September 19, 2005 Source: University of Alberta:
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/newsreleases.cfm?id=6955 Students to earn course credit from community partnership program Students in the Faculty of Arts will now be able to earn a course credit by becoming involved in local community issues and initiatives through an innovative program called the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. The CSL program will be officially launched today by University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera and City of Edmonton Councillor Michael Phair at a celebration in the Timms Centre at 3pm. The CSL program, which began as a pilot project in 2003, is now a permanent - and growing - program thanks to the generous support of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Although practiced for decades in the United States, community service learning has only recently begun developing across Canada. Through partnership with the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, the Faculty of Arts program has linked service learning opportunities in over twenty different community organizations with academic courses ranging from women's studies to linguistics to sociology. By emphasizing inclusive partnerships between universities and non-profit community organizations, students connect theoretical classroom study to real-life experiences by linking their community engagement back to topics in the course. For example, students in a fall 2003 media studies course helped manage the youth program at a local film festival, while students in a fall 2004 political science course analyzed ideas of citizenship in several social justice outreach programs Funding for the CSL program over the next five years has been secured by a major grant of $678,000 from The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. The McConnell Foundation funds initiatives of national significance which address challenges for Canadian society by engaging people, by building resilient communities, and by developing a strong knowledge base for the work that it supports. Funding was also received from the Edmonton Community Foundation. For more please information contact Dr. Sara Dorrow; Acting Director, CSL Program, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, 780- 492-4301, sdorow@ualberta.ca; or Anne Bailey, Communications, Faculty of Arts, 780-492-9128. File No: 27 September 19, 2005
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