Service Learning, Volunteerism & Community Engagement

As the catalyst that can spark lifelong commitment to the community, service and volunteerism are at the core of the civic engagement movement at Mount Wachusett Community College. In collaboration with a wide variety of community partners, a diverse range of service opportunities are offered for community-minded students and student groups each year. The Brewer Center assists in connecting the college community with nonprofits and community-based organizations in the region to address community needs. Projects take place both on and off campus. Students are also able to design their own community impact projects, with the opportunity to apply for funding in support of the project.

For more information, visit the student page of the Brewer Center's website

SERVICE RECOGNITION AT GRADUATION

Service Learning, volunteerism and civic engagement activities are all eligible for some kind of recognition at the point of graduation. Any civic learning activity that you checked-in at should be reflected in your co-curricular transcript available to you through iConnect; your service hours records are available to you through GivePulse, which you are able to retain after graduation. These are powerful tools to bring into a job interview to discuss how your experience in the community has helped to prepare you for employment in the field.

AWARD RECOGNITION LEVELS

Awards are cumulative over your time as a student and awarded for each level achieved

  • 20+ hours of service: a commemorative service pin
  • 40+ hours of service: a Civic Scholar medallion 
  • 75+ hours of service: an exceptional service pin
  • 100 + hours of service: certificate of congratulations from President Vander Hooven
  • 200+ hours of service: Graduation Service Cords
  • 300+ hours of service: Graduation Service Stole

Service is accrued over the student’s entire course of study at MWCC and is recognized at graduation. Once a student has identified and obtained approval for a service opportunity, and has submitted all required documentation to the Brewer Center, the student is responsible for reporting all hours completed through GivePulse, which can be found on iConnect. Faculty and advisors are responsible for verifying hours reported by each student.

What Counts?

It is much easier to achieve the milestones for graduation than many students realize. If you are engaged in support of your community in some way, it likely fits somewhere. The following are existing pathways for achieving impact and recognition:

  • Service Learning: embedded in coursework, specific to the learning objectives of that course and weighed in the final grade. All time spent planning, preparing, implementing and reflecting on the project should be included in the service record.
  • Club Service Projects: one is required each semester for eligibility for funding from the Student Government Association. Hours spent planning the project, working on the components and implementation all can be counted. For example, for a club bake sale donating proceeds to the food pantry, all hours spent planning, baking, packaging, promoting and actually running the bakesale should be included in the service record.
  • RISE Student Projects: students who would like to develop their own solutions to challenges and issues within a particular community develop a 'business plan' for social impact. These projects are developed with the guidance and under the supervision of Brewer Center staff, and with the support of Student Leaders in Civic Engagement (SLiCE).
  • Individual Volunteerism: if you're spending your time to volunteer individually in your community, you can now include this in your service records as long as you have someone from that organization who can verify your time and efforts. 
  • Civic Scorecard: The Civic Scorecard, which can be found within GivePulse, is a series of activities and reflections designed to support community engagement, knowledge and awareness. 

What IS Service Learning?

Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy integrated into a course by faculty to contextualize classroom learning and to provide much needed volunteer services to our community. Service learning offers students the opportunity to develop and refine 21st century job readiness skills, such as critical and creative thinking; collaboration; communication; and interpersonal skills. It also reinforces the theoretical learning occurring in the classroom in a way that provides “real world” context.

Service learning is different than volunteerism. Service Learning at MWCC has four core tenets:

  1. The experience is closely tied to course learning objectives of a specific course, and contained within the semester in which the course is taken
  2. It is integrated into the grade for the course. Each faculty member can determine individually how this is done, and it should be reflected in the syllabus for your course
  3. Student reflection on the experience is required, but can take may different formats, such as in writing, through video or art presentations
  4. Hours are reported through GivePulse, MWCC's single sign-on service tracking tool. It is available through iConnect as a tile on the front page

Identifying courses with Service Learning 

Service learning is required in some courses, and optional in others. It is at the individual faculty member's discretion as to whether service learning is an option in any given course. Most courses with service learning are tagged in the registration system as either “SLR” (service learning required) or “SLO” (service learning optional). An academic advisor may assist in finding courses with the option that is right for an individual student. 

For more information about service learning, please visit The Senator Stephen M. Brewer Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement (the Brewer Center) in room H133 at the Gardner Campus, or visit the website.