As we all know, college students will be bound. Student voice survey in May 2024 Internal Advanced ED Discovering the first source of stress in student life is the balance between academics and individual, family, or financial responsibilities (such as work).
Research shows that campus participation is related to student retention, career development, and sense of belonging, but helping students with short-lived time gain these experiences can be a challenge for the institution.
This year, Goucher College, Maryland, created a new forum through the community-based learning office. Short-term micro-experience allows students to immerse their toes into service without committing to a semester or longer. The college first drove unpaid opportunities in the spring of 2024, so the results of student participation in service learning increased.
background: The Community-based Learning Office provides seven key areas for community participation: animal welfare, empowerment capacity, environmental sustainability, food and housing security, K-12 education and youth development, immigration and refugee programs, and health and wellness.
Participation may include off-campus federal workplace research roles, volunteering with the Social Justice Student Club or through campus organizations, participating in community-based learning courses, taking part in a practice internship or serving as student director. The office also works with faculty and staff to provide experience in the classroom, such as providing a semester program for nonprofit partners or conducting field trips with partner websites.
One of the reasons why CBL has not previously offered short-term or one-day service opportunities is because of how ethical issues are about the impact these experiences have on the organization or individuals they serve.
Lindsay Johnson Walton, director of CBL, said the change reflects the needs of today’s students who are more likely to work for salary or compress schedules to complete their undergraduate courses as soon as possible.
She said asking students to invest in a long-term plan that takes three, four or five semesters to time, “it’s impractical,” she said.
On the other hand, nonprofits and community partners may be so in need of support that they have fewer concerns about the service model. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the same student, as long as you interact with the student.”
Providing short-term engagement opportunities requires more work from the university to generate experiences and fill out paperwork, as it will only happen once, but Johnson Walton hopes that the process will become more streamlined through future iterations.
How it works: CBL offers about one microscopic experience a week, many of which are performed on Saturday morning or afternoon. The upper limit for each experience is 10 to 12 students.
Students register in advance and commit to volunteer for several hours. University staff handles logistics, including transportation, covers background checks and coordinates with the website, so students only need to show up and provide services. Student coordinators of part-time staff working at CBL also contribute to the organization and execution of the activities.
Some experience with short-term products includes volunteering at food banks or assisting in animal shelters, while other partners (such as public schools) can still operate through more lasting interactions.
On the return journey, staff will provide brief reports and guidance reflections to help students connect their experiences with larger learning goals and provide more learning or service opportunities when needed. A brief questionnaire was also sent to students asking them to reflect on their work.
Short-term learning and growth
Community-based learning is not the only area that reduces the duration of experiential learning opportunities.
In 2020, Goucher launched a micro-field targeting student, primarily to address the lack of products available to students due to the 19th pandemic. Remote products help connect students with alumni and other university partners and provide students with a program that helps their careers grow and grow.
Similarly, the Office of Global Education has also increased its interest in students studying abroad for three to five weeks, rather than semester courses.
Who is doing this: Micro experience attracts a wide variety of students, some who are curious about service learning and want to dip in their toes only. International students will often fall into this category because volunteering can be a unique American experience, and these programs give them insight into different organizations and spaces, and they may not be involved in schools, such as schools, such as schools.
Others are passionate about service but cannot invest too much time, so micro experiences offer flexibility opportunities.
Johnson Walton said many students have service requirements in high school or were told that volunteering is a good feature for their college application, which makes the service more reflective. “They think they should do that because culturally it’s built into the list of things you should do.”
Each of these students reflects an opportunity to further engage in community-based long-term learning in a curriculum or extracurricular setting.
Feedback from participants indicated that even small projects could have an impact on students. Johnson Walton said that during a volunteer appreciation event, one student wrote that they learned how to plant a tree, which is a simple action, but can help many people and skills that can be used over and over again.
Likewise, it may seem trivial to do food at a food bank, but how many people who recognize food will feed can help students understand the impact of their services.
For organizers based on community-based learning experiences, it’s hard to cope with the potential harm caused by short-term community service due to the power dynamics involved, but Johnson Walton learned that getting students out and doing things can be a great start to considerate and intentional service.
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