Service Learning and Community Action

Associate Director's Welcome

Welcome to the Office of Service Learning and Community Action. Whether you are a student looking for volunteer opportunities, a community organization seeking volunteers, or a faculty member interested in service learning, this website will be a great resource for you.

The Office of Service Learning and Community Action connects students to community-based projects that capture their interests, advance their learning and develop their social consciousness and responsibility.  Community involvement helps students get to know the diverse Boston community, develop professional skills and relationships, make meaningful contributions of skills and talents and understand larger social and political issues.

Students can get involved through service learning coursework. Academic courses with service learning components provide opportunities to enhance students’ skills and knowledge in their fields of interest while providing the community with tangible benefits. Students can also volunteer through co-curricular service. There are many ways to get involved in service outside of the classroom as well, including clubs like Imagine and Best Buddies, service work-study opportunities like Jumpstart, special initiatives like Alternative Spring Break or Emerson Action Day and volunteering at community organizations with student clubs or residential floors.

If you are a faculty member who is interested in integrating service learning into your courses, our faculty resource page is a great starting point for ideas and sample syllabi. I would be happy to meet with you to help identify community partners, assist with the logistical planning, provide examples of reflection assignments and develop tools for assessing the student and community impact.

Whether you are a student, faculty member or community partner, the Office of Service Learning is a great resource for you.  After you have explored our site, please contact me for further support in exploring community service. I also encourage you to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter to learn about upcoming local volunteer opportunities, and to check out our newsletter archives to learn more about our students, events and programs.   

Thank you for your interest in community service!

My best,

Suzanne Hinton, Associate Director of Service Learning