Community Service

About

Wittenberg requires all students to do community service as part of the general education requirements. The Community Service program provides students with opportunities to serve, to connect with the greater Springfield community, and to reflect on the service experience to better understand themselves, community needs, and their responsibility in advancing the common good.

Each year, over 400 students engage in community service learning opportunities. These students contribute over 11,000 service hours in partnership with over 40 local organizations.

The information on this page regards Wittenberg's required community service course (CMSV 100). If you are interested in our one-time service opportunities, see our calendar and events page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do students complete the community service requirement?
  • Students pick one semester before they graduate to register for Community Service 100 (CMSV 100), the course students take to complete the service requirement, and then they:
    • Attend a mandatory CMSV 100 Orientation to get prepared for the experience, find out what types of service opportunities are available, and to understand what is required.
    • Inform Community Service of their service placement by submitting a Placement Confirmation
    • Engage in 27 hours of direct service (20 of the 27 hours must be completed at one site) during the semester they are registered for CMSV 100. The intent of the requirement is to have students serve within the Greater Springfield community, and primarily with one of the more than 40 partner sites listed on the Community Service Opportunities List If students are interested in serving with a non-partner site, they must complete a Self-Design proposal.  When reviewing the proposal, the Director of Community Service will consider if a similar opportunity can be offered in the local community, if the service meets the guidelines for CMSV 100, and if the experience allows the student to achieve the desired outcomes of CMSV 100.
    • Participate in a RAP (Reflection, Action, Participation) Session and write a reflection essay.
    • Evaluate the experience, log their service hours and have the service site approve those hours and complete a site evaluation.
  • Students receive a Satisfactory grade for completion of the course. There is no cost to register for the course since it is a 0-credit.  Students will need to retake the course if they receive a No Credit or withdraw from the course and they will forfeit any hours already completed.

When is the best time for students to complete CMSV 100?
  • Completing the requirement prior to the junior year is recommended. It allows students to build off the service experience and students’ course schedules only gets more demanding during the junior and senior year.
  • Students should consider the # of credits they will be taking, the demand of the courses in their schedule, extracurricular obligations, and plans for future semesters (such as study abroad, internships).
  • A good time to take CMSV 100 is in the summer if a student is going to be taking courses at Wittenberg (or living in Springfield) between May-August.

How do students get all 27 hours of service completed in one semester?
  • Getting started early is the key! Students need to plan to schedule 2-3 hours at the site each week or consider open blocks of time including weekends and evenings. The Community Service Opportunities List provides students with the range of times that are available for serving with each of the sites.

What should students consider when selecting their service experience?
  • Fit is the key. If students are interested in the opportunities provided by the service site and believe in the mission of the organization, then they will get more from the experience (and so will the site).
  • Consider where students’ gifts and talents can meet a need. What do they do well? What do they like to do?
  • Some service sites may pertain to students’ major/minor interests, which gives them an opportunity to enrich the academic experience, and possibly create an internship or position in a future semester.

How do professional studies students complete the community service requirement?
  • Prior to the semester of enrollment in CMSV 100-02, meet with the Community Service staff to discuss plans for completion and to review the Community Service Proposal process.
  • Fill out the proposal for approval of previous service or service not yet completed. Please submit the proposal to Community Service prior to the semester. The proposal needs to be turned in by the Friday of the third week of the semester.
  • During that semester of enrollment:
    • Submit a letter of verification/service log of service hours by the last day of classes
    • Attend a reflection session
    • Submit the final reflection essay by the last day of classes (on Moodle)
  • CMSV 100-02 carries 0 credit and no charge
  • Click Here to access the Community Service Proposal- LINK

What are the guidelines for Community Service 100?
  • The CMSV 100 experience provides students the opportunity to:
    • Interact with people from various cultures and life situations and address societal issues that challenge the community.
    • Engage with non-profit organizations that are in partnership with the Community Service program.
    • Participate in a service immersion experience offered during break times that are sponsored by a Wittenberg organization. For an immersion experience to count for CMSV 100, it must also offer participants who want to use this experience to complete their community service requirement an engagement experience in the local community. CMSV 100 students who participate in the immersion experience will complete 27 hours of direct service, which includes this engagement experience in the local community.
    • Connect with Springfield/Clark County by completing service hours in this community with a partner site. If a service opportunity is not available on the partner list or cannot be arranged by the Community Service Program, then a student can submit a self-design proposal to the Director of Community Service for approval. When reviewing the proposal, the Director of Community Service will consider if a similar opportunity can be offered in the local community, if the service meets the guidelines for CMSV 100, and if the experience allows the student to achieve the desired outcomes of CMSV 100.
    • Service connected to a faith-based organization must meet the following criteria: the experience’s primary purpose must be first and foremost to provide a direct service that addresses a specific social issue that benefits the larger community; the experience must have clearly defined outcomes for the recipients of the service; and the experience must be open to all members of the community regardless of their race, gender, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, or disability.
  • The CMSV 100 experience:
    • Is separate from service required by internship or another course for credit.
    • Is not compensated.
    • Does not allow students to count hours spent sleeping or traveling towards the total hours needed to complete the requirement.
    • Does not involve direct religious persuasion or political campaigning.
    • Does not include participating in events such as fundraisers where the student does not interact directly with the non-profit organization.
    • Must be completed during the semester registered for CMSV 100 to successfully pass and to receive possible Dean’s List recognition.

What are the student learning outcomes for Community Service 100?
  • Acquire and apply skills, abilities, and knowledge to serve an organization that benefits the community.
  • Gain an understanding of a community by building reciprocal relationships within a community organization.
  • Develop an empathetic understanding for other people and life situations.
  • Build confidence in one’s ability to contribute to the common good.
  • Understand one’s responsibility to be an active citizen in society.
  • Add a positive value to one’s college experience.

How do students complete Community Service 100 during the summer?
  • Students interested in completing the community service requirement over the summer must register for CMSV 100-01 for Term 3 by coming to the Hagen Center.
  • Students registered for the CMSV 100 course must attend an Orientation.
  • The intent of the requirement is to have students serve within the Springfield/Clark County community, and primarily with one of the partner sites listed on the Community Service Opportunities List. If a student wants to pursue a service experience that is not on the Opportunities List, then they must fill out a Self-design proposal. When reviewing the proposal, the Director of Community Service will consider if a similar opportunity can be offered in the local community, if the service meets the guidelines for CMSV 100, and if the experience allows the student to achieve the desired outcomes of CMSV 100.
  • Although students register for Term 3, they have between the start of Summer Session 1 and the day before fall semester starts to complete their service hours.
  • There is no fee to register for CMSV 100 since the course is 0-credit.

Where can students complete their community service hours?
  • The community service program partners with 40+ organizations in the community. Click Here to see the latest version of the Community Service Opportunities List- LINK
  • Students interested in completing service at a non-partner site must submit a Self-Design proposal to the director of Community Service for approval. The proposal for service needs to meet the guidelines for CMSV 100 and needs to explain how the experience will allow the desired outcomes of CMSV 100 to be achieved. Proposals must be turned in by Friday of the 4th week of semester (or prior to starting the service, whichever comes first) that the student is registered for CMSV 100. Click Here to access the Self-Design Proposal- LINK

Can students participate in a service immersion experience during break times?
  • Participation in a service immersion experience offered during break times must be sponsored by a Wittenberg organization/department. A student must be registered for CMSV 100 during the semester that the trip is offered and meet all the requirements of the course. For a service immersion experience to count for CMSV 100, it must also offer participants who want to use this experience to complete their community service requirement an engagement experience in the local community. The deadline for the trip coordinators from a Wittenberg organization or department to submit a Service Immersion Trip Proposal for spring break is in mid-October and in mid-January for summer.

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