An initiative of the Center for Service Learning
in collaboration with the Coulter Faculty Commons

2010-2011

Purpose

The Faculty Learning Community for Service Learning is an interdisciplinary group of faculty members who engage in an active, collaborative, yearlong program focusing on service learning as a pedagogical approach and as an avenue for scholarly work. The FLC supports the creation of engaged teaching and learning that links community-based experiences with classroom instruction and guided reflecton. In addition, the FLC promotes rigorous research that will lead to a broader and deeper understanding of the value of service learning in the context of campus-community engagement.

The primary goal of the FLC for the 2010-2011 academic year is to promote the scholarship of engagement, or community-engaged scholarship, which overlaps that traditional domains of research, teaching and service. The scholarship of engagement challenges higher education institutions to become "a vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic, and moral problems" [Boyer, E. L. (1996). The scholarship of engagement. Journal of Public Service and Outreach, 1(1), 11-20]. Furthermore, it challenges faculty to consider community involvement in a more active, deliberate fashion.

Continuing the work begun in 2009-2010, this year's FLC is designed to

• strengthen faculty scholarship on service learning and civic engageent by structuring discussion, planning, feedback, and disseminatio of research and scholarly work
• cultivate faculty leadership for engaged scholarship by increasing understanding of current literature and research on service learning, particularly as it relates to disciplinary expertise
• support faculty development in relation to the scholarship of engagement (encompassing the scholarship of application and the scholarship of teaching and learning)

Faculty Development

The Center for Service Learning will schedule faculty development sessions for FLC members twice in the fall and sprin. In the interim, two-or three-member teams will consult with one another and with the Center for Service Learning to accomplish specfic objectives.

The goals of the faculty development sessions are to (a) familiarize FLC members with the core literature on service learning and civic engagement (b) assist members with research methodology for the scholarship of application and SoTL; (c) increase understanding of a wide range of relevat topics, such as theoretical frameworks, civic learning outcomes, and documentation of scholarly work; (d) facilitate conversation and peer feedback on scholarly work; and (e) sustain faculty commitment to research and scholarly processes for advancing the scholarship of engagement.

Intended Outcomes

• Presentations at three (state, regional or national) conferences, or acceptance of proposals or presentations
• Two articles submitted for peer review or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals

Program Support

• Coordination by the Center for Service Learning
• Stipend from the Coulter Faculty Commons to support the work of the FLC
• Center for Service Learning assistance with travel to professional conferencs to make service-learning/civic engagement presentations

Facilitator:  Jane Nichols (School of Art and Design)

Members:   Christopher Blake (English)
                     D.V. Caitlyn (School of Stage & Screen)
                     Jennifer Cooper (Center for Service Learning)
                     Teri Domagalski (Management & International Business)
                     Terre Folger (Elementary & Middle-Grades Education)
                     Paul Jacques (Global Management & Strategy)
                     Glenn Kastrinos (School of Health Sciences)
                     Rebecca Lasher (Social Work Department)
                     Josh Lively (Center for Service Learning)
                     Candance Roberts (School of Art & Design)
                     April Tallant (School of Health Sciences)