Summer Service Learning Program 2008

Please read through the following information about the SSLP and continue on to the application through the link at the bottom of the page.

The goals of the Summer Service Learning Program (SSLP) are:

1. To allow Notre Dame students to serve people in need in cities of Notre Dame Alumni Clubs.
2. To create an opportunity for discussion of social concerns and the Catholic social tradition between students, alumni and alumnae, and community partners.
3. To engage students in the integration of service experience with academic readings, reflections and writing.

The SSLP is an 8-week experience within a 3-credit Theology course (S/U). The Center invites Notre Dame Alumni Clubs to sponsor a student(s) to work in an agency or parish in the local community of the Club. The Center recruits Notre Dame students who are interested in expanding their education by working with and learning from persons who are marginalized in society. We are looking for students who want to explore the meaning of service in the context of human relationships and faith. The course consists of orientation in April, reading and writing during the 8 weeks and a follow-up requirement in the fall. This course does not fulfill the University’s required theology courses, it counts as an elective.

The Notre Dame Alumni Clubs, the James F. Andrews Scholarship Fund and other special scholarship funds provide a $2300 Social Concerns Scholarship to students at the completion of this eight week summer experience and the academic requirements. Room and board are provided by the Clubs or by the site. The AmeriCorps Educational Award of $1000 is also available to SSLP students who complete additional paper work and reports for this voucher. The AmeriCorps Award is not recommended for those considering a 2 year service program in the United States such as ACE or Teach for America.

In 2007, 116 Notre Dame Alumni Clubs sponsored 236 Notre Dame students in sites across the country. The project sites include homeless shelters, AIDS programs, children's programs, medical clinics, etc. The SSLP Directory is available online. The directories categorize the projects by geographical location as well as by type of project and list the students who participated last year. We strongly encourage you to talk with the student who was at the site last year. The program is designed for the majority of students to serve in communities other than their own.

The process of selection begins with students submitting an online application and then coming to the Center for Social Concerns to sign up for an interview. The interviews will be 20 minutes in length.

If you are invited into the program, you will then sign up for a placement meeting with the director of the SSLP. These interviews are conducted with a group of four students at a time. It is best to come to this session with an openness to many sites. Site placement is a rolling process that often takes a few weeks to finalize. Keep in mind that students pay for transportation to the city of the site, but a limited amount of funds are available for travel assistance, based on financial need. The living arrangements are made by the Alumni Clubs, students do not find their own housing unless they serve in their home city and live at home.

We are looking for students who possess the following qualities:

• flexibility
• initiative
• openness to new experiences – you may be out of your comfort zone
• interest in integrating experiential and traditional academic learning
• commitment to working for and learning from the clients and staff
• ability to adjust to neighborhoods and conditions that may be unlike your own
• enthusiastic willingness to meet with alumni and alumnae when invited
• good manners and graciousness toward host families or hosts on site
• accountability to complete all course requirements on time
• whole-hearted participation in the experience, readiness to give and learn
• desire to share information with the Alumni Club about your project
• exemplary representation of the University of Notre Dame

The academic requirements for THEO 33936: Confronting Social Issues are:

• Attend the appropriate site preparation orientation April 16 or 17.
• Attend the academic Orientation – April 23rd OR April 24th.
• Read the site preparation readings before the start of the summer.
• Write reflections on the experience and the readings twice each week.
• Write a 6-8 page integration paper. Turn in 2 copies at the CSC and send copies to your site supervisor and your alumni contact.
• Participate in one of the follow-up activities:
  - SSLP workshop – the first weekend in the Fall semester
  - 3 small group meetings with a facilitator
  - THEO 20625 - an additional 3-credit theology course that counts as a second theology requirement
• Attend the SSLP Celebration the first Monday after returning to campus.

When all requirements are satisfied you will have earned three Theology credits (S/U) and a $2300.00 Social Concerns Tuition Scholarship.

The scholarship may impact the type of loans you have, subsidized to unsubsidized. Please contact Jeff Pethick in the Financial Aid office with questions, Pethick.4@nd.edu.

To find out more about the SSLP, attend one of the Information Sessions
Nov. 8, 5:00 - 6:00 PM Center for Social Concerns
Nov. 15, 7:00-8:00PM Coleman Morse Lounge
More to be announced in January

Please note that the Center for Social Concerns will be moving December 2007 to the building just west of Rockne Memorial, the building that previously housed the health center.

For more information, contact Jennifer Howard, jennifer.howard@nd.edu

2008 SSLP Application (The application for 2008 has been closed.)