Student Handbook 2008-2009

Higley Hall Rooms 23-25

Laurel Kennedy	Director for the Alford Center for Service-Learning, kennedy@denison.edu, (740) 587-6562
Susie Kalinoski	Coordinator of Service-Learning, kalinoskis@denison.edu, (740) 586- 6639
Michele Doran	Coordinator, America Reads/Big Brothers/Big Sisters, @denison.edu, (740) 587-8557
Jenny Pearlman	Secretary PT, pearlmanj@denison.edu (740) 587-6474

Service-Learning: Courses include an academic component of serious reflection, reading, writing, and classroom discussion of the volunteer activity itself. For example, students in certain sections of First-Year Studies 101 participate in literacy projects in Licking County. Classroom work includes issues of adult literacy and what it means to be functionally illiterate in a society where so much is communicated in writing.

Students volunteer as literacy tutors and help people learn to read and pass the GED exam. Their efforts come full circle when, as a part of their course, they keep a written journal of their progress and reflect upon how they, too, have been educated by the experience of helping others. The Service-Learning Coordinator supports service-learning faculty in connecting their course work to community service. The Coordinator maintains a network of community groups which are committed to working with Denison, supporting the placements and the students throughout the semester.

In DCA, students can organize their peers in response to community needs. Volunteers enter into relationships with people of different ages, abilities, socio-economic settings and life situations. The participation of fully one-quarter of the student body contributes to a campus culture which encourages self-discovery through service, leading many to active lifelong civic commitment. The Coordinator provides coordination for DCA and acts as a service resource for other campus organizations.