Undergraduate Academic Affairs

May 15, 2012

A detailed look at service-learning

Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Alumni e-News
Table of Contents

Students engaging in public services at UW

UW students are getting involved in service in record numbers. Student involvement in public service helped the UW earn national recognition for service for multiple years. Service-learning with an environmental theme is noteworthy, particularly since the UW is rated as “America’s Coolest School” by the Sierra Club.

Student Engagement in Public Service across the UW

Undergraduate involvement in public service

Undergraduate involvement in public service

This chart demonstrates the increase in undergraduate involvement in public service across the University of Washington through 2010-11. Service includes UW-sponsored service-learning, internships, volunteering, etc. The numbers show student-quarters; one student volunteering for one quarter = one student-quarter.

Service-Learning Focused Data

Number of undergraduates participating in service-learning

Number of undergraduates participating in service-learning

This chart shows the increase in students signing up for service-learning experiences connected to their courses since 1995.

Number of departments, faculty, and courses involving service-learning

Number of departments, faculty, and courses involving service-learning

This chart shows the increase in departments and faculty offering service-learning in their courses since 1995.

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Service-Learning Data on Courses with an Environmental Theme

Courses representing a range of themes and disciplines offer a service-learning component. For this section, we focused on service-learning with environmentally-themed courses.

Geographic reach of environmentally focused service-learning

View Geographic Reach of Environmentally Focused Service-Learning in a larger map

This map shows the reach that UW students engaged in environmentally-focused service-learning have in the community. Students’ classes had an environmental focus and the UW’s Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center connected students with relevant nonprofit organizations for which they volunteered, adding experience to the theory they learned in class. This information is from the 2010-11 academic year. Click on a point on the map to learn which organization supported students’ learning, project titles, and academic courses involved.

Student service-learners requested by organization type, environmental theme

Student service-learners requested by organization type, environmental theme

This visual compares the number of student service-learners organizations requested. Organizations are grouped by type and service-learning opportunities are connected to environmentally-themed courses offered in 2010-11.

UW departments offering environmental-themed courses and service-learning opportunities

UW departments offering environmental-themed courses and service-learning opportunities
This graphic shows the UW departments that offered an environmentally-themed course in 2010-11 and connected that course or courses to service-learning opportunities. Colleges across the university participated in service-learning. This focuses on those with a particular environmental theme.

2010-11 Environmentally-themed courses with a service-learning component

  • Environmental Health and Public Policy—Hanford Nuclear Reservation
  • Intro to Community and Environmental Planning
  • Food Production & Sustainability
  • Global Environmental Politics
  • Environmental Sociology
  • The Urban Farm
  • Forests and Society
  • Food Studies: Harvest to Health
  • Political Ecology of the World Food System
  • Society and Sustainable Environments