Effective Practices Exchange

Connecting Institutional Leaders • Serving Faculty Members • Fostering Students' Success • Resources and Tools • Partnerships •

Madonna University (Livonia, MI)
The Advisory Committee Model

Summary
Madonna University created a Certificate of Achievement in Community Leadership, as well as a new concentration in Community Studies within the sociology major.

The Practice
Recognizing and rewarding students for service-learning supports the broader “culture of engagement” at Madonna University. To this end, Madonna has created a Certificate of Achievement in Community Leadership. The certificate is designed to help undergraduate students develop a moral and ethical framework for community leadership roles, as well as gain the necessary conceptual knowledge and experiential base to work for the betterment of diverse communities. It also prepares students for active and lasting engagement upon graduation.

Requirements for the Certificate in Community Leadership

Dept: Course #	Title	s.h.	Key Student Learning Objective
SOC 1300	Introduction to Community Leadership (new course)	1	Discuss the importance of civic engagement and social responsibility in maintaining civil society.
SOC 1010	Introduction to Sociology and Cultural Anthropology (existing course with a service-learning requirement)	4	Demonstrate foundational knowledge about social groups, social forces, and related issues (e.g., diversity and social mobility.)
RST (HUM) 3100	Franciscan Values, Social Justice, and Service (new course with a service-learning requirement)	3	Relate the Franciscan theoretical framework to concrete social issues.
MGT 3160	Human Behavior and Leadership (existing course with a service-learning requirement)	2	Develop the knowledge base necessary for assuming leadership roles.
Any service- learning course within the student’s major.	Any service- learning course within the student’s major.	2 or more	Integrate course concepts related to one’s major while serving the community.
SOC 4890	Seminar in Community Leadership (new course with a service-learning requirement.)	3	Synthesize the critical objectives of the courses above through the creation of a Community Leadership Portfolio and a community leadership service-learning placement.

The certificate entails the completion of six courses and 15 semester hours. Five of the six courses have a service-learning requirement. The students are also required to do service-learning within their major, and to construct a Community Leadership portfolio as part of the senior level Community Leadership seminar.

A second degree program emphasizing civic engagement was also created during this phase of the partnership. A new concentration in Community Studies within the sociology major was established in 2002, which focuses on both community-based action research and service-learning, and also has a portfolio component. Both the Community Leadership Certificate program and the Community Studies concentration were included in Madonna’s Undergraduate Bulletin for 2002 through 2004. The Office of Service Learning has as a goal, the enrollment of 20 students in the certificate program by the fall of 2004. The introductory Community Studies seminar is slated to start in the winter of 2004.

Effectiveness
Forty-five students have completed the new certificate course in Franciscan Values, Social Justice, and Service (RST 3100) thus far. All
of the students have participated in service-learning projects focused
around poverty issues in Detroit. With the addition of service-learning
requirements in Introductory Sociology (SOC 1010) and Human Behavior
and Leadership (MGT 3160), the program has resulted in 30 additional
students per semester for service-learning projects. To date, eight
students are officially enrolled in the program, and we are confident
that we will reach our goal of 20 new enrollees program at the end of
fall term, 2004.

The Community Studies program has three enrollees to date, working independently with the chair of the Department of Sociology. Though the number is small, we expect the interest in the Community Studies concentration will build over time, augmented in part, by new marketing efforts.

Resources
Click here for a listing of Partnership activities and programs.

Click here to learn more about service-learning at Madonna University.

Click here for a description of the new Community Studies concentration in Sociology.

Contact Information
Kevin J. West
Service Learning Director
Madonna University
36600 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, MI 48150
Phone: 734-432-5704
kwest@madonna.edu