Establishing Good Service-Learning Partnerships
Choosing Partners:
 Choose partners whose mission and daily activities clearly tie to the subject
matter of your class
 Interview the supervisor to establish the organization’s needs and what your
students could do for them
 Before committing to a partnership, make sure you feel comfortable working
with the supervisor and that they are organized and reliable. Visit the site if
possible, or talk to someone who has.
 Good projects involve meaningful contribution—not busywork--from students
 The easiest partners to coordinate with are often those with consistent,
ongoing need—such as schools, after-school programs, nursing homes, parks,
etc.—where students with varying schedules, timelines, abilities and strengths
can fit in with relative ease
 Start small: even one or two partnerships for a class may be enough, especially
when you are starting out
Things to Tell/Ask Prospective Partners:
 Mutual Benefit. Explain the service-learning concept: tell them why you are doing this and
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what you want your students to get out of it. Also ask the agency what their needs are and
what they want their clients to get out of it. This will help both sides decide whether the
partnership will benefit them, and/or to tailor the project accordingly.
Your semester’s timeline and their needs. Remember that most partners, and even K-12
schools, are not on the same calendar as we are. Clarify when your students would begin their
projects (usually not until several weeks after the start of our semester), when they would
need to complete their projects, and how many hours they will contribute.
Your students’ levels and abilities and their needs. Make clear what they can expect from
your students and establish whether that fits their actual need. Provide the supervisor with a
syllabus, and give them an overview of your class and its level. You would not want to match
your students up, for example, with a K-12 classroom as advanced as they are. For the
agency’s sake and your students’, you want them to be doing work that inspires them and
bolsters their self-confidence while meeting real community need.
Ask what the agency’s legal requirements are for volunteers. Necessary paperwork? A
pre-scheduled volunteer orientation? A TB test and/or fingerprinting? TB tests are given
free of charge at the Health Center at Chabot; fingerprinting is provided by school districts
and police departments (for a small fee).
After Establishing a Partnership:
 Ask the partner to provide an orientation for your students before they begin their
project. Set a date, and inform your students that they must attend. This is a time
for them to learn more about the organization, about their project, and to set up
individual schedules with their supervisor.
 Send the partner a list of the students who will be working with them, and update it if
there are changes or drops
 Give your students contact information for the partner, information on the
orientation, timeline, and legal requirements, and, if possible, directions to the site
 Check in with the partner from time to time after the students start their projects to
see how things are going
 Have students fill out a Chabot Service-Learning Agreement Form before beginning,
and have them keep a log of their hours, to be signed by their supervisor at the end of
the semester. (Forms available from Chabot Service-learning coordinator)
 At the end of the semester, regroup with the partner to discuss how it went and any
areas for improvement.