Community Partners
Garland Hayward Youth Center
The office of Student Outreach & Leadership Development (SOLD) recognizes and values societal transformations made possible through engaged universities and communities. All organizations and agencies are invited to partner with our office to provide quality faculty and student service-learning and engagement opportunities that are equally beneficial to campus participants and communities within the Eastern Shore.
This page acquaints visitors with the definition, benefits, and types of service learning; explains steps for posting/updating community-based service-learning opportunities for UMES student volunteers and faculty; contains links to related forms; and defines the roles of SOLD, organization/agency, and students through collaborative partnerships.
Partner With Us
Community collaboration and partnerships are essential to providing meaningful learning experiences for UMES students. All service and/or engaged learning opportunities identified through this office originate with the community through requests from a variety of non-profit organizations, human service, health and education agencies, government offices and advocacy groups.
Community organizations and agencies are able to seek UMES service-learning students for long-term and/or short-term/one-time service learning opportunities. Long-term projects are generally one semester long; students may serve 2 to 6 hours a week, per student. UMES students may come to the agency or organization through UMES courses, academic programs/majors, student groups committed to service or as individual volunteers.
Call the SOLD staff today at (410) 651-7893 to discuss agency opportunities and to assist in designing practical service-learning projects. You can submit your completed Service/Engaged-Learning Position Description Form and Memorandum of Collaboration by email to: ouell@umes.edu or fax to: (410) 621-3990.
FORMS
What is Service Learning?
Service-learning is an active teaching and learning method that blends meaningful community service with academic instruction and reflection to enrich learning experiences, instill civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
Model service-learning projects and/or activities address recognized community needs; integrate learning outcomes from classrooms or broader institutional goals with life skills gained outside of the classroom; allow students to “have a voice” as active participants in planning, implementing, and evaluating potential solutions to identified challenges; and promotes collaboration, democracy, and a sense individual responsibility to care and contribute to the betterment of the community.
Students can apply and strengthen various skills through the following types of service-learning activities:
Direct Service: activities requiring face-to-face service that directly impacts the individual(s) being served (e.g., tutoring, creating lessons and presenting them to younger audiences or community members, etc.).
Indirect Service: working on community development or environmental projects and/or larger issues that benefit the broader community or region, but not necessarily an individual (e.g., restoring ecosystems, preserving community structures, historic landmarks or historic documents, etc.).
Research-based Service: collecting and presenting information in a particular field of interest associated with an identified community need (e.g., conduction surveys, studies, interviews, and reporting information needed; gathering data/information and creating publications for non-profit organizations, conducting water quality and natural resources for local residents, etc.).
Advocacy Service: projects focused on educating, creating awareness and/or promoting action on public issues (e.g., planning and organizing public forums, safety and disaster preparation training events, working with elected officials to create legislation, etc.).
