About Us

Objectives and Benchmarks

Mission Statement
The Whitworth Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement engages students, faculty and staff in strategic service that enriches educational programs, equipping students in both mind and heart to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.

Vision Statement
In the next five years, Whitworth University is committed to promoting service-learning and community engagement as an integral part of students' education. The Whitworth University Center for Service-Learning envisions students, faculty and staff working collaboratively on experiential learning opportunities while cultivating vocational discernment and building lives of service. This understanding of service includes commitments to civic and global responsibility, justice for the oppressed, stewardship of the earth, and a greater love for humanity.

In addition, the Center for Service-Learning and Community Engagement aspires to be known regionally and nationally for the excellent quality of experiential learning provided for our students, and for the effective reciprocal relationships we share with our community partners. These partnerships will be shaped by Whitworth's commitment to do justice, love mercy and serve humbly as an institution interdependent with both local and global communities, promoting holistic development, health and sustainability.

Colleges and universities all over the nation and world are finding that students learn far more through engaged service than from books and lectures alone. Moreover, communities are equal beneficiaries when students and faculty apply their knowledge and skills in public settings.

What is service-learning?
Service-learning is a teaching approach integrating academic instruction with community service that engages students in civic responsibility, critical and creative thinking, and structured reflection.

What is the difference between service-learning and community service?

• Service-learning combines what is learned in the classroom with real- world experiences. The community becomes an extension of the classroom, and service-learning students are evaluated and assessed according to assigned learning objectives. Community service is volunteer work independent of strategic learning outcomes.
  
• Service-learning uses community service as a vehicle for students to reach their academic goals, develop new skills, and consider future vocational options.

With service-learning, the community becomes an extension of the classroom, and people with whom students interact (children, the homeless, community supervisors and others) become teachers, along with the students' professors.

One of the main goals of service-learning is to create an experience in which both community and students benefit in tangible ways. Mutual benefits are key, and reciprocity is essential for an experience to be considered true service-learning.

Criteria:

• Service projects are selected to illuminate an aspect of a discipline's academic theory.
• Student efforts contribute to the community's common good.
• Learning goals for students are clearly defined and appropriately assessed.
• Each class includes creative and critical structured reflection on service-learning.

Contact us about the website or for further information.

What people have to say about service-learning at Whitworth

"Although I took tests and gave reports on Maslow's hierarchy-of-needs theory, I never fully understood this theory until I met a little homeless boy at the YWCA who needed breakfast and a warm sweatshirt before he could study."
--Kara Rohrer, '00, Education

"Student and faculty involvement in service-learning reinforces in tangible ways Whitworth's commitment to be a good and responsible citizen of the world. Whether classes are planting trees, conducting a sociological survey for an inner-city neighborhood, or leading drama workshops for mentally ill adults, their service-learning  experiences enhance academics and provide a way to live out Whitworth's mission to 'honor God, follow Christ, and serve humanity'."
-- Bill Robinson, Whitworth President

"I would recommend service-learning to anyone. It's a great experience to help someone else out instead of serving yourself all the time."
-- Student from RE 243 Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Rockwood at Hawthorne

"It has given me a relevant, meaningful application of course material. Additionally, it has allowed me to network with other professionals in my prospective field."
-- Student from SO 425: Making Change, and ESD 101, who served at the GED Counseling Center

"I'd recommend service-learning only if a person wants to be changed and to make a change in others' lives. It is so worth it, and I'm so thankful for it."
-- Student from MU 157-457: Private Piano, who served at Cornerstone Place, St. Joseph Care Center, and Rockwood at Hawthorne