Community Service Assignment

I thought I would continue on with the theme of yesterday's post having to do with community service. I thought I would share the community service assignment from the syllabus for my large lecture Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism class. If have any questions about the assignment please let me know by sending an e-mail to mlalopa@fooded.org. If you want to share one with me that I can post to blog or members area of the website please send a message to the same e-mail.

The community service assignment in my large lecture class is worth 25% of a students grade, with the rest being comprised of two exams, reaction papers in response to guest speakers, and an end-of-semester reflection paper. The community service assignment itself is spelled out below in italizized text. Also note that I cancel classes to compensate students for the requirement which is consistent with Purdue's policy on requiring such assignments. I zlso provide many more opportunities than those stated in the syllabus to control the assignment because I have had students cheat on it by making up the community partner, the nature of the service performed, and then hand in a paper based on lies, which is truly sad but true.

1. Each student will be required to complete a minimum of 6-8 hours’ worth of community service work (referred to at Purdue as part of Service Engagement) by the end of the semester, which is worth 200 points. I have cancelled six classes during the semester to compensate you for the time you will be required to spend doing service to the community. There are four reasons for the community service requirement. The first is to make a positive contribution to the community of which Purdue is apart. The second reason is that more and more hospitality firms are requiring the management team to become involved in the community as part of their job. The third is that many recruiters will be interested in the community service work you have done while in school when considering you for an internship or job. Fourth, community service is a top priority at Purdue, given the mission to “facilitate higher level learning and citizenship…and respond to social, environmental and economic development needs…leading to long-term community changes.”

The primary community service project to be completed by students is the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon, which is a major tourist attraction each fall not far from campus on South River Road. Students are encouraged to select from the following dates to help set-up (9/13, 9/20) and tear down (9/28) the event.

Students may choose to do a community service project other than those offered by Boiler Volunteer Network (BVN) as long as it is approved by the instructor prior to October 2. To get approval, students will need to provide the instructor with the name of the community partner, contact person, phone number, and scope of the service to be performed. The instructor will contact the community partner to confirm the information and approve the project. Any student that does not choose to volunteer for the Feast or get approval to volunteer to assist another community partner by October 2 will get a zero for the assignment.

Also note that students must refrain from doing projects that are being done as part of another class, student association, fraternity/sorority, church group, etc. In other words, no double-dipping will be allowed.

To complete the community service requirement each student is to do the following tasks:

a. The first step is to select the date that works best to volunteer to help set up or tear down the Feast, or get approval for an alternate project.

b. Once the community service project is complete, each student is to get the certificate of participation issued by BVN or a letter from the community service partner (that is written on the partner’s letterhead). That document is to be stapled to the report that is to be written according to “c” below:

c. A typed report is also to be prepared by each student that answers the following questions once the project has been completed:

i. Why did you select the community partner you chose to do your community service project for this semester?
ii. Please list and describe the key things you did as part of your service to the community partner.
iii. What did you like most about your community service project? Please explain.
iv. How will doing this community service project be valuable to you in the future?
v. What advice would you give to members of the fall 2009 class to help them choose a community service project that would be personally rewarding and a benefit to the community?

You may hand in your paper once your community service requirement has been completed. All community service projects and papers are due no later than November 1, 2008.

Please note that there will be no partial credit for this activity, students will get either full credit or a zero. To get credit for the community service project you will need to complete 100% of the tasks outlined in this section of the syllabus. Also note that those students who sign up for a project and do not show up for it will be give a zero unless have a medical excuse with note from a doctor as to why unable to make it.

I hope this exerpt from my syllabus on a community service project helps those reading this post to compare and contrast with already doing or start anew.