Published: February 22, 2008 03:24 pm      

Workshop's focus was sustainable partnerships

BY SISTER HELEN MARIE BURNS

HBURNS@MTALOY.EDU

The Southern Alleghenies Learn and Serve Alliance (SALSA) sponsored a service learning workshop earlier this month to explore the development of effective and sustainable service learning partnerships.

St. Francis University in Loretto hosted the one-day event titled “Building Effective Service Learning Partnerships.”

Faculty from Juniata College, Mount Aloysius College and St. Francis joined with personnel from community-based organizations to learn more about the theoretical and practical aspects of service learning.

Char Gray, executive director of Pennsylvania Campus Compact, initiated the day of sharing by reflecting on the fundamentals of service learning and the Campus Compact model.

In a second morning session, Gray turned her thoughts to the art of developing community partnerships.

The luncheon keynote speaker was Jon Darling, professor of sociology at Pitt-Johnstown.

“I am an applied community sociologist and a social psychologist who also functions as a community organizer,” Darling said.

“I am especially interested in improving the integration of sociological social-science knowledge and perspectives into the practical real-world aspects of community life; therefore, I also incorporate academic service-learning into some of my courses and into much of my work in the community.”

Such application and integration of theory and practice marked the concluding afternoon sessions, as Marnie Moist of St. Francis explained the elements of assessment central to an effective service-learning partnership.