When designing S-L courses and experiences, we start with two questions: (1) What do faculty want or need their students to learn in the course? and (2) What are the goals and interests of our community partners?

Faculty members can incorporate a service or community engagement component into a new course they are creating or integrate it into an existing course. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Complete the self-guided onboarding module, which takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. The module explains how faculty members can partner with and become a part of the Service-Learning Program at Northeastern, and it serves as  a one-stop-shop resource to explore the program’s resources, philosophies, and processes. At the end you will be prompted to fill out a form and download a set of questions to reflect on your course.
2. Email service-learning@northeastern.edu to set up a time to meet with a member of the Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team.
3. Meet with a member of the Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team to discuss your ideas. Please bring a copy of your reflection responses from the onboarding module.

Find more information and resources on our Service-Learning Faculty Resources webpage.

Service-Learning courses can be structured many different ways. However, all Northeastern service-learning courses include core elements: integrated learning, collaboration, quality service, reflection, assessment and evaluation, and civic engagement and responsibility. The self-guided onboarding module discusses this in more depth, but each of these elements should be present in your course design.

Adding a service-learning component to your course may make it eligible to be designated with various attributes in Banner. Read more about this process at the bottom of this page on our Faculty Resource page.

Our Faculty Resources page guides faculty members through the process of developing and implementing S-L courses, including best practices, nationally recognized theory and research, and the accumulated wisdom of Northeastern S-L faculty and staff.

Assessment and evaluation

Assessment of service-learning is a collaborative process intended to demonstrate that course-community partnerships meet both course and community goals.

As in any course, S-L students are graded for their learning and ability to meet course objectives, not for their service. Reflective course assignments and exercises connect academic content and service and allow students to demonstrate what they’ve learned. Community partners can also help evaluate whether S-L students fulfilled service objectives. Learn more about our student learning outcomes, assessment resources, and view sample assessment tools and methods on our Faculty Resource page.

Service-Learning faculty members are instructors who choose to integrate a service or community-engagement component into their teaching. If you are interested in becoming part of our network and leveraging the numerous resources we have to offer to support your community-engaged teaching, click here to get started.

Co-managed by the Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team and the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning at Northeastern, the Service-Learning Fellows Program is a yearlong program that leads a small cohort of Northeastern faculty through an examination of service-learning and evidence-based teaching literature. Participants build knowledge to enhance student learning and engagement, connect courses with social issues, and strengthen community relationships.

Learn more about the 2019–2020 program details.

Apply here. The Service-Learning Fellows program has been put on pause for the 20-21 academic year.

The Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team within the Office of City and Community Engagement at Northeastern, in partnership with the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning through Research (CATLR) is hosting a series of learning communities during the Spring 2021 semester. The themes of these learning communities will be (1) Teaching for Social Justice in Service-Learning and Community Engagement and (2) Community Partnerships and are open to all faculty, staff, and interested community partners. Registration for Spring 2021 has passed, but please email service-learning@northeastern.edu if you are interested in the program for future semesters.

Service-Learning students are undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in one of the 100+ service-learning courses at Northeastern.

S-LTAs are students who act as a liaison and resource for S-L campus and community partners. The S-LTA program has five goals:

• Training and supporting student S-LTAs to develop their leadership skills
• Assisting faculty members to implement the best practices of S-L in their courses
• Supporting community partners to help ensure partnership goals are met through student and faculty engagement
• Aiding student service-learners in meeting their academic and service requirements and commitments
• Serving as an extension of service-learning staff to facilitate a quality program that is academically rigorous and socially and ethically responsible

S-LTAs are typically assigned to a single course, and therefore support a specific faculty member, cohort of students, and one or more community partnerships throughout the semester. In many ways, S-LTAs act as a project manager and logistics coordinator for the course and associated partnerships as a way to foster the principles of community engagement in the course.

S-LTAs spend 7–10 hours per week on their role, including time in the classroom. Both undergraduate and graduate students can apply. View a full job description, compensation details, and qualification information here.

Apply here.

The Service-Learning Street Team is a team of undergraduate and graduate students who support the program by (1) leading community walks for Northeastern faculty, staff, and students, (2) accompanying S-L students to their orientation or first day of service, and (3) extending the marketing and outreach capacity of the Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team on campus, in the community, and through social media.

Street Team members spend 3–7 hours per week on their role. View a full job description, compensation details, and qualification information here.

Apply here.

The Service-Learning Team Manager (S-LTM) program offers an advanced leadership opportunity for previous service-learning student leaders (S-LTAs and Street Team). S-LTMs are upper-level students who manage a cohort of five to twelve S-LTAs or Street Team members and act as their primary advisor and manager.

S-LTMs spend 10–15 hours per month on their role, in addition to their work as S-LTAs or Street Team members. View a full job description, compensation details, and qualification information here.

Team Managers are selected each semester by the Director and Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Teaching and Research. We give consideration to all returning S-L student leaders each semester and invite those who have demonstrated their potential for an advanced leadership position, represent diverse academic areas, and have shown a deep understanding of the philosophies and principles of service-learning and community engagement.

The Community-Engaged Teaching and Research team within the Office of City and Community Engagement at Northeastern, in partnership with the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning through Research (CATLR) is hosting a series of learning communities during the Spring 2021 semester. The themes of these learning communities will be (1) Teaching for Social Justice in Service-Learning and Community Engagement and (2) Community Partnerships and are open to all faculty, staff, and interested community partners. Registration for Spring 2021 has passed, but please email service-learning@northeastern.edu if you are interested in the program for future semesters.