Service Learning at SWOSU

Bulldogs are Good Dogs

Whether it is teaching kids to read, feeding the hungry, monitoring fresh water, or volunteering in medical outreach, SWOSU students are there, lending a hand. SWOSU is so serious about serving the greater good that we offer university credit for service-learning courses. Students who complete 9 credit hours of service-learning coursework are eligible for the B.L.U.E. honor cord at graduation. B.L.U.E. stands for Bulldogs Learning, Understanding, & Empowering! If you are a faculty member interested in designing a service-learning course, please access the Application for Service-Learning Course Designation.

Service Learning courses have all four of these elements

1. There is an identified need on the part of a community partner
2. Student volunteers in the class can address that need
3. The service learning project meets specific course objective(s) and students receive course credit for the activity
4. Students do a reflective activity about the service learning experience and experiential learning

Service Learning can involve a short project, requiring one or two class sessions, or it may be deeply embedded in the curriculum of the course, extending through the entire semester. Service Learning may be a required component, or an optional one. Service Learning projects can take place within our immediate Weatherford community, the county, the entire western and/or central Oklahoma region, or the state. They can also occur when a class on the SWOSU campus helps another campus entity, such as designing the Service Learning brochure. Our program has a rather broad definition of “community!"

How may your group or agency have its needs addressed by SWOSU?

Call or e-mail Taylor Orgeron, Service Learning Coordinator, to find a match for the project. One point to consider — “instant” Service Learning projects are very hard to implement, so we all should be thinking one semester ahead. Short, one-time service requests can often be handled through the Dean of Students and the various student groups that her office coordinates as a co-curricular activity.

Just getting started with Service Learning in the classroom? Are you unsure about how to proceed for a Service Learning course? Contact Taylor Orgeron at 580.774.3168 or taylor.orgeron@swosu.edu.

Remember, none of us started life as volunteers. Civic engagement is a learned skill. Our parents, extended families, teachers, etc., taught us the value of being involved with our communities. Engaged citizens of the future will come from current university classes and activities which promote civic engagement. They will come from experiences with civically engaged adults their teachers and the volunteers in the agencies which they serve.

Contacts

Dr. Taylor Orgeron, Associate Professor
Department of Language & Literature
University Coordinator of Service Learning
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
CAM 224F 580.774.3168

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