Source: Rachel L. Vaughn and Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, June 2004. Updated February 2012 with resources from Dan W. Butin.
Minors and certificate programs focused on service-learning, leadership, and/or community service are becoming increasingly available for undergraduate students throughout the U.S. Minors and certificate programs tend to focus in one of three areas: 1) A minor or certificate earned by engaging in community service and service-learning activities, 2) A minor or certificate earned by learning about the theoretical roots of service-learning and engaging in service-learning activities and 3) A minor or certificate focused on leadership and social change, for which a requirement is engagement in service-learning activities. A small number of higher education institutions offer a major area of concentration that focuses on service-learning.
Information on service-learning minors and certificate programs can be useful for students seeking to select an educational institution that supports and promotes community engagement. These resources can also be useful for higher education faculty and administrators who are seeking to design a service-learning recognition program for their institution. And certainly, information about these programs can be helpful for community partners who are looking for examples of how students can tie their community experiences into their academic studies.
Minors and certificate programs for service-learning, community service and leadership are a relatively new phenomenon in higher education. The examples below are highlights from across the United States and reflect a sample of those programs that are available. Publications focusing on these programs are scant, and research articles have not yet been developed. A rich area of inquiry for future studies may be the effect that minors and certificate programs in service-learning have on students, faculty, and the community.
Institutions offering service-learning or related majors:
- Alverno College: Community Leadership
- Bryant University: Sociology and Service Learning
- Emory and Henry College: Public Policy and Community Service
- Guilford College: Community and Justice Studies
- Mercer University: Leadership and Community Service
- Providence College: Public and Community Service Studies
- University of Baltimore: Community Studies and Civic Engagement
- University of California, Irvine: Public and Community Service
- University of California, Santa Cruz: Community Studies (Suspended Spring 2010)
- University of Connecticut: Urban and Community Studies
- University of Massachusetts-Boston: Community Studies
- University of Texas at Austin: Youth and Community Studies
- Wartburg College: Community Sociology
Institutions offering service-learning or related minors:
- Allegheny College: Values, Ethics and Social Action
- Assumption College: Community Service Learning
- Auburn University: Civic Engagement
- Bryant University: Sociology and Service-Learning
- Buffalo State College: Study of Understanding Community, Diversity, and Peace
- Cabrini College: Social Justice
- California State University, Monterey Bay: Service Learning Leadership
- Concord University: Civic Engagement
- DePaul University: Community Service Studies
- Dominican University: Social Justice and Civic Engagement
- Emory and Henry College: Public Policy and Community Service
- Guilford College: Community Studies
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Public Service
- Illinois State University: Civic Engagement & Responsibility
- Mary Baldwin College: Civic Engagement
- Metropolitan State University, Twin Cities: Civic Engagement
- Montclair State University: Leadership Development Through Civic Engagement
- Portland State University: Civic Leadership
- Providence College: Public and Community Service Studies
- San Jose State University: Service-Learning
- Simmons College: Social Justice
- Stony Brook University: Community Service Learning
- Tusculum College: Civic Engagement
- University of California Los Angeles: Civic Engagement
- University of Indianapolis: Civic Engagement and Community Leadership
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth: Leadership and Civic Engagement
- University of Michigan: Community Action and Social Change
- University of Missouri: Leadership and Public Service
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Leadership and Civic Engagement
- University of San Francisco: Public Service and Community Engagement
- University of Wisconsin Oshkosh: Civic Engagement
- Waynesburg University: Service Leadership
- Whitworth University: Community Engagement and Transformation
- William and Mary: Community Studies
Institutions offering service-learning or related certificates:
- Bentley University: Service-Learning
- Bristol Community College: Serve Learn Lead Civic Engagement Program
- Indiana University- Bloomington: Political and Civic Engagement
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Community-Based Public Health
- Kansas City Art Institute: Community Arts and Service-Learning
- Madonna University: Community Leadership
- Portland State University: Graduate Certificate in Service-Learning and Community-Based Learning in Postsecondary Education
- Portland State University: Service Learning and Community Based learning in K-12 Education
- Saint Louis University: Service Leadership
- University of Alaska - Anchorage: Civic Engagement
- University of Central Florida: Service-Learning
- University of Georgia: Interdisciplinary in Leadership & Service
- University of Kansas: Service Learning
- University of Pittsburgh: Civic Engagement and Community Service
- University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee: Community Leadership
- West Chester University: Leadership and Civic Engagement
© 2012 Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
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