What is HUM 924: Honors Service Learning Project?

The Honors Service Learning Project is a one-credit course requiring a minimum of 33 hours volunteer work for a not-for-profit organization related to their career choice during a period of 7 to 14 weeks. Grades are given at the end of the semester.

The Honors Service Learning Project is designed to give Honors students learning experiences related to their majors, but different from either internships or extra-curricular volunteer community service.

The major goals of the Honors Service Learning Project are that students:

Explore their chosen majors by working at least 33 hours in a real-world setting.
Reflect on their experienced both during the time of the project (through a journal shared with the coordinator) and at the completion of the project through an evaluation paper.

The organization for which the Service Learning Project is completed must be a not-for-profit, service or non-partisan aspect of government organization.

The Service Learning Project Coordinator will help students find an appropriate organization for the Project. The project is student initiated with the coordinator acting as a resource for finding appropriate organizations.

The Service Learning Project Coordinator will act as the Honors Program liaison or contact person for the organizations offering the Service Learning Project opportunity and will be in contact with the organization for reports about the student’s progress and a final evaluation of the service by the student.

Examples of Past Honors Service Learning Projects include:

Living Lands and Waters-clean up of river in Cedar Rapids after the flood
Habitat for Humanity-built home for family
Quad City Animal Welfare Center-assisted with surgeries, spaying and neutering animals
Quad City Red Cross-learned procedures for disaster relief here and abroad
Math Center, Scott Community College-math tutor
Bettendorf School District-summer school program assistant
Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center-lab assistant
Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce-clerical and other duties as assigned
Big Brothers/Big Sisters-big brother to a second grader
Midwest Writing Center-assisted with conference
Mary of Humility Center a local Mental Health Organization-served in the free kitchen, painted apartments, worked in the community garden and where ever help was needed
Davenport Public Library-worked in the Special Collections Department
Davenport Domestic Violence Shelter-answered crisis lines and observed counseling sessions
Quad Cities Symphony-planned, coordinated, and executed and evening food and wine event
AIDS Project of the Quad Cities-educated teens about AIDS and HIV

These and many more projects can be viewed in the SCC Library.