Community partner sites should consider on-site orientation for students. This is an opportunity to provide information and instruction to the student. Students need to become familiar with the agency and staff, understand their responsibilities, learn about policies and attend any necessary training. Please be sure to enter your name and submit at the bottom of this page.
The following are some suggestions for what may be included in an on-site orientation:
- Organization Information: Whom do you serve? What are the demographics? What programs/ services do you provide? How are you funded? What is your mission? What is your philosophy? Provide on-site tour of organization.
- Staff: Who are some of the staff and what are their positions? Is there any jargon or language generally used by staff that students would want to know?
- List of Contacts/Numbers: Please list people/agencies that will be useful for students in doing their work.
- Policies/Procedures: Sign-in/out, dress code, privacy, grievance procedure, office rules, identification, safety, etc.
- Training: If any is needed, what kind and when? What skills are needed for the service?
- Responsibilities: What is expected of the student(s)? What are their specific duties (provide job description) Describe the role student(s) play in your agency.
- Final Project Product: What is the final goal for your agency that is expected from the student by end of service? You will work collaboratively with the student to determine.
- Scheduling: What are your agency’s hours of operation? When should students complete their service? When will you meet with students during the year to review work they have done independently?
- Supervision: It is important that all service-learning students have a contact person at the community site who will supervise them. The amount of time each student will need supervision will depend on the project or service activity. Should students check in with the supervisor on arrival at the site? Who do the students call if they cannot make their scheduled service or will be late?
- Time Logs: Students will track their time in service and working on the project for the course. You do not need to worry about time logs.
On-Site Direct Service and Project Hours: Given the organization’s operating hours, please discuss with the student all the days and hours when it would be possible for them to be on site to work on the project and fulfill direct service hours. This includes any times on the weekends or weekdays outside of regular business hours.
The course syllabus is also provided as a reference.
Faculty instructor and course coordinator are expected to:
- Help the student identify and connect with a community partner as needed
- Inform the community site of the goals and objectives of the course
- Explain the evaluation methods employed in the course to the students and community partner.
- The course coordinator will communicate when reflections and project progress posts are to be completed; and also communicate when reflections and posts are available for review and comments to the community partner.
- Familiarize self with the service site/project and monitor student progress through reflection and project progress
- Act as a liaison between the students and community sites
- Be available to the community site regarding projects
- Provide individual and group forums for students to reflect on what they are learning from the experience and how that learning connects to the course objectives.
- Management of this website, which will be a repository for critical reflections and project tracking and feedback
- Distribute evaluations to the community partner at least two weeks prior to completion request
- Assess students’ learning outcomes
- Incorporate information gained through the service-learning evaluations into any re- designing of the course for subsequent semesters
- Facilitate a feedback session with students as a group regarding the community partner experience, education modules and readings, and the project. These meetings will occur twice throughout the course: by end of November and in mid-February
Students are expected to:
- Be open to learn about the community and agency within that community
- Be prompt, respectful and positive at the community site
- Arrange hours with community site during the first two weeks (or as directed by faculty)
- Fulfill all agreed upon duties and responsibilities at the community site
- Complete project progress entries and reflections (four reflections throughout the course) on the service experience and how it pertains to the course learning objectives via the course website.
- Work with the community partner to develop a Not Human Subjects IRB submission for your project. This exempt from review designation usually excludes projects that include personal identifiers, clinical data, and other PHI. Projects that would meet the exempt criteria include patient education and quality improvement projects. A template for a Not Human Subjects IRB submission is attached. The course coordinator can assist with the submission. If your project will include personal patient information, please meet with the course director and course coordinator to discuss.
- Establish a regular recurring time for communication both with faculty and the community partner
- Respect the culture and confidentiality of people served
- Respect the time and experience of community partners and colleagues
- Participate in the evaluation process. Students will complete a self-evaluation twice a rotation – at the end of the fall semester and at the end of the project. Students will also provide feedback for their peers on reflections and project progress.
- Students will also meet as a group with the Course Director and Course Coordinator regarding feedback about the community partner experience, education modules and readings, and the project. These meetings will occur twice throughout the course: by end of November and in mid-February.
Deliverables for the organization:
- Students will communicate project outcomes back to the community partner at the end of the project
Community partners are expected to:
- Provide adequate training as needed for project completion
- Provide feedback about student performance via the project and critical reflection (three to be completed throughout the course) discussion boards via this course website. The course coordinator will provide prompts and appropriate links for each feedback activity.
- Orient students to the agency mission and goals so that they may better understand their role within the agency
- Provide training, supervision, feedback and resources as needed for the student to succeed in the service
- Reply to students in a timely manner
- Ensure a safe work environment and reasonable hours for the student to perform their service and project
- Work with the student to develop a Not Human Subjects IRB submission for the project. This exempt from review designation usually excludes projects that include personal identifiers, clinical data, and other PHI. Projects that would meet the exempt criteria include patient education and quality improvement projects. A template for a Not Human Subjects IRB submission is attached. If the project will include personal patient information, the student will meet with the course director and course coordinator to discuss.
- Complete communications and evaluations regarding course information and communication and professionalism of the student at the end of the fall and spring semesters as follows:
- Course Overview Meeting with Course Director
- End of Month One check-in email (August)
- Brief check-in e-surveys (3 total, August, November, March)
- Mid-course (November, group) and end of course (March, one-on-one) live discussion/interviews (one hour each, 2 total)
How the faculty/instructor will address issues with students who fail to meet organization expectations or if there is a conflict:
- Faculty will meet with student initially privately
- Faculty will meet with student and organization representative