Scholarships & Grants
Office of Community Engagement Scholarships available for Fall'10, and Spr.'11 More..
New Awards
2010 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll
New Volunteer Opportunities
Houston Read Commission - Innovative Service Learning Program
New OCE Links
Philanthropy News Digest: Requests for Proposals
COMM-ORG: The On-Line Conference on Community Organizing
COMM-ORG Papers Collection
New Articles
New Office Serves Houston's Local International Communities
Mayor Parker Launches HoustonSERVICE.org Website Offers Volunteer Opportunities
Through the Office of Community Engagement, four ‘seed money’ grants of $10,000 each have been awarded to support UHD faculty in building service-learning into their coursework. These grants, which will enable pilot programs in areas ranging from professional writing to financial literacy, were made possible through the support of State Representative Sylvester Turner (District
139). Congratulations to Dr. Richard Ogle (English Department), Dr. Amelia Hewitt (Urban Education Department), David Morales (University College), Dr. Carol Vobach and Dr. Nancy Leveille (Computer and Mathematical Sciences Department). A detailed description of these initiatives can be found on the following document.
On October 14, 2009 a number of faculty members gathered for a webinar that was presented by Dr. Maureen Rubin from California State University, Northridge and supported by the Office of Community Engagement at UHD. Dr. Rubin’s “Designing an Effective Service-Learning Course and Meaningful Syllabus” considered the following topics:
- Is service-learning right for you?
- What do you want to accomplish?
- Plan weekly learning and service activities.
- Put them together in syllabus.
- Unique service-learning assignments.
Ten student learning outcomes were purposed:
- Help students understand course content
- Promote social responsibility and civic learning
- Increase understanding of the importance of your discipline to society
- Increase awareness of community
- Enhance commitment to service
- Promote career development
- Develop self-awareness
- Increase sensitivity to diversity
- Develop communication skills
- Increase critical thinking
"I have the opportunity this year to live in community with homeless migrants from Mexico and Central America. It is one thing to study and teach about the impact of immigration reform on people, and quite another thing to live in community, in service to the people most affected. Although I have only been here for three months, as I carry on my research and teach my students, I bring a different type of strength to my work, a strength that comes from humility and a new type of knowledge that has already changed everything I do."
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Last updated or reviewed on 11/16/11
