Office of Service-Learning celebrates 10-year anniversary

There won’t be any balloons, banners, streamers or confetti, but don’t be fooled, the Office of Service-Learning is celebrating its 10-year anniversary.

For 10 years, the office has been committed to connecting the community with IU, and they hope to continue to serve as an “academic bridge” for many years to come, said Nicole Schonemann, director of the Office of Service-Learning. 

Schonemann has worked with the Office of Service-Learning for the past five years and believes its success will continue in the upcoming years.

“I really expect it to grow,” she said. 

Colleen Rose, coordinator of Advocates of Community Engagement (ACE), agrees with Schonemann, saying she doesn’t see a reason why the office wouldn’t grow. 
 
Schonemann said the office has the right resources, and she expects its size to double in the next five to 10 years.

One of the reasons the office has been in good standing for 10 years is student involvement.

As civic engagement has become more popular, more students with past service experience have enrolled in service-learning classes, Schonemann explained.

Faculty involvement has also played a big role in service-learning classes.

“Faculty who take this on are taking on a lot of extra hours,” Schonemann said. 

She also said the ACE program can make a professor’s experience much better.
 
While the ACE program isn’t celebrating its 10-year anniversary just yet, it has been helping the office since 2000. The program places students at agencies in the community, where they work about 10 hours a week doing investigative work. The student’s major is irrelevant and so is their year. Students usually work at the agency for a year, but the program encourages students to stay for two.

While the Office of Service-Learning sets up the classes by working with the community and staff, the ACE program works directly with students.

“I think the ACE program plays a really big role,” Rose said.

But these classes would serve no purpose if community involvement weren’t present. The office works with a wide variety of agencies throughout Bloomington, including the Boys and Girls Club, Monroe County Public Library, Fairview Elementary School, Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, My Sister’s Closet and Pages to Prisoners.

Andrew Libby, assistant director for the Office of Service-Learning, searches for community partners to join their program and also works with organizations that contact him.

The first step he takes when meeting with an agency is to understand its purpose and how it works, Libby said. Then he can decide what class and professor fit the agency best. 

“Different agencies are involved at different levels,” he said.

After 10 years of dedicated work of coupling the University and community, the office continues to work toward more success in the future.

And Libby said he doesn’t think they’ll have trouble with that.

“When it works,” he said, “it works well for everyone.”