First Year Service-Learning
First-Year Service-Learning Information
Service experiences will relate to classwork and work will benefit both you and the community partner organizations. Listed below are the service placements associated with each First-Year Service-Learning Course. Read each placement description listed for your class located below.
When you are on campus and have questions about the service placements you can talk to your Service Scholar who works with your class or visit Post Learning Commons 131 to meet with the Placement Liaison associated with that Community Partner.
Info sheet for new students to first-year service-learning!
How Do I Take a Service-Learning Class my first year?
When you register for fall courses, you can select one of the following courses designated as service-learning. For your information, the list below includes the follow-up Spring semester service-learning course associated with the Fall course. All courses fulfill a General Education Requirement or are noted as major specific.
Fall 2025 Courses
Looking to enroll in the First-Year Service-Learning Program? Please see the courses below. We are looking forward to sharing in this incredible experience of community-based learning with you!
Course Title | Meeting Time | Instructor | Course Fulfillments | Spring Sequence | CRN |
| EDU 150 SL1 Schools in Society w/ Field | MWF 9:05-9:55 AM | Dr. Terosky | CCC: Diversity (Magis Scholars only) Faith-Justice Studies, Service-Learning | Lit course | 40318 |
| ENG 101 SL1 Craft of Language | TR 2:00-3:15 PM | Dr. Green | CCC: Rhetoric & Composition Faith-Justice Studies, Service-Learning | ENG 205, Cultural Diversity | 40391 |
| ENG 101 SL2 Craft of Language | TR 11:00 AM-12:15 PM | Dr. Patterson | CCC: Rhetoric & Composition Faith-Justice Studies, Service-Learning | ENG 205, Cultural Diversity | 40392 |
| SOC 102 SL1 Social Problems | MW 12:20-1:35 PM | Dr. Clampet- | CCC: Diversity, Social Science Faith-Justice Studies, Service-Learning, Gender Studies, American Studies | SOC 101 | 42561 |
Students serve at one of our local community partner organizations. First-year students registered for service-learning courses will receive a survey collecting their service interests in August. Check out some of our community partners below!
Fall 2025
| Service-Learning Course | Service Placement |
EDU 150 SL1 Dr. Aimee Terosky | Working in classes to support teachers, in the library assisting students reading and checking out books, or tutoring math and language arts. |
| ENG 101 SL1 Craft of Language T/R 2:00-3:15pm Dr. Ann Green CRN: 40391 | |
| ENG 101 SL2 Craft of Language T/R 11:00am-12:15pm Dr. Paul Patterson CRN: 40392 | Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School |
| SOC 102 SL1 Social Problems M/W 12:30-1:35pm Dr. Susan Clampet-Lundquist CRN: 42561 |
Alumni Perspectives
Listen to service-learning alumni about their experienes in first-year service-learning courses!
Student Support
Placement Liaisons
Placement Liaisons (PL) work directly with the community partner organizations (CPOs) that host service-learning students for service. Click the links below to find the PL that works with your CPO and their office hours, located in the FJI Student Workroom in Post-Learning Commons suite 131.
Service Scholars
Two Service Scholars are upperlevel students who have taken a first-year service-learning sequence and are assigned to each first-year service-learning course. Service Scholars attend class weekly, facilitate in-class discussions about service, and offer on-going support. You will meet your Service Scholars during the first week of class!
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Additional information
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- Aligned with the Jesuit mission of Saint Joseph’s University, service work will engage with historically marginalized communities.
- By choosing a Service-Learning course, students will have a small class size, peer mentors, fulfill curriculum requirements and gain a better understanding of course concepts through their experiential-learning.
- The First-Year Service-Learning experience is a year-long commitment. Students attend class two or three times a week and serve weekly for three hours for both the fall and spring semesters.
- Students serve with at least one other person in their class on the same day and at the same time, at the same organization for the entire academic year. For example, one may serve every Monday from 2:30pm-5:30pm at Gesu School's Afterschool Program.
- All Service-Learning placements are valuable learning experiences. First-Year students have the opportunity to review all possible placements and report preferences. While we try to honor student preference, placement occurs with both community partner and student schedule compatibility.
- The majority of the service-learning placements are at non-profits in Philadelphia. Most of the agencies have worked with the Saint Joseph’s University Service-Learning Program between 5-20 years and are committed to the care of our students.
- First-Year Service-Learning students are driver trained and use university vehicles to travel to and from service. Upper-level students can walk, take public transportation, or drive their own car. All students who use public transportation to their placement organization need to be back on campus by 6pm. Bus passes are provided.
- Students are placed in groups of two or more. First-Year students never travel to or attend service alone.
- Students begin service at the end of September (fall semester) and the end of January (spring semester).
- Each Service-Learning class attends an end-of-the-semester meal together, hosted by the Faith-Justice Institute, to reflect on their experiences together and at service.
- Service partners often remain close friends in college and beyond.
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The students currently taking service-learning courses told us before classes started they were concerned about the time commitment. They asked us to pass some information on to you: it IS possible to fit in the three hours of required service each week. These first year service-learners loved their experience and want others to have the same opportunity they had. They want you to know that you can do it.
Something else they want us to pass on is that service-learning is hard work. It takes time and effort to learn about the lives and hear the stories of adults, and children struggling with mental illness, homelessness and other circumstances keeping them living at the margins of society. Each week, you will encounter vulnerable people who may have difficulty trusting others. You have to put yourself out there. You have to be willing to take risks. You need initiative, motivation, energy and, most of all, compassion. The students working in service-learning courses at Saint Joseph’s are interested in learning what it means to be the people “with and for others” and “in solidarity with those most in need” as the Jesuits espouse.