PLACE Program

Coming soon...Service Learning definitions used by Campus Compact, one of the leading higher education coalitions for service learning.

University of New Mexico is currently conducting an inventory of the university’s community engagement activities. In an effort to use a common language for a diverse range of activity that faculty and students perform through curricular and extracurricular activity, UNM has turned to the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) to gain insight on types of engagement activity to be inventoried. The CIC, in turn, has adapted their definitions from Michigan State University’s Outreach Measurement Instrument.

To be sure your professional teaching or research activity is included in UNM’s 2005 inventory of engagement activity, contact:

Roberto Ibarra, Special Assistant to the Provost
Email raibarra@unm.edu

DEFINITIONS FOR ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY:

Outreach Research: Applied research, demonstration projects, participatory action research, capacity-building, evaluation and impact assessment studies and services, policy analysis, consulting and technical assistance, and technology transfer.

Experiential Research Activities. Student involvement in outreach research programs either as part of independent research credit courses, specialized courses in the undergraduate curriculum, or as volunteers. Examples include research programs in which students serve as trained data collectors, interventionists, instructors, or in other roles, with the common elements involving supervised training and on-going oversight by research faculty.

Outreach Teaching: Credit Courses and Programs. Courses and instructional programs that offer student academic credit hours and are designed and marketed specifically to serve those who are neither traditional campus degree seekers nor campus staff. Such courses and programs are often scheduled at times and in places convenient to the working adult. Examples include: a weekend MBA program, an off-campus course in Nursing offered in a rural area, an online doctoral program in beam physics for laboratory professionals, etc.

Outreach Teaching: Non-Credit Classes and Programs. Classes and instructional programs, marketed specifically to those who are neither degree seekers nor campus staff, that are designed to meet planned learning outcomes, but for which academic credit hours are not offered. In lieu of academic credit, these programs sometimes provide certificates of completion or continuing education units, or meet requirements of occupational leisure. Programs designed for and targeted at faculty and staff (such as professional development programs) or degree-seeking students (such as career preparation or study skills classes) are not included. Examples include: a short-course for engineers on the use of new composite materials, a summer writing camp for high school students, a personal enrichment program in gardening, leisure learning tours of Europe, etc.).

Experiential/Service-Learning Civic or community service that students perform in conjunction with an academic course or program and that incorporates frequent, structured, and disciplined reflection on the linkages between the activity and the content of the academic experience. Other forms of experiential learning may include career-oriented practica and internships, or volunteer community service.

Clinical Service All client and patient (human and animal) care provided by university faculty through unit-sponsored group practice or as part of clinical instruction and by medical and graduate students as part of their professional education. For example, this may include medical/veterinary clinical practice, counseling, clinical or crisis center services, and tax or legal clinic services.

Public Events and Information Resources designed for the public include managed learning environments (museums, libraries, gardens, galleries, exhibits); expositions, demonstrations, fairs, and performances; and educational materials and products (e.g., pamphlets, websites, educational broadcasting, and software). Most of these experiences are short-term and learner-directed.