Department of Campus Involvement
Service-Learning Student Responsibilities
Before Your First Visit
- Select a site that will work well with your interests and schedule
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- If you have any questions, call Christopher Bineham, Service-Learning Coordinator at (320) 308-3898, your professor, or the contact person at the site.
- Call the contact person
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- Give your name, say that you are a SCSU student, give the name of the class for which you are doing this service component.
- Ask what times during the day/evening/weekend are available for you to work.
- Let the contact person know the number of hours that you can work at the site.
- Let the contact person know what you will need in terms of information for your class.
- Your first visit
- Confirm the service site address and ask for directions if you need them. Keep in mind that all local busses are free for SCSU students.
- If you are unable to work, call the site supervisor/teacher and give as much lead-time as possible (a minimum of 24 hours is necessary). The school/worksite depends on you to show up and do the work agreed upon.
At the Site
- Arrive on time and be prepared to work.
- When in doubt about what you are to do, how to do it, or why to do it, ask the site supervisor/teacher directly for clarification. A convenient way to organize your responsibilities (student’s, supervisor’s, site’s) is to complete a Service-Learning Contract.
- Fill out the Service-Learning Time Sheet each time you go to your community site/school and have your site supervisor/teacher initial the sheet each time before you leave the site.
- Make sure you know the time and date of your next visit before you leave.
After You Leave for the Day
- Make entries in your journal/or other reflection tool as soon as possible after completing your service on a given day. The sooner you make your entries after completing your service, the more vivid and accurate your memories will be.
General Advise
- If any concerns emerge about the quality of your work experience and/or the supervision you receive, contact Christopher Bineham or call your instructor and discuss the matter with either or both of them.
- While you are at the school or community organization, you are a representative of SCSU. Remember this and act accordingly.
- Do not give your home phone number or address to students at a school or clients at a community organization.
- Keep confidential information confidential. This rule holds true while you are at a service site and afterwards when discussing site activities in class or with friends.
At the End of the Course
- Arrange to give copies of any papers or reports that you produce about the service experience to your site supervisor/teacher. They are very interested to know what you discovered or concluded as a result of your service.
- Thank your site supervisor either in person or in writing.
