Service Learning

At D'Youville, select classes integrate community service activities with coursework.

D'Youville College students often graduate with a sense of service because of the experiences they had while here. Our service learning courses integrate meaningful community service with instruction and a reflection component. Students learn civic responsibility and, in turn, help strengthen communities.

Beyond Volunteer Service

What differentiates D'Youville's service learning courses from community volunteerism?

• The community service activities you perform are integrated with your coursework.
• You take time to process and reflect upon your experiences to understand their meaning, both personally and to the community.
• The service aspect is as important a part of the learning experience as classroom participation, examinations, essays and class attendance.

Making an Impact

We hope that serving community and social needs as a D'Youville student will encourage you to continue to give back throughout your life. A sampling of our current service learning courses:

• Occupational Development II (OT 512)- Led by Michele Karnes, a faculty member in Occupational Therapy, this class organizes and manages activity groups with senior citizens at community center near campus. Students in the course learn and practice leading groups and working in teams. The senior citizens at the center benefit through crafts, games, cooking and other enrichment activities.
• International Relations (PSC 250, PSC 350, PSC 450)- Students in this course help run a Model UN (academic simulation of the United Nations) for 600 high school students. In addition, as part of the course, students attend the Harvard National Model United Nations Conference in Boston.
• Political Activism (PSC 349)- In this course, students volunteer for a political campaign for 10 hours per week. They attend rallies, conduct voter registrations, deliver lawn signs and help with administrative work.
• Religion and Social Responsibility (RS 201)- Students in this course have volunteered with local faith-based agencies such as Little Portion Friary, Catholic Charities, St. Luke's Mission and First Presbyterian Church. (Service learning curriculum in this course is subject to change - check with instructor)
• Urban Sociology (SOC 441) - As part of this course, students have volunteered five or more hours with a community service or urban renewal agency to positively impact a neighborhood in Buffalo. (Service learning curriculum in this course is subject to change - check with instructor)
• Quantity Food Preparation (DTC 409L) - In this course in the Dietetics Program, students gain experience in planning and coordinating quantity food production, including a Thanksgiving meal prepared for residents of a the Santa Maria Towers (low income housing for seniors).

For more information about service learning opportunities at D'Youville, please contact Rev. Jan Mahle at mahle@dyc.edu or (716) 829-7693.

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  Community Service
  

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  Faculty Story

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  Campus Ministry
  

  Join with others on campus to examine social justice issues and ethical questions in life and society.
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  Our History
  

  The Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart founded D'Youville College in 1908 and named it for their patron Saint Marie-Marguerite d'Youville.
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