePaul University, Roosevelt University, and Governors State University also
provided the most detail about what service-learning means at the institution, how students can
get involved, how faculty can enhance their curriculum, and how the learning is included as
combined focus in addition to the service element.
This idea of service within the institutions mission related to what Jacoby (1996) stated
when highlighting service-learning in todays institutions, mentioning
At institutions where service-learning is central, it is a prominent and highlighted aspect
of the mission; institutional funding is secure; policies explicitly support service;

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students, faculty, and staff involvement in service-learning is recognized and rewarded;

and a strong commitment to service-learning is shared among all constituents. (p. 18)
DePaul, Roosevelt, and Governors State have stand-alone centers and programs focused on
service-learning because service is a central and highlighted element within the institutional
mission. In comparison, Wheaton College and Elmhurst College focus on service-learning, but
the emphasis is more on the service and volunteering aspects, rather than on the integration of
learning. When looking at the continuum developed by Furco (1996) to delineate the differences
in programs, the three institutions with service-learning elements in their mission focus on both
the provider and recipient of the service, as well as a combined focus on service and learning. In
comparison, the other two institutions seem to fall lower on the pyramid, meeting more of the
volunteerism and community service definitions, due to their emphasis on the service and the
recipients, without focusing on the learning experience for the provider.
Related to this, I found in my comparison of all five institutions that the term servicelearning and other terminology used interchangeably, such as civic engagement, caused
confusion and differing as well as unclear definitions across the board. Provided that four of the
readings regarding service-learning outlined ways to properly define service-learning and
included long lists of good practices related to the definition of the term, this somewhat
debatable nature of what service-learning is seems to be commonplace (Furco, 1996; Jacoby,
1996; Honnet & Poulsen, 1998; Howard, 1993). One of the definitions that really resonated with
me, which I did not see within all five of the service-learning programs, is Jacobys (1996) idea
that service-learning implies the centrality of reflection and reciprocity to both conception and
practice (p. 6). The institutions that did not have in-depth centers focused on service-learning,
with thorough details listed on their websites, also lacked an inclusion of the concepts of

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reflection and reciprocity, which was also included in the best practices lists provided by Honnet
and Poulsen (1998) and Howard (1993). Therefore, I would argue that programs like the ones
offered at Wheaton College and Elmhurst College are not actually service-learning programs.
Instead, these are examples of volunteer and community service programs, as they do not
incorporate reflection and reciprocity, among other key principles, and do not meet the generallyaccept definition(s) of service-learning (Furco, 1996; Jacoby, 1996).
To conclude, I believe that many institutions which offer service-learning often fall short
of meeting the definition of true service-learning, as outlined specifically in Jacoby (1996) and
Furco (1996), because they do not properly incorporate an equal focus on the benefits to both the
recipient as well as the provider, nor on the service provided and the learning occurring. Even
with dedicated centers focused on experiential and/or service-learning, institutions can miss the
mark on providing tangible learning experiences related to service that focus on both reciprocity
and reflection (Jacoby, 1996). However, I will also challenge myself here and say that it is
possible all five institutions I reviewed provide true service-learning opportunities, but that they
have not all dedicated the same amount of resources to establishing their programs. Perhaps they
were unable to outline the full details of their programs on their websites, or perhaps the learning
elements of their service-learning is detailed elsewhere within academics. However, it is also
possible they are simply inaccurately defining programs as service-learning without researching
best practices and clear definitions for what service-learning entails within the higher education
field. I hope that as service-learning becomes more important at institutions, the definition of the
term will become more clear and unified across all institutions, and can be separated from
volunteer work, mission trips, study abroad programs, and internship programs.

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11
References

DePaul University Irwin W. Steans Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://steans.depaul.edu/

Elmhurst College Center for Professional Excellence. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://public.elmhurst.edu/cpe
Furco, A. (1996). Servicelearning: A balanced approach to experiential education. Expanding
Boundaries: Service and Learning. Washington DC: Corporation for National Service, 26.
Governors State University Civic Engagement and Community Service Center. (2015). Retrieved
from http://www.govst.edu/Campus_Life/Civic_Engagement/
Honnet, E. P. & Poulsen, S. J. (1998). Principles of Good Practice for Combining Service and
Learning, The Johnson Foundation.
Howard, J. (1993). Community service learning in the curriculum. In J. Howard (Ed.), Praxis I:
A faculty casebook on community service learning (pp. 3-12). Ann Arbor: OCSL Press.
Jacoby, B. & Associates. (1996). Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and Practices.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Roosevelt University Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation. (2015).
Retrieved from http://www.roosevelt.edu/MISJT.aspx
Wheaton College Office of Christian Outreach. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.wheaton.edu/Student-Life/Christian-Outreach