Congressional leaders. But such inquiries do not in themselves challenge the students to reflect
on their own styles of leadership, nor do they require the student to reflect on and develop their
own personal beliefs and values. We start here to stumble onto our dilemma of impressing upon
students their own journey of personal development in ways that both meet the mission’s civic
republican preferences while not privileging any particular ideological viewpoint.
Incorporating Service Learning into the College Curriculum: the Role of a Small Department
After the College’s Board of Directors endorsed the strategic plan, a series of task forces
were set to work on the plan’s implementation. These included curriculum, assessment, and
community connections. The Community Connections group researched the latest trends in
experiential learning and presented a proposal for the integration of both experiential learning
and service learning into the college’s general education program.
Indeed, it recommended that
all students should participate in at least one course that integrated service learning into its
pedagogy and advocated that service learning be emphasized in capstone experiences throughout
the college. Upon adoption of the new curriculum (implemented Fall 2004), every Morningside
student must take a course that has a service learning flag. The Curriculum Policies Committee
serves as the central clearinghouse for course proposals; however, the full faculty votes on each
course seeking to deliver the service learning flag.
As we began to reconfigure the political science curriculum, the department faced the
dual challenge of incorporating ethical leadership and civic responsibility into our general
3
Community Connections Final Report (Summer 2001). The report also provided a definition of service learning
that has since been adopted as the campus-wide definition of service learning: Service learning is defined as a
“course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service
activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further
understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic
responsibility.” “Institutionalization of Service Learning in Higher Education,” The Journal of Higher Education,
May/June, 2000.
McKinlay & Lopez 4
Draft – Not for Citation
Convention