Faculty Fact Sheet
SLICE (Student Leaders in Community Engagement)
SLICE is a partnership between faculty members with disciplinary knowledge, community partners with an
understanding of community assets and needs, and students who are interested in learning about issues of
leadership, justice or equity and putting their knowledge to use to address community issues. SLICE is
supported and enhanced by the work of CILSA staff, who administer the program and provide a year-long
cohort class experience for its students.
As an upper division, two-semester independent study of academic distinction, SLICE is initiated in the Fall
semester (1 course credit) and completed in the Spring semester (.25 credit).
Fall Semester 1-credit Independent Study:
Content: The Fall Semester is a complete 1-credit independent study focused on issues of leadership,
justice or equity in the discipline. The independent study provides theoretical grounding and disciplinary
content. This theory and content is ultimately connected to the focus of the community-based project that is
completed in the spring semester. As the course syllabus for the fall semester is created prior to the
conceptualization of the student’s community-based project, the theoretical grounding and disciplinary
focus of the independent study will be broader than the focus of the project. By mid-semester, more
focused research in the discipline that connects to the project could be recommended by the instructor.
Instructional Hours (Combined Independent Study, Cohort Seminar, and Community-Based Project work
should equal approximately 3 hrs/wk):
 The student and instructor should meet every other week throughout the semester.
 The student will participate in a twice-monthly SLICE seminar with CILSA staff. This seminar will
provide an underpinning for the development of the community-based project.
Assignments & Grading: Assignments should be given throughout the semester, and the final assignment
should be a literature review that is relevant to the student’s community-based project. This literature
review will be utilized in the SLICE Monograph completed by the student in the Spring. All assignments for
the student’s Fall 1-credit class will be due by the end of the Fall semester, and the student will NOT be
granted end-of-semester extensions for late assignments. Meeting deadlines is critical to the success of
students in SLICE. The Fall semester grade is 60% instructor of record evaluation and 40% cohort seminar
assignments. The seminar facilitator reports the seminar grade to the instructor of record, who integrates it
with their evaluation to create a single course grade. Students who earn a passing grade receive a Pass
(P) for the 1 credit Fall semester until the Spring semester .25 credit is completed, at which time they
receive a letter grade for both Fall and Spring. Students who do not pass the Fall independent study course
with the Instructor of Record will be dropped from the SLICE program.
Check-In with CILSA Staff: Mid-term check-in with CILSA staff to touch base about student progress.
SLICE Committee Involvement:
The instructor of record, community partner, and a CILSA staff member serve as the student’s SLICE
Committee. The committee will meet a minimum of two times in the Fall semester:
 Community-based project conceptualization (early-mid Fall)
 Project proposal and approval of Goal Statement & Action Plan (late Fall)
 The student and/or instructor may convene additional meetings when and if necessary.
Spring Semester Details & Time Line:
In the spring, students will meet in a monthly CILSA seminar aimed at providing support for the
community-based project and other SLICE components.
Content: The Spring Semester is a 0.25-credit independent study focused on the successful completion of
the community-based project and all other academic assignments. Through the interactive CILSA seminar
students will continue to apply and reflect on community engagement theory and best practices of servicelearning and community-based research and receive support in completing their project’s action plan.
No new disciplinary content need be introduced by the instructor of record during this term.
Instructional Hours:
 The student and instructor should meet once each month throughout the semester to discuss the
monograph, community-based project, defense, and presentation, and the connections between
disciplinary content introduced in Fall and the SLICE experience.
 The student will participate in a monthly SLICE seminar with CILSA staff. This seminar will provide
an underpinning for all SLICE components. Students will incrementally write and submit sections of
their monographs throughout the seminar.
Assignments & Grading for 0.25-credit:
1. Cohort seminar participation once a month to monitor and report on project progress (seminar instructor
assigns grade), 25% of grade
2. Final paper/Monograph (instructor of record + CILSA staff assign grade), 25% of grade
3. Formal presentations---Defense with Committee (committee assigns grade) + Presentation/Celebration
(seminar instructor/CILSA staff assigns grade), 25% of grade
4. Final product for community partner (community partner assigns grade), 25% of grade
Check-In with CILSA Staff: Mid-term check-in with CILSA staff to touch base about student progress.
SLICE Committee Involvement:
 The Instructor of Record, as a member of the student’s committee, can expect to potentially meet
once early or mid spring semester with the committee for continued consultation.
 The Committee will meet for the student’s community-based project defense.
 Committee members will also attend the SLICE students’ final presentation.
Time Line:
Defense of Community-Based Project with Committee
Mid-April to end of April
Final Paper (Monograph) Due
End of April/Beginning of May
SLICE Presentations & Celebration
Individual 10-minute presentations by each student
Beginning of May
CILSA Distributes Printed Monographs
Mid-May