The crisis facing American democracy and the challenges plaguing the U.S. higher education system are two sides of the same coin. Higher education is an engine for economic mobility. Median annual earnings increase with education: Individuals who hold bachelor's degrees earn 44 percent more than those who hold associate degrees and 63 percent more…

What is one value that grounds you in your civic engagement work? How are you walking the talk of that value in your assessment work? Or, how might you? And, what both helps and gets in the way of your doing that? These questions were posed to service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) faculty and staff gathered for an assessment institute…

Members of the National Louis University Civic Engagement Team developed research and evaluation tools for scholarly analysis of data on community engaged research and service-learning at our university then piloted them with students, faculty, and community partners. This study results from the pilot. We examined perspectives on service-learning…

This paper provides examples of activities that can be carried out by Spanish-speaking professors who are willing to step outside of the classroom walls with their students and participate in community projects--to help democratize the various forms of cultural capital as well as promote social justice and political awareness by working hand in…

This paper is part of a study on the long-term effects of participation in a comprehensive service-learning program on alumni knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective democratic citizenship. In this article, the larger research project is introduced and its central questions are put into historical context. I contend that…

Research shows that not only does higher education not see the public; when the public, in turn, looks at higher education, it sees mostly malaise, inefficiencies, expense, and unfulfilled promises. Yet, the contributors to this issue of the "Higher Education Exchange" tell of bright spots in higher education where experiments in working…

Service learning is a pedagogy that combines classroom instruction with community service. Its goals are to provide students with learning experiences that reinforce the curriculum, improve students' personal and interpersonal development, and connect students to the needs of the community (Jacoby et al., 2003). Since the mid 1980s, the number of…

Collaborative community-engaged scholarship has roots in many parts of the world, and engaged practitioners and researchers are increasingly finding each other and sharing resources globally. This article focuses on a "social responsiveness" initiative at the University of Cape Town. Its story, told here by three University of Cape Town…

Political disengagement in higher education is at a crisis point. Despite increased community involvement by students--due in large part to the service-learning movement and to the small but hopeful upsurge in the elections of 2008--there remains a disconnect between young citizens and the political world, leaving them outside the collective…

This article considers the notion of service-learning (SL) as essentially different from other similar activities, such as philanthropy, charity, voluntarism, or a single act of kindness which are "one-way" socially engaged activities. Service-learning is different because it necessarily entails reciprocity and mutuality which are "two-way"…

Service learning as a strategy for raising awareness amongst university students of their responsibilities to the community is rapidly gaining currency in higher education institutions in South Africa. High levels of unemployment and striking economic inequality have been an unfortunate feature of South African society for several decades. Since…

In this monograph, the authors focus on concrete approaches and tools that will assist educational leaders and educators in the creation of a genuinely inclusive campus culture. The first chapter, "The Changing Landscape and the Compelling Need for Diversity," provides an overview of forces that have historically inhibited the inclusion of women…

Over the past three years, 183 campuses have joined the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project. Originally intended as a three-year initiative involving a score of schools, the response exceeded all expectations, and the project has been extended well beyond the initial timeframe. This fall Campus…

Young people in the United States today are much more likely to be involved in volunteer work of an apolitical sort than in politics. As part of a study on political engagement, the author and other colleagues surveyed students at a diversity of colleges and universities and asked them why they and many of their peers are so much more likely to…

This volume is part of a series of 18 monographs on service learning and the academic disciplines. These essays demonstrate some "best practices" for service-learning, providing rigorous learning experiences for students and high-quality service to the community. A Preface by James L. Applegate and Sherwyn P. Morreale, "Service-Learning in…