UA members advocate service learning courses

The UA's Community Relations Committee has begun a campaign to implement a service learning curriculum at the University, targeting deans about incorporating the community service with classroom teaching, Chairperson Raj George said yesterday. With the new curriculum, the Undergraduate Assembly's committee is trying to establish a broad number of courses which will combine practical learning in the community with standard teaching, George, a College sophomore, said. He said, however, that service learning will not simply be community service for course credit, but that it will be applying hypothetical ideas learned in class to real life. George explained, as an example of the proposed teaching method, that, instead of studying hypothetical business situations, Wharton students would adopt small local businesses and formulate actual strategies which those businesses could implement. George said he hopes that some already existing courses, in addition to new courses which will be laid out by interested professors, will include the experiential learning aspects his committee is proposing. The University currently offers about four courses which involve service learning without using this official title, David Rose, one of the vice chairpersons of the UA committee, said. Committee members differ on whether service learning can be incorporated into every academic department, however. Rose said he believes that all tracks at the University would benefit from service learning, but George said he is still unsure if that is possible. The members said they plan to have the service learning program in place on a small scale by next fall. Committee Vice Chairperson Garth Feeney, the UA member who originated the idea, said he has already received positive feedback from Engineering and Applied Sciences Associate Dean John Keenan last week. Feeney, an Engineering sophomore, said he has also received encouragement from other administrators, faculty members and students, although he has only met with Keenan so far. He said the group plans to present the program to the other deans in the near future. "A lot of students will be interested if they realize that what they work on in class can have a direct relevance to the real world," George said. The committee members hope that service learning will appeal to more students than just "community service types." They are currently researching service learning programs at other universities, members said. According to Rose, a College senior, volunteerism and activism are up among University students, and the "last step [in this trend] is academically-based community service." He said that he believes community service is a "focal point of the mission of the University" and that service learning "links students working in the community with decisions of the University's administration, with research of the faculty." In response to the increasing number of University students and student groups focusing on community service, Penn Program for Public Service Director Ira Harkavy last summer formed an umbrella organization called the Center for Community Partnerships. The Center will be a branch of President Sheldon Hackney's office, George said, and will "centralize community service at Penn at the student, faculty and administrative levels in one place." The service learning program will be overseen by the Center if it is implemented. George said, however, that the Center does not have a permanent location yet and has been "started before it's been fully planned." UA committee members agree that the University climate is right to begin the learning program and said they hope that students and faculty members start talking about service learning by the end of next semester. They said the program would benefit both the University and the West Philadelphia community. Rose also said that implementing service learning is one of the most economically-sound moves the University could make. "People like to see universities going beyond their role," he said. "[This is] good public relations [that will] increase marketability to raise [money for the University.]" 'People like to see universities going beyond their role.' David Rose UA member

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