This checklist is designed to help you through the process of developing a good working relationship with the organization where your students will be working and to strengthen the connection between the academic content of your course and the work being done in the community.

We're glad for your involvement in using Academically-Based Service-Learning (ABSL) to meet the educational goals of your course. The Service-Learning Center is eager to help make this is a rewarding semester for you, your students, the community organization(s) where your students will work, and the people served by your students.

Our experience in the Service-Learning Center (S-LC) has convinced us that the most beneficial experiences happen when clear partnerships are forged between the college and the community. Community organizations appreciate knowing the goals a faculty member has for the course as well as having a direct link to faculty members whose students are serving in their organization.

This checklist is designed to help you through the process of developing a good working relationship with the organization where your students will be working and to strengthen the connection between the academic content of your course and the work being done in the community. The time invested in forming strong partnerships leads to better learning experiences for your students and better service by your students in the community.

The items listed may or may not be relevant to your particular situation. Several items listed are also intended to help us communicate more clearly about Academically-Based Service-Learning to others within the Calvin community. We appreciate your cooperation with these items. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact us

Find your ABSL student coordinator on our Staff page.

• Contact the S-LC student coordinator of your academic division (see table above) to describe your plans and solicit assistance.
• Be in touch (visit or phone) with the community organization with whom your students will be working. Be sure you know the mission of the organization well enough to describe it to your students.
• Describe in writing your specific objectives for the service-learning component of your course. Include in your syllabus information about your goals for student learning as well as the goals/hopes the community groups are expressing for the students' involvement. We give, but we also receive. This will be helpful for the students and for the organization as we try to forge meaningful partnerships between the college and the community.
• Contact the person(s) who will be working most closely with your students and review your expectations and objectives for the service-learning experience.
  • Send them a copy of your syllabus. Decide the best way to communicate, if need be, during the semester.

• Plan how your students will be oriented to the site, the clients, and the requirements of the experience.
  • Arrange for a classroom visit by Service-Learning Coordinators.
  • Arrange for classroom visit by the organization's staff, if applicable.
• Explain to your students the specific written assignment(s) you expect from the service-learning component. The written assignments are a tool to help students connect their experiences in the community with your specific learning goals.
• Within the first two weeks of the semester, write a paragraph describing the service-learning component of your course and send it to the Service-Learning Center. This paragraph will be used for communication within the Calvin community about the nature and variety of Academically-Based Service-Learning this semester.

• If you have not had on-going contact with the agency, contact them now to make sure things are going well. You may want to visit the site when one of your students is service-learning there.
• Provide time for structured reflection in class periodically.

• Arrange for some kind of closure/reflection for your students, involving the agency and SLC staff. Be sure to encourage those students who wish to continue at this site to do so next semester.
• Remind students to record their service hours at the S-LC to be included in their transcripts.
• Encourage/require your students to fill out the web-based evaluation form. It will be forwarded to the S-LC and your email address.
• Write a letter of thanks to the organization for the role they played in our students' learning.
• Fill out a web-based faculty evaluation in order to express to us what we have done well or things we could improve.