UC Berkeley: Innovative Service-Learning
By Andrew Furco, Director of the Service-Learning Research & Development Center, UC Berkeley
WINTER 1997 (archived information - please note the date of publication)
The University of California at Berkeley has developed a service-learning program which utilizes both AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve streams of service. Under the directorship of faculty member Andy Furco, the two campus centers of CalCorps and the Service-Learning Research & Development Center facilitate this collaboration.
The Campus Centers
CalCorps, the campus Public Service Center, houses the AmeriCorps program, wherein 12 full-time students, who are also members working part time for the program, each provide 900 hours of service as volunteer coordinators during the academic year and through the summer. The AmeriCorps members' primary responsibilities are to recruit and train students to perform volunteer work in the community. Close to 1000 students are recruited by the AmeriCorps members each year.
The Service-Learning Center operates a Learn and Serve Higher Education program that fosters the development of service-learning courses on campus. The Center provides training and technical assistance to faculty in developing service-learning curriculum and is a place for faculty to exchange ideas with each other. Along with CalCorps, the Center uses AmeriCorps members to locate appropriate service placements for the students who are enrolled in the service-learning courses.
Cross-Stream Collaboration
Along with the mutual benefits have come the challenges of cooperation and collaboration, since each service activity has its own particular priority and focus. For example, while AmeriCorps is very heavily focused on ³providing direct service,² the Learn and Serve Higher Education program is more interested in academic learning and the benefits gained for the students who provide the service. As a response to this dichotomy of differing perspectives, the two centers were established: (1) CalCorps, the heavily service-oriented center, with the education of its members being secondary, and (2) the Service-Learning Center, which is ³learning² and academically focused. Each center complements the other while covering both areas of service and education.
Currently, AmeriCorps members are involved with preparing the curriculum for the faculty who teach service-learning classes. They also provide volunteer orientations in the classroom, serve as peer advisers to the service-learning students, and find placements in the community for the students. In addition, the Service-Learning Center and CalCorps are developing a partnership called the California Local Agency Service Programs (CLASP). Along with these two centers, several agencies are involved, including the Office of Education¹s K-12 Service-Learning Partnership (which includes 14 school districts), and 30 to 40 AmeriCorps members. The focus of this partnership is to provide service to K-12 schools in various forms. Through CLASP, AmeriCorps becomes the unifying factor in bringing together service-learning in both K-12 and higher education in the community service-learning. Activities include having members directly serve K-12 students in tutoring and other areas, and providing service to K-12 teachers in developing their service-learning programs. In addition, members recruit UC Berkeley students to serve in the schools and work with the Volunteer Center to assist community-based agencies absorb all of the K-12 students who serve in the community.
