Resources

Why get involved in community service? Because it broadens your perspective, allows you to explore diverse communities, helps you find a career path, and gives you the opportunity to practice the theories you learn in the classroom.

The Appalachian Center for Civic Life offers a range of services for students who want to make a difference, including placement in service sites; service scholarships such as the Bonner Scholarship and Appalachian Center Associates Scholarship; support for student-led service groups; career exploration opportunities; leadership development and training; and summer service opportunities.

Want to see some examples of the great things Emory & Henry students do? Why not check out Casey and Xavier’s recent summer-long experience in Costa Rica or learn about Emily’s work to restore voting rights to citizens in Virginia.

See, you can do some pretty amazing things! Let us help you get started! Contact the Appalachian Center to find out how you can get involved.

NATIONAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION WEBSITES

• CAMPUS COMPACT

  Campus Compact promotes community service that develops students’ citizenship skills and values, encourages partnerships between campuses and communities, and assists faculty who seek to integrate public and community engagement into their teaching and research.

• CAMPUS OUTREACH OPPORTUNITY LEAGUE (COOL)

  COOL’s mission is to educate and empower college students to strengthen our nation through community service. COOL helps and inspires students to become active in their own communities.

• BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS OF AMERICA

  The largest mentoring organization in the United States, this organization’s volunteers provide support and advice to youth.

• HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

  Habitat for Humanity brings families and communities in need together with volunteers and resources to build decent, affordable housing.

• NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LITERACY

  The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) is an independent federal organization leading the national effort toward a fully literate nation in the 21st century.

• NATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

  The National Youth Leadership Council works to build vital, just communities with young people through service learning.

• YOUTHACTION

  This national nonprofit organization seeks to involve young people in organizing.

• YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA

  Youth Service America is a resource center and premier alliance of 200-plus organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young Americans to serve locally, nationally, or globally.

The Appalachian Center for Civic Life is eager to assist faculty and staff who would like to incorporate a service-learning component in their classrooms or campus programs.

ACCL staff members are available to consult with faculty members about possibilities for service learning - we will share syllabi, discuss community needs and possible service placements, and answer questions about structuring the class. We also provide classroom assistance, including:

• Assistance with creating developmentally appropriate service sites and student placement within these sites
• Service contracts for use with site supervisors and students
• Correspondence with service sites, such as letters of introduction and quick response to situations that need attention
• Midterm and end-of-semester evaluation and assessment instruments for service sites and students
• Accounting procedures and weekly progress reports that document students’ progress toward fulfillment of the service requirement
• Tools and techniques for facilitating reflection sessions in the classroom
• Staff help with designing and/or leading reflection sessions

Below are some other resources for service-learning information:

• Campus Compact is a national coalition of college and university presidents committed to the civic purposes of higher education. Campus Compact keeps a bank of service-learning syllabi for a variety of academic disciplines.
• Professional conferences such as the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement and the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement offer faculty professional development and publishing opportunities to advance their careers in engaged teaching and learning.

The Appalachian Center for Civic Life is committed to long-term, sustainable partnerships for community development that seek social justice and work for enduring social change.

In support of this mission, we have formed partnerships with members of the local community, to whom we offer the following services:

• Development of service sites and community research projects that meet the needs of and address relevant issues in local rural communities
• Development of long-term disciplinary projects that involve a range of courses and professors focusing on specific issues and needs in the community
• Facilitation of collaborative projects and grants
• Presentations to public schools and civic groups
• Providing professional development and networking with community partners through events like the Civic Innovation Institute.

National organizations like Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the Campus Community Partnership Foundation provide a range of resources to guide this work.