First Year Service-Learning Information

• In line the Jesuit mission of Saint Joseph’s University, your service work will engage you with a particular marginalized population such as men and women who are homeless, people who are economically poor, adults with mental or physical disabilities, the elderly or children attending inner-city schools.
• All Saint Joseph University students are required to take English, First Year Seminar, Philosophy, and Social Science courses. You can choose to take one of these courses as a service-learning class (in a small setting with strong support centers). There is also a special course section designated for Education majors.
• Students attend class two or three times a week and volunteer weekly for three hours for both the fall and spring semesters.
• Students volunteer with at least one other person in their class on the same day and at the same time, at the same site for the entire academic year, such as every Monday from 2:30pm-5:30pm at Gesu School's Afterschool Program.
• All service-learning placements are valuable learning experiences. Freshmen have the opportunity to review all possible placements and report three preferences. While we try to honor student preference, placement occurs with both agency and student’s scheduling compatibility.
• Fall 2020 offers both direct and virtual service options. Most of the placements are urban sites located in inner-city Philadelphia. Many of these agencies have worked with the Saint Joseph’s University Service-Learning Program for the past fifteen years and are committed to the care of our students.
• For Direct Service we provide transportation to most placement sites through the student use of the university vehicle pool. Students can walk or take public transportation to placement organizations close to campus and before the hours of 6pm. Bus passes are provided.
• Students are placed in groups of two or more. Freshmen students never travel alone.
• Service time begins at the end of September, after you have received orientation, training and had time to ease into college life.
• Service-Learning students engage in reflection dinners and community building activities with their classmates, professors and peer mentors.
• Service-Learning students report that being involved with our program is the best experience they have had in college.

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 freshmen 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 men, women, 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 “men and women for others” and “in solidarity with those most in need” as the Jesuits espouse.

Service-Learning Students' Thoughts

When you come to campus, select one of the following courses when you register at Orientation. 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.

ENG 101-SL1, Craft of Language, MWF, 1:25pm, Dr. Green (Fall 2021)
Follow-up Spring semester course: ENG 102-SLR, Texts in Context

ENG 101-SL2, Craft of Language, TR 2:00pm, Dr. Patterson (Fall 2021)
Follow-up Spring semester course: ENG 102-SLR, Texts in Context

PHL 150-SL1, Drugs, Freedom and Control, MWF, 12:20pm, Dr. Boettcher (Fall 2021)
Follow-up Spring semester course: PHL 154-SL1, Moral Philosophy

POL 150-FY1, Women, Girls and Politics, MWF 11:15am, Dr. Baglione (Fall 2021)
Follow-up Spring semester course: PHL 154-SL2, Moral Philosophy

SOC 150-FY1, Social Problems and Social Change, TR 9:30-10:45pm, Dr. Bergen (Fall 2020)
Follow-up Spring semester course: SOC 202-SLR, Advanced Social Problems

EDU Majors: EDU 150-SL1, Schools and Society, MWF 11:15am, Dr. Edwards-Alexander, (Fall ’21)
Follow-up Spring semester course: EDU 151-SLR, Development, Cognition & Learning