What is Community Engaged Learning at Mizzou?
The Office of Service Learning was founded in January 1995 to support academically-based community outreach campus-wide, serve as a consulting center for program design and implementation, and provide and maintain partnerships with service agencies and organizations in the state of Missouri. Almost 30 years later in 2024, we were renamed the Community Engaged Learning Office to better communicate all avenues of engagement and service that our team helps integrate at Mizzou.
Service and Community Engaged Learning courses at MU combine academic coursework with relevant and impactful service to the community. The goal of service learning is simple: What students learn in the classroom is applied in the community to create engaged citizens and improve local organizations, and, conversely, student activities in the community are integrated into the classroom to transform and enrich learning.
Through service to others, students learn valuable lessons in citizenship and are able to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Students meet real needs in the community while developing important personal and professional skills.
Community Engaged Learning at Mizzou
Each semester at MU, thousands of students enroll in service learning designated courses that connect them to credited service opportunities in the local community. Through service to others, students learn valuable lessons in citizenship and are able to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Students meet real needs in the community while developing important personal and professional skills.
Service and Community Engaged Learning is a reciprocal relationship, so each party needs to benefit and contribute to the experience equally. Partners should have just as much input as instructors during the planning process, and instructors should be able to request experiences for students that benefit both them and their partner.
Taking on service learning students means that student volunteers will be held accountable to not only their agency, but to our office, faculty members and the University as a whole. We not only prepare students for the professionalism and responsibility that comes with service learning, but we offer support throughout the year to make sure students follow through on their commitments.
Partnering with Community Engaged Learning at Mizzou allows you to work with students from across campus in a wide variety of ways. No two courses are exactly alike, as this is a unique experience to best tailor the needs of the partners, students, and instructors. Some examples of service learning courses look like:
Direct Service: Students serve anywhere from 20-90 hours a semester based on the course doing a wide variety of tasks at their partner site or remotely supervised by a partner. This includes Front-End and Back-End service.
• Front-End Service: Students interact and serve directly with the organizations target population. Ex. Students serving at the Food Bank Market, interacting with clients, engaging in meaningful work in direct partnership with community members.
• Back-End Service: Students interact and serve behind the scenes to help the organization perform its mission. For example, the Food Bank Volunteer Room works in the Food Bank of Central & Northeast Missouri’s warehouse, helping package food that is taken to the Food Bank Market. Students also work in the Food Bank’s office spaces, helping manage programs, plan educational activities, partner with community organizations, market, raise money, etc.
Indirect or Project-Based Service: Service in which students create a deliverable that they work with the organization to make. Either alone or in a team, students regularly meet with a partner to understand the issue and solution to a proposed problem. Ex. Students partner with a local health clinic or non-profit organization to create culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials that improve health literacy for their target population. These materials could focus on topics such as nutrition, managing chronic diseases, or accessing healthcare resources. Students conduct a needs assessment, research local resources by connecting with stakeholders, develop the material, work with the partner for feedback and revision, implement and distribute the material, and then present and reflect on the experience. This happens over the course of a semester.
Some example courses at Mizzou:
PSYCH 2830 / AN SCI 2140 – HUMAN ANIMAL COMPANIONS: Students learn in the classroom how humans interact with animals while simultaneously serving at an animal-focused nonprofit organization in the Columbia area, helping serve their mission while gaining first-hand experience. Students serve 20 hours the entire semester.
SOC WK 1115 – INTRO TO SOCIAL WORK: A broad based course focused on any organization that assist in social work. Students can choose to serve at various organizations in the community while learning about the impact and meaning behind social work in the classroom. Students serve 35 hours the entire semester.
How can you get started?: Contact us at CEL@missouri.edu to schedule a consultation with our team so we can help communicate ways your organization can collaborate with campus.
New Partner? Schedule a consultation with our team at CEL@missouri.edu to get started. We can help explain the ins and outs of service and community engaged learning at Mizzou and how your organization can be involved. You do not need to know exactly how you’ll partner with us to get started, we will start that conversation with you, so contact us now!
Past Partner? Took a pause on service learning and ready to start back up? Contact our office to get connected with a new course. If you already have a GivePulse account, it’s even easier to get set back up. New coordinator? We’ll give them the run down of how to manage service learning students.
The Fall semester begins at the end of August and the Spring semester at the end of January. If you are looking to partner with our office and take students, please be aware of the timelines and get in contact with us ASAP at CEL@missouri.edu
Community Engaged Learning focuses mainly on long-term service opportunities. Please contact Student Affairs as they focus on co-curricular, one-off events. Many groups, like those in Greek Life, seek activities and opportunities for volunteerism.
If the opportunity is on Instagram, we certainly can share it with our students! Please send us any upcoming events through our Instagram page, @mizzoucel
Have internships you’d like advertised or need help in getting started? Contact us at CEL@missouri.edu or contact our CLIP Director Chad Follis at cfollis@missouri.edu
Our office can help in the advertisement and recruitment of nonprofit or government internships through the Civic Leaders Internship program. While we cannot guarantee placements every semester, if you continue to renew your internship opportunities with our office, you can greatly increase your chances of finding a qualified, dedicated Mizzou student for your organization. Visit the CLIP page to learn more.
For more information about any of these options, please contact our office