By Corinne Reilly Call it a classic win-win-win situation. Engineering students need real-world job skills, companies need graduates with real-world experience and nonprofits need technical expertise they often can't afford. Enter service learning -- a modern, socially responsible model of learning that puts teams of engineering students to work solving real problems facing local nonprofit organizations. While relatively few engineering departments employ service learning programs, a growing number of universities around the country -- including UC Merced -- are now beginning to incorporate them into graduation requirements. "It exposes students to what engineering is actually about," said Jeff Wright, dean of UC Merced's School of Engineering. "They learn the skills they need to face the realities of the profession." And the nonprofits that benefit certainly aren't complaining. "We're so excited about this ... We're very impressed with what these students are doing," said Peggy Ronning, curator at the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa, where a team of about a dozen UC Merced students spent the last year developing a new lighting system for museum exhibits. The team started with nothing but a problem in need of a solution: The museum's energy bill was more than the small nonprofit could afford. Lighting displays naturally, instead of artificially, would cut down on costs considerably. But natural light will degrade displayed gems and rocks over time. "We gave them the parameters of what we needed," said Ronning, "and they ran with it." Over the course of two semesters, the team developed a system to collect natural light, filter out harmful ultraviolet and infrared rays and cast the remaining wavelengths over museum displays. The team is testing its prototype and will see the project to completion in the coming semesters. Through the course of the project, students were required to work collaboratively with each other and with museum staff. They reported their progress periodically to their client and their faculty supervisor, and were responsible for every aspect of the job -- from the science to the design to the price negotiations with manufacturers for the system's components. And that's where service learning has classroom learning beat, said Valerie Leppert, founding director of UC Merced's service learning program. "The whole point is to not give them a neat, packaged project, because that's the shortfall of the classroom," said Leppert. "Students need to know how to work with clients and work in teams ... It gives them a chance to apply their skills to real-world situations." Engineering firms nationwide -- acutely aware that the dated image of engineers as solo scientists no longer applies -- have expressed strong support for service learning programs, as well as a big interest in hiring service learning graduates. UC Merced modeled its program after one of the country's first service learning programs, started in 1995 at Purdue University. "UC Merced is really on the forefront of integrating service learning into their curriculum," said Bill Oakes, a professor of engineering at Purdue and director of Engineering Projects in Community Service, a national organization that seeks to expand service learning opportunities. "They've taken a big step in saying 'our students are going to have this experience as a significant part of their learning.' " Despite the benefits for students, industry and community, many universities have been slow to follow. Oakes said of the approximately 350 engineering programs that exist throughout the country, only 16 other schools have adopted Purdue's service learning model, including UC San Diego, San Jose State University, Dartmouth and Columbia. He said that while other schools might be incorporating community service in engineering classes on a smaller scale, few have integrated service learning into curriculums as broadly as UC Merced. Because of the unpredictability that can sometimes come with service learning, fitting dynamic projects into snug semester schedules can be difficult, said Oakes, and administrators and faculty must be willing to be flexible. Leppert said despite the logistical challenges, service learning has been a priority at UC Merced from the outset, and the fact that administrators were starting from scratch allowed UC Merced to create a service learning program with greater ease than an established university. "With a program like this, it's much easier to build it in from the very beginning," said Leppert. Last year, seven teams of about a dozen students each participated in UC Merced's program. Information technology upgrades at a local battered women's shelter, a new digital library for Yosemite National Park and better tools for local science teachers were among student accomplishments. Leppert said all of the projects will continue this year, in addition to three new ones. Some engineering students, including those studying mechanical and materials engineering, are required to participate in service learning; for others, it's optional. Students outside the School of Engineering are also allowed to sign up. Environmental engineering student Chris Butler said he had never heard of service learning when he enrolled last fall. "I didn't really know what it was when I signed up, but I knew it was required." Butler worked with the team that overhauled the information technology system at A Woman's Place. "It was such a unique opportunity. I'm really glad I did it," he said. "This isn't just hypothetical equations. This is real experience." Though he was only required to take one semester of service learning, Butler said he decided to stick with the project through the year. "(A Woman's Place) does really good things for the community, so if we can help them to do that more efficiently -- that was important to me." Wright said that kind of personal engagement with the curriculum also brings another benefit: higher student retention rates. Nationally, Wright said retention in engineering programs hover around 50 percent. Retention rates for programs that include service learning are typically far higher, and while UC Merced's numbers could still fluctuate before the start of the university's second year, Wright said he expects about 85 percent of students will come back. Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com. |