Community Service Learning

Community service can provide a worthwhile educational experience with the opportunity to apply psychological principles learned in the classroom to the real world. Students choosing the CSL option will complete 40 hours of volunteer work at an approved community service site. Prior community service will not fulfill the requirement (i.e., service not given explicit approval for meeting the requirement before the service began).

Specific Requirements

• Requires twelve hours of psychology including general psychology.
• 40 hours of volunteer work at an approved community site.
• Initial signatures on the contract must be obtained and turned in to Dr. Miriam Liss by February 1 of the student's senior year. All paperwork with final signatures must be returned to Dr. Liss by March 1 of the student's senior year. (If you are graduating in the Fall semester of your senior year, initial paperwork must be completed by October 1 and all paperwork with final signatures by November 1).
• Completion of community service within 12 months of the date on which the service begins.
• Completion of service option at no more than two sites, with at least 20 hours served at each site.
• Attendance at two reflection sessions during each semester of community service.
• The 40 hour requirement does not include hours an agency may require for volunteer training.

Getting Started

Before beginning the CSL experience, students must obtain a CSL contract form with approval signatures from the agency supervisor and Dr. Miriam Liss, the Psychology Department CSL coordinator. If a student wishes to gain approval for a new CSL site, he/she should contact Dr. Liss. Dr. Liss's office is in Chandler, room 213.

A directory of approved CSL sites is available from the Psychology Department or the COAR Office, or you can download it here.

Reflection Sessions

During the time of service learning, students will be required to attend reflection sessions in order to share their experiences with other students, to learn about the service learning experiences of other students, and to integrate their experiences with their background in psychology. These sessions will last two hours each. Every student is required to attend one session for each services site during each semester of community service.

Completion of Community Service Learning

Upon completing the CSL experience, the CSL contract with final signatures must be submitted to Jaeger Spratt by March 1 for the Spring semester or November 1 for the Fall semester.