Service learning at Mount St. Joseph is defined as community service combined with academics and structured reflection. There are three kinds of service learning experiences offered at the Mount:
- Credit-bearing service learning. Students can attach a service learning credit to any of their courses with faculty permission (with a maximum of 3 service learning credits). Credit-bearing service learning requires 30 hours of community service, journals, and other requirements. See the service learning syllabus for the most recent semester to learn more about the requirements of the service learning program. Service learning credits are free (not billable), they fulfill our undergraduate experiential education requirement, and they count as leadership development opportunities in the Talent Opportunity Program.
- Project-based service learning. This is typically a project that requires 4-15 hours of community service for an entire class. Typically, students will get in groups to work on a deliverable for a nonprofit. This could be a class working on a series of videos, developing a volunteer manual, or creating a cookbook. The project that students work on must relate to the content of the course in which the project takes place.
- One-time service learning. This is usually 1-3 hours of community service, along with structured reflection. There must be a connection between the service performed and the content of the course. For example, students in COM 100 could volunteer in the community in groups, and then come back to campus to do a group presentation encouraging other students to get involved with the nonprofit that they served with.
Whether you are a faculty member interested in incorporating service learning into your courses, you represent a nonprofit organization interested in collaborating with Mount St. Joseph University students on a service learning project, please email career.center@msj.edu or call 513 244-4888 to get started.
Service learning projects typically are planned the semester before they are facilitated.
If you are a student who is interested in attaching a service learning credit to one of your courses, email career.center@msj.edu or call 513 244-4888 schedule a service learning intake appointment.