HDEV 106: Practicum in Leadership and Community ServiceFall 2010
By their nature, universities nurture a culture of restlessness and even unruliness…. Education, research, teaching are always about change – transforming individuals as they learn….
--Drew Faust, 2007 inaugural address, HarvardUniversity
From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. --Arthur Ashe
Learning is not always a rational, logical process. It is experiential, emotional, and messy. --Laurel Johnson Black, Between Talk and Teaching
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. -- Rabindranath Tagore
Course Overview: Welcome to a non-traditional course, where the emphasis is on learning by doing, and success is measured not by grades, but by your level of engagement. This one-credit course is designed to provide structure and guidance for your service and leadership involvements both on and off campus, with an emphasis on the kinds of personal growth that takes place in such activities. The expectation is that you will increasingly chart your own course based on yourpersonal interests and your discovery of the available opportunities. The course is designed for students in their first term at the University, and is limited to students who live in HinmanCollege.
Course Leaders:
Al Vos, Faculty Master of HinmanCollege, and professor of English
Office: RC 104; hours Mon-Fri 2:00-4:30; ; (607) 777-6965
Amy Cubbage, Teaching Assistant, and alum of this Practicum
Hillside;;(215) 317-8782
Course Objectives:
--provide an introduction to service and civic engagement in the Binghamton community and on the Binghamton University campus
--increase your understanding of concepts and theories of service and of leadership
--provide opportunities and methods for reflection
--deepen your understanding of community needs and social change
--explore your personal values with respect to leadership and service
--support the development of service and leadership as distinctive themes of Hinman College
--lay the foundation for your ongoing, increasing involvement in service and leadership throughout your years at BU and beyond
Mentors:
Each of you will be paired with a student mentor who has significant experience in service and/or leadership activities. Mentors will be alums of this course and/or members of APO, Binghamton’s undergraduate service fraternity.
You and your mentors are expected to meet on a periodic basis, with a heavier concentration of meetings during the beginning of the semester. Meet with your mentor outside of class once during the 1st week of classes and again during the 2nd week. After these first two meetings, it is expected that you will continue to meet periodically throughout the rest of the semester, including at a minimum one mid-semester meeting. Some suggested conversation topics:
Learning about service and leadership opportunities
Navigating OCCT and BC bus systems
Learning about the surrounding community
How to find service projects that match your passions and interest
Over the course of the semester, you are encouraged to attend some structured social or service event(s) together (ex. Late Nite Binghamton, service project, XCEL Leadership Conference, etc.)
Course Expectations and Requirements
- Get involved in the course. Be pro-active.
- Do email regularly; check Blackboard daily. Think of the Blackboard web-site for our course as its communications hub, to which you need a strong, ongoing connection. There you will always find the latest, most reliable word about all facets of the course.
- Come to class each week for workshops, info sessions, and/or discussions of issues and topics relating to community service and leadership, led by Al and Amyand/or BU professional staff. Occasional readings and exercises from websites as basis for discussions.More than two unexcused absences can adversely affect your grade.
- Regular consultations with an experienced upper-class mentor (see “mentor” above)
- A minimum of 15 hours ofservice and leadership activities per semester (see next bullet on documenting these hours). This Practicum emphasizes community-based, off-campus projects, but up to half of these hours caninvolve on-campus activities, including leadership workshops. Up to 6 of these hours can be within a single organization, and some of 15 required hours will come from whole-class events organized by Al and Amy.Throughout the semester you’ll learn about possible projects and activities, andstudents in the Practicum should increasingly become self-directed in getting involved with issues or agencies or projects they’re passionate about.
- Activity Log and Reflection Journal. For eachservice or leadership activity for this Practicum, write a journal entry. About a page. Begin your entry with a documentary log of the experience: what, when, where, how long. The journal entry itself should be reflective, but it can be poetical, analytical, visual, creative, narrative, etc. In short, express yourself, reflect, analyze, dream…. What did you learn and discover—about yourself, about the community you worked with, about society, etc.?
- Completion of a self-study of personal abilities and interests, using the on-line STRENGTHSQUEST program, with follow-up self-study activities. Cost: $12.50 for access code and access to interpretive materials, payable to Al, who will coordinate with STENGTHSQUEST administrators.
- Aninitial personal statement, due at the second class (Tuesday, Sept 14). Possible topics: who are you today? What do you hope to gain from this Practicum? What has been your past experience with service/leadership? What are you interested in? are there areas you are passionate about?
- Capstone reflective essay and self-assessment of personal growth as engaged citizens of the university and the community (end of semester: details to come)
- A Capstone Presentation to the whole Hinman Community (details to come)
Connecting the Themesof this Practicum:
Service, Leadership, Civic Engagement, Personal Growth
Note: class workshops and activities, both inside and outside the classroom, will emphasize sometimes one theme, sometimes another, but they are inter-related. This conceptual model is a representation of those interrelationships, and suggests the over-arching structure or design of the various things we will do in the course.
Class events already scheduled (mark your calendar: activities we’ll do together as whole class):
--September 18 (Saturday): whole-class service project at ………. (details TBA)
--September 21 (Tuesday), 2:00-6:00 in Mandela Room: Volunteer Showcase
--September 24 (Friday), 4:00-9:00 p.m.: Communiversity Fest, downtown Binghamton: info fair of community organizations; food; entertainment; freebies.
--Oct 1 (Friday), 6:00-9:00 p.m.: “First Friday,” a celebration of community arts and culture, downtown Binghamton.
--October 17 (Sunday), CHOW Hunger Walk (fundraiser). 1:00 p.m. registration, walk at 2:00; BU campus
Schedule of Class Sessions
Week 1 (Aug 31): Introduction to course. Ice-breakers & team-builders. Distribute materials, maps, bus schedules, brochures. Mix withthe alums and mentors who are able to attend. Assignment for next time: (1)write your initial personal statement (see above); (2) meet with your mentor outside of class;(3)Do a careful study ofthe followingimportant websitesabout opportunities for service and leadership on and off campus. Come to the next class (Sept 14) with a written list of five items/groups/activities/organizations you found on these websites which interest you.
the XCELCenter for Excellence in Student Leadership
Center for Civic Engagement Volunteer Programs page
Sept 7: Labor Day/Rosh Hashanah break: no class
Week 2 (Sept 14): Say Hello to Binghamton’s Community Organizations! Hand in your initial personal statement (see assignment for week 1). Class begins with sharing the fiveitems/groups/activities/organizations each of you discovered on XCEL and CCE websites (see assignment for week 1 above). Discussion of opportunities and needs in the Binghamton community, and why community service matters. Assignment for next time: make contact with at least three of the five groups/organizations you identified, and get involved as quickly as you can with them.
Week 3 (September 21): Welcome to Binghamton--local history, culture, economy, etc. Report from each class member on contact and involvement with the three chosen organizations/activities (see assignment for week 2). A panel discussion focused on understanding social, economic, and cultural issues in the Binghamton community, with members from that community.
Week 4 (Sept 28): Leadership 101. Workshop on leadership basics; leadership opportunities
Week 5 (Oct 5): Student Organization Panel #1. An introduction to some student organizations that are making a difference on campus and/or in the community