{"id":7,"date":"2018-05-03T20:01:21","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T20:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/community-engagement\/benefits\/"},"modified":"2018-05-10T20:13:37","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T20:13:37","slug":"benefits","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Service-Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content\">\n<p>Service-Learning has potential benefits to everyone involved: students, faculty, the institution and the community.<\/p>\n<h3>Students<\/h3>\n<p>Students in Service-Learning classes can benefit academically, professionally and personally. These are just a few of the ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increase your understanding of the class topic<\/li>\n<li>Gain hands-on experience (possibly leading to an internship or job later)<\/li>\n<li>Explore or cement your values and beliefs<\/li>\n<li>Have opportunities to act on your values and beliefs<\/li>\n<li>Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills<\/li>\n<li>Boost self-esteem, social competency and self-efficacy<\/li>\n<li>Grow your understanding of diverse cultures and communities<\/li>\n<li>Learn more about social issues and their root causes<\/li>\n<li>Improve your ability to handle ambiguity and be open to change; become more flexible<\/li>\n<li>Develop or enhance your skills, especially in the areas of communication, collaboration and leadership<\/li>\n<li>Test out your skills, interests, and values in a potential career path, or learn more about a field that interests you<\/li>\n<li>Connect with professionals and community members who you will learn from<\/li>\n<li>Grow a professional network of people you might connect with again later for jobs or internships<\/li>\n<li>Satisfy your urge toward public service or civic participation<\/li>\n<li>Decrease stress and depression; increase life satisfaction<\/li>\n<li>Enhance qualities and skills important to employers including:\n<ul>\n<li>Ability to work in a team structure<\/li>\n<li>Ability to verbally communicate with persons inside and outside the organization<\/li>\n<li>Ability to make decisions and solve problems<\/li>\n<li>Ability to obtain and process information<\/li>\n<li>Ability to plan, organize and prioritize work<\/li>\n<li>Ability to analyze quantitative data<\/li>\n<li>Technical knowledge related to the job<\/li>\n<li>Proficiency with computer software programs<\/li>\n<li>Ability to create and\/or edit written reports<\/li>\n<li>Ability to sell or influence others\u00a0 (2012 National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook Survey)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Faculty<\/h3>\n<p>Faculty can benefit personally and professionally from integrating Service-Learning into courses. Teaching with Service-Learning can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Encourage interactive teaching methods and reciprocal learning between students and faculty<\/li>\n<li>Add new insights and dimensions to class discussions<\/li>\n<li>Lead to new avenues for research and publication<\/li>\n<li>Promote students&#8217; active learning; engage students with different learning styles<\/li>\n<li>Help students achieve the university\u2019s undergraduate learning and development outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Develop students&#8217; civic and leadership skills<\/li>\n<li>Boost course enrollment by attracting highly motivated and engaged students<\/li>\n<li>Provide networking opportunities with engaged faculty in other disciplines<\/li>\n<li>Foster relationships between faculty and community organizations, which can open other opportunities for collaborative work<\/li>\n<li>Provide firsthand knowledge of community issues; provide opportunities to be more involved in community issues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Community Partners<\/h3>\n<p>Community Partners participating in Service-Learning can benefit in these ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gain additional human resources needed to achieve organizational goals<\/li>\n<li>Inject new energy, enthusiasm and perspectives into the organization&#8217;s work<\/li>\n<li>Grow the organization&#8217;s volunteer pool: Service-Learning students will share their experiences with friends and classmates<\/li>\n<li>Increase public awareness of key issues<\/li>\n<li>Reach out to youth\u2014an important part of any organization&#8217;s future support<\/li>\n<li>Educate students\/youth about community issues; correct any misperceptions<\/li>\n<li>Help prepare today&#8217;s students to be tomorrow&#8217;s civic leaders<\/li>\n<li>Network with colleagues in other organizations and agencies<\/li>\n<li>Identify and access other university resources; build relationships with faculty, students, and staff<br \/>\n(University of Minnesota)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Institutions<\/h3>\n<p>Institutions participating in service-learning can benefit in these ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improves student satisfaction with college<\/li>\n<li>Increases student retention<\/li>\n<li>Students engaged in service-learning are more likely to graduate<\/li>\n<li>Students who have engaged in service-learning are more likely to be hired directly after graduating<\/li>\n<li>Improves community relations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Service-Learning has potential benefits to everyone involved: students, faculty, the institution and the community. Students Students in Service-Learning classes can benefit academically, professionally and personally. These are just a few of the ways: Increase your understanding of the class topic &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}