SL/CE Course Designations

The UAA Faculty Senate approved definitions for community engaged academic curriculum in Spring 2014. A course may be designated Community Engaged (CE) or Service Learning (SL) but not both. These designations help UAA recognize and track community-engaged teaching for institutional assessment, accreditation, and reporting. 

Not sure which designation fits your course? The definitions below explain the differences: 

Definitions

• Service Learning

  Service Learning (SL)

  The SL designation, by definition, asks more of the faculty and the students in designing a significant experience based in the community and asks that issues of impact, sustainability and reciprocity be addressed with the community partner. Additional guidelines are to prepare students for service roles, structure reflection, and address evaluation of impact for students and community.

  A Service Learning course is a community-engaged course which integrates the service learning more deeply and more intentionally. At a minimum, the course should have:

  • Service: significant community-based work work defined in response to a need or aspiration presented by one or more partnering community organizations and for which core issues of impact, sustainability and reciprocity have been addressed.
  • Clear linkage between the service and student learning outcomes: both academic and civic learning are addressed, and this is communicated in the syllabus.
  • Preparation for service: students are prepared for the roles they will play, including engaging respectfully with a community that may differ significantly in race, class, age, or other elements of social identity.
  • Structured reflection: intentional, systematic reflection on students' experience in the community is integrated throughout the course, not added as a one-time or final assignment. Reflection activities may include talking, writing or other means, and may be individual, group-based, or both.
  • Evaluation: assessment of student learning and community impact has been planned. This could consist of asking the CCEL to survey the community partner and students, or could be instructor-designed assessment activities.
• Community Engaged

  Community Engaged (CE)

  The designation of a CE course may apply to a broad spectrum of courses that could include a wide variety of experiences and activities. There may be a portion of the course or a set of assignments that require the students' interaction with the community and/or community issues that does not carry throughout the semester. Activities might be indirect or direct service to a community organization or individuals and could potentially take place entirely in the classroom. The broad definition may sometimes capture work that is exploratory for faculty beginning to engage with community in their courses, bring an application of theory to practice that is appropriate for only part of a course, or requires a relatively low level of community interaction due to large course size or other considerations that do not favor intensive engagement.

  A Community Engaged course involves the student(s) in some kind of work outside of the classroom that contributes to the public good. At a minimum, the course should:

  • Design and implement the community work with appropriate community input so that the students' efforts will provide an identifiable public benefit rather than a community burden.
  • Clearly link the community work to student learning outcomes in the syllabus.
  • Engage students in some oral or written reflection that explores their experience of engagement and connects it with the course learning goals.

Definitions Approved by UAA Faculty Senate on March 7, 2014
Definitions and parameters were taken and modified from University of Massachusetts Amherst Office of Civic & Service Learning  

How to Designate UAA Courses

Department schedulers can designate courses through the CLSS online scheduling system, hosted by the UAA Office of the Registrar. To request access to CLSS please contact uaa_publications@alaska.edu.  Basic instructions to help you get started in CLSS can be found on the Curric website.

To designate a course:

1. Enter the Banner code, SL or CE, in the 'Attn Method' field, located in the enrollment section of the Edit Section window
2. Click 'Save Section'
3. Repeat for each course and section

Individual or Departmental Consultations

Need help? Contact CCEL at uaa.ccel@alaska.edu.