In July of 2005, Dean Gary Sandefur created the College of Letters and Science Office of Service Learning and Community Based Research (OSLCBR) under the direction of Dr. Andrea-Teresa “Tess” Arenas to increase the momentum for creating new or revising existing courses to include service learning and community based research. Through partnerships with the Morgridge Center and L&S academic departments, an infrastructure for Service Learning and Community Based Research is now established within the College.

The benefits of service learning and community based research are now well documented through extensive research, including

• improved academic achievement across a variety of disciplines;
• a positive impact on student and faculty interaction;
• a positive impact on student learning of key concepts;
• reinvigorating teaching for faculty and adding to their research agenda;
• enhanced community understanding of the campus’s programs and goals.

The L&S SL/CBR Advisory Committee has formulated College definitions of both Service Learning and Community-Based Research:

Service Learning is a class of courses using a pedagogical model that integrates classroom learning with community engagement. The classroom/community partnership provides structured opportunities to apply academic theories, principles, and constructs to solve real world problems, and enhances students’ analytical, creative, and problem solving skills.

Community based research is a collaborative and participatory approach to research in which community organizations (such as schools, residents and civic leaders) partner with academic researchers (faculty, academic staff and students) to produce knowledge that solves real world problems. Community based research seeks community engagement at each phase of the research project. Community-based research does not specify one model of research over another; models are selected based on what is most appropriate to the problems to be studied and solved.

The new OSLCBR offers a variety of services including:

• Availability for L&S academic department/discipline based meetings to discuss various ways to incorporate SL/CBR into existing courses or in new courses.
• One-on-one consulting with L&S faculty/academic instructional staff in the following areas: revising or creating a course to incorporate SL/CBR; developing course goals and student learning outcomes; locating the appropriate K-12, Higher Education and non-profit agency as your service learning partner; and developing appropriate reflection exercises.
• Assisting L&S faculty with Morgridge Center for Public Service’s faculty resources including grants, Service Learning Fellows and more.
• Assisting science faculty looking for “broader impact” partners.
• Working with University Relations to obtain news coverage of your SL/CBR course’s community projects.
• Help defining best practices for specific discipline approaches for SL/CBR courses.
• Hosting department/discipline based forums to share best practices, strategies for reflection, etc.

The OSLCBR web is still under construction. For services, faculty and teaching academic staff should contact Dr. Andrea-Teresa “Tess” Arenas, PhD, director of OSLCBR at 890-0876 or tarenas@ls.admin.wisc.edu.

Created 8/16/07