Professional Development

How can service learning enhance your career?

These examples represent multiple possibilities to help you combine teaching, service and scholarship. This can bring meaning and vibrancy to your career and work, and also enhance your CV. It also builds the resumes of your students. For example, one group of students in a community psychology class recently presented their work at a conference at Western Carolina University.

In addition to the journals in your discipline, there are multiple journals in service learning where your efforts might be published.

• Information on publishing the results of your service learning efforts.

Programs that can help your professional growth.

 We have launched a fellowship for faculty that offers them a stipend as well as project funds to undertake work that the community wants or needs. The deadline for this year's fellowship has passed, but the fellowship also will be offered again in the 2011-2012 academic year.

•  Key Center Fellowship Applications for Faculty.

Assessment of service learning at UNC Asheville

We also have begun to assess service-learning efforts, providing a set of faculty from the Fall 2009 semester information on their students' views of their experiences, which were then compared to the faculty's views. This lets professors know where their take and their students' opinions line up and are at odds, enhancing prospects for improvement.

Places to look for inspiration of work to help communities and advance science

• East Saint Louis Action Research Project (between the University of Illinois and the city of East Saint Louis)
• SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities)