The Connect Learning Grant and Course Development Program is open to faculty members who are interested in designing or redesigning a course to integrate service-learning components while cultivating marketable skills (communication, critical thinking, and teamwork) in our students. A teaching grant ($250-$2000) will be offered in the form of two payments in recognition of the significant time investments of this program.*

Launched in summer 2018, this development program has program accepted 25 courses for redevelopment as experiential and service-learning courses. We are pleased to offer this program once more during summer 2019.

As a high impact practice, service-learning is a "teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Service-learning is a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Service-learning provides college and university students with a "community context" to their education, allowing them to connect their academic coursework to their roles as citizens," (Seifer and Conners, 2007). Career Connect strives to support the sustainable and feasible development of service-learning opportunities across UNT, providing students with multiple experiences to support their development and success as students. 

Summer 2019 application period has closed. Please check back for updates on the next cycle.

Open to UNT faculty from all academic disciplines for undergraduate coursework to be taught in the Fall 2019 term*, this program is designed to be completed almost completely online in an interactive format along with individual phone and/or face-to-face consultations as needed. Additionally, a face-to-face kick-off meeting and orientation will take place to start the program and will be followed by a closing presentation to celebrate experiences.

For this cycle, we are particularly interested in proposals seeking to integrate or grow service-learning activities within courses. Materials and grant program content focuses on developing existing or planned coursework beyond experiential opportunities to a broader community-based learning experience in which both the individual student’s learning experience as well as the experience of the recipient are weighed equally in the course design process.

*If your course is not offered in the fall, but instead in spring 2020, please contact Meena Naik (meena.naik@unt.edu) to discuss. Your course may still be eligible for this program.