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Community-Engaged Classrooms Program

FAQs

General

  • What is the Community-Engaged Classrooms Program?
    The Community-Engaged Classrooms Program seeks to encourage and support intentional curricular activities that engage students in projects that address human and community needs. The Program assists Illinois State faculty and community organizations with identifying potential projects and establishing partnerships with one another.

  • How will these connections take place?
    This web site hosts local organization project ideas/needs as well as course/topic ideas/needs posted by ISU faculty and contact information. Both faculty and community organizations review the list and, if they are interested in learning more about a project idea/need they contact the organization or faculty member to discuss the details and decide whether or not to purpose the project.

  • How soon will my project posting appear on the web site?
    Projects will not appear immediately. After a project form is submitted, the information is reviewed by the Program Coordinator. If there are questions the Coordinator will contact the organization or faculty member for clarification. The project information is formatted and posted to the site in a few days. If you successfully submitted a project form and you do not see it on the web site within 3 business days please contact the Program Coordinator.

  • Who do I contact if I have questions?
    Questions should be addressed to the Project Coordinator.

  • What if the project requirements (number of students needed, duration) doesn't fit what I had in mind?
    If something sounds interesting to you, give the organization/faculty member a call and discuss the possibilities. Here are just a few ideas…

    • Divide the class into several small groups, have each group complete the project.
    • Would this be a good in-course honors project?
    • Do you know of a few students looking for internships?
    • Split the project into parts - complete one part with one course in the fall and the other with a class in the spring.

For Community Organizations

  • Does posting a project guarantee that it will be completed?
    No, a project posting may or may not be chosen by a faculty member to integrate into their curriculum. We do not recommend posting critical projects without an alternative plan in place.

  • What is the difference between volunteering and service learning (experiential learning)?
    The term volunteering is typically used to describe service for the sake of service. Service-learning, according to Jacoby (1996), is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development.

  • What if students do not show up to work on projects for prearranged meetings etc..?
    It is important to establish expectations at the start of the project and clearly communicate these expectations to all the students. Students will likely be graded for their participation, so attendance issues should be rare. If problems do occur, you should address the concerns with the professor.

  • What if we have concerns regarding the quality of the work?
    You should address these concerns with the professor and/or the students.

  • How will the students be graded?
    The professor will determine the grading requirements. You may be asked for your insights, but you will not be responsible for assigning student grades.