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Service Learning: Creating a New Generation of Civic Leaders

Tuesday, September 18 at 6:00 PM

By Father Michael J. Sheeran, S.J., President, Regis University

This Speakout has not been edited.

Regis University will join thousands of education institutions across the country taking part in Learn and Serve Challenge Week, September 17-23, to raise awareness of the benefits of service learning.

Service learning is a teaching method that incorporates community work into the curriculum, thereby giving students real-world experience in their field while meeting pressing community needs. Examples include finance students creating micro-loan programs to jumpstart local economic development, engineering students building wells and radio systems in remote African villages, and English students tutoring at-risk youth in reading and writing.

Colleges and universities are increasingly adopting service learning as an integral component of the education experience. With the recent addition of a peace and justice major at Regis University, service learning is a deep part of our culture. All students at Regis are highly encouraged to complete a service learning project while pursuing their degree.

Why this focus on service learning? In addition to aiding communities in need, service that is tied to the curriculum reinforces classroom learning and thus bolsters academic achievement. Service learning has also been shown to improve workforce readiness, develop problem-solving skills, and increase voting and other forms of civic participation. In other words, it helps prepare students to become responsible leaders - both in their professions and in their communities.

The U.S. government recognizes the importance of service learning in creating tomorrow’s civic leaders. Learn and Serve America, a federal program that supports service learning at all levels of education, enables 1 million students to engage in this work with the aim of instilling “an ethic of life-long community service.” The impact of service learning is enormous. Campus Compact, a coalition of more than 1,000 college and university presidents dedicated to serving the public good, has seen student service soar as campuses make service learning and other forms of community engagement a priority. Last year alone, students at Campus Compact member schools contributed $7.1 billion in service through campus-organized programs.

As an active participant in this movement, Regis University is proud of the contributions our students and staff have made to the community and grateful to our community partners who have enriched the lives of those on campus. We encourage all those interested in the future of our democracy to take time this week to learn more about how service learning is transforming students and the communities they serve.

Father Michael J. Sheeran, S.J. President, Regis University

READER COMMENTS

"RS", I can feel you brother. Military veterans get the shaft for their service. President Bush (UCMJ-felon, 40+ years AWOLee-deserter), to the best of my knowledge, appointed only one military veteran in his cabinet. It makes me shudder at the number of icompentents he placed in positions, where those incompetents, can determine literally, "who lives and who dies".

I recently encountered Xcel Energy CEO Richard Kelly (NAM draft dodger-Regis alumni). He stole my federal set-aside jobs, however, with a sleight of hand, he also increased my residential "gas" rates. Kelly has a history of only serving himself, and he is lining his pockets with my "blood-loot". He is robbing black disabled Vietnam veterans blind. In the past 60 days, Kelly stole 2 jobs from me, where I was clearly the "highest qualified", not the "whitest qualified".

Xcel, Qwest, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon, etc., are all corrupt and racist federal gov't contractors. USDOL-OFCCP Secy. Chao is the vets policewoman for ensuring these corrupt contractors, stay in compliance with federal procurement, contracting, and hiring laws. However, Chao is a Bush nullified "tooth-less" tiger. Chao and the USAG are also sticking it to our military reservists, who are fired by the corporate employers, while those reservists are actually engaged in combat (Iraq-NAM and Afghan). Worst yet, the Denver Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), is just as foul as Chao.

Succumbed to Bush's "MUSHROOM" effect, are our state bipartisan congressional lackey's and draft-dodgers, where only J. Salazar has ever served in military uniform. I proudly join US Rep. Murtha (USMC Vietnam War hero), "I wouldn't serve in today's armed forces with these guys, and their draft-deferments".

James J. Tenant
Lt. Commander, LDO, USN, Ret.
Served as a steam propulsion engineering officer and CHIEF ENGINEER in 3 nuclear powered submarines, 4 conventional (1,200-600 p.s.i. steam) powered surface combat ships, and 3 deployments to Vietnam. Earned the following college degrees: MSM (Project Mgt.), MABA, BBA (Personnel Mgt.), and AAS. Worked in the following capital-intensive industries: railroad; telecom; highway construction; oil and gas; electrical powere generation and distribution; aviation facilities maintenance mgt.; and surface and underground mining (gold, coal, copper, silver, and phosphate).

Posted by draftdodgingisntafamilyvalue on September 20, 2007 08:48 AM

While I appreciate the "service" learning concept, the application of "lifelong" service is undermined by the financial realities most of us face as workers. I entered a service profession as a military officer, only to have that career ended early thanks to the "Clinton Peace Dividend" forcing me back into the private sector and ending any pension I had been working towards. While I have continued in some areas of volunteering, the reality of 60 to 80 hour work weeks, 50% marginal income tax brackets, and having to contribute $15 to $20,000 annually (depending upon age) to a 401K (remember, pension taken) to have any hope of future retirement has made volunteering virtually impossible today. The fact is, the modern economy, including our government's desire to "help", has crowded out the opportunity for most of us to do the "volunteer" service being advocated. There are ways to fix it: give private sector workers the same ownership rights to their pension dollars (social security) as public (PERA) workers enjoy; end "protected class" worker privileges that force ever expanding work effort from those not of "protected class", etc. Current proposals for expanded government "benefits", such as "universal" healthcare, may be enough to break the back of the common taxpayer. Possibly, that is the goal? Raise taxes to the point where working more than 20 hours a week is no longer even logical?

Posted by RS on September 20, 2007 05:35 AM

Father

You seem to be under the impression that it it isn't officially organized, it isn't happening.

I suspect that this is the tip of th iceberg.Students have been helping others for centuries. We do not need bureaucrats to keep track of it.

Posted by Yaakov Watkins on September 19, 2007 05:18 PM

With all due respect, Father, just maybe all those students interested in the future of our democracy simply don't have the time to learn more about a government sponsored service learning program because they are preoccupied with real jobs while trying to support themselves. Everyone acting in their own best self-interest, even though unintended, might do more good for society than some intentionally targeted program. At least that's what Adam Smith's "invisible hand" taught us all the way back in1776 that still holds true today. And I have yet to see any government sponsored program that eventually doesn't extract its own pound of flesh no matter how good it might feel today.

That's my 2 cents.

Posted by Hank on September 19, 2007 11:35 AM