Community Partners

The community partnership is a vital part of service learning. Community partners identify the need and are the link between the community for faculty and students.

Is Service Learning the right partnership for you?

Before beginning a partnership, there are a few questions community partners should consider.

Do I have the capacity to support a service-learning partnership?

A service-learning partnership is an ongoing collaboration between UConn faculty and their community partner. Frequent communication is expected, along with cooperation in student learning. An ideal collaboration also engages community partners in the classroom and honors the wisdom held outside the school.

What kind of work would I like students to engage in?

Three primary types of service learning are direct, indirect, and civic action or advocacy. It is wise to consider what kind of service you hope students will engage in within your organization. Consideration should be given to the abilities of students, the sustainable nature of the service, and the most immediate needs of your organization.

Direct: Students are in direct contact with people and organizations—for example, tutoring for the Boys and Girls Club.
Indirect: Students engage with a cause or a community need through means that do not involve having constant contact with beneficiaries, for example, conducting market research, designing a study, or creating a website.
Civic Action or Advocacy: Students can affect change in public policy. For example, they present at town safety meetings or legislative public hearings.

Adapted from Furco, A. (1996). Service-learning: A balanced approach to experiential education. Expanding boundaries:Â: Service and Learning. Corporation for National Service.

What questions should you ask a prospective faculty partner?

What are your learning outcomes for students, and how will our partnership support them?
How will service factor into students’ grades? What will messaging look like to students as it relates to their service?
What kind of commitment will you make to my organization/program? What could a sustainable, ongoing partnership look like for us?
What will resource sharing look like with this partnership?
How can I support student learning in this course?
What kind of evaluations could we conduct to measure the success of my program and our partnership?

Unsure if service learning is right for your organization?

Please reach out! We’re happy to answer any questions you have about service learning. If you don’t think service learning is the right fit for you but are still interested in hosting UConn students as volunteers, we recommend contacting UConn’s Office of Community Outreach. UConn Extension might also be a good fit if you’re still interested in working with faculty but not in a course-based experience.

Become a Service Learning Partner

To become a community service learning partner, fill out our interest form. Please be aware that evaluating your project can take six months, and matching you with a course. In the meantime, we may be able to meet your needs through a student-independent study.

Office of Outreach and Engagement

Community Partners

Community Partners

The community partner helps to create a real-world experience for students. We ask that community partners provide essential guidance and opportunities to maximize the experience for the students and their organization.

Is Service Learning the right partnership for you?

Do I have the capacity to support a service-learning partnership?

What kind of work would I like students to engage in?

What questions should you ask a prospective faculty partner?

Unsure if service learning is right for your organization?

Become a Service Learning Partner