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Position Description: Service-Learning Assistant Duke Service-Learning supports faculty, staff, students, and community partners involved in official service-learning courses at Duke. In service-learning courses, students engage in a minimum of 20 hours of planned service activities that are integrally related to the academic subject matter of the course. Coursework involves critical reflection on the relationship between the service experience and academic course content, and on the ethical and civic dimensions of the service experience. See http://servicelearning.duke.edu for more information. Identify and develop appropriate community partnerships (service placements) · Confirm relationships with existing community partners and research new community organizations as necessary to identify sufficient student placements. Visit potential placement sites. Evaluate partnerships at the end of the semester. Oversee and monitor service-learning placements throughout the semester · Coordinate the placement process, e.g., prepare descriptions of community partners, make an in-class presentation, collect forms, and match students with appropriate sites. · Develop or update and carry out protocols for orienting students, e.g., in-class presentations, participation agreements. Participate in orientations at placement sites. · Check in with both students and community partners regularly throughout the semester to monitor student work and troubleshoot any problems. Help students to understand their roles and the perspectives of the community partners. Track student hours or make sure students are meeting their commitments. Make site visits as appropriate. Hold “office hours” for students as needed. · Provide guidance or assistance to individuals or student groups completing service projects or conducting community-based research. Facilitate critical reflection and integration with academic content · Work with the course instructor (and any peer reflection facilitators) to develop a plan for reflection activities, assignments, student evaluations, and other efforts throughout the semester to integrate the service experience into the course. Read course texts as necessary. Facilitate class discussions as appropriate. · Read and/or respond to written reflections, summarizing student comments for the instructor if requested. Assist with research related to service-learning (Note: This will not be a major component of most assignments.) · Conduct literature reviews, surveys, interviews, and/or focus groups. Create or maintain databases or records. Analyze quantitative and/or qualitative data. Draft sections of a report. Other: · “Be visible” by attending class and/or participating in service activities as requested. · Communicate and meet regularly with the instructor. Document work. Prepare an informal update mid-semester. Have an end-of-semester meeting to give and receive feedback and share final documentation. · Attend an orientation session and monthly meetings with the Service-Learning Program. Assist the Service-Learning Program with additional tasks as appropriate, e.g., an end-of-year celebration. Submit final reflections. · Assist with the training of other/future course coordinators when possible. Work Schedule and Compensation: SLAs may be assigned to work with one or more courses per semester, depending on availability. Each student’s work-study allocation and particular assignment(s) will determine the work schedule. On average, SLAs work about 3-5 hours/week per course, though work hours can fluctuate greatly from week to week. In some courses, the bulk of this work is concentrated in the first few weeks of the semester. In most cases the work can be completed on the SLA’s own schedule, however certain tasks may be pre-scheduled, e.g., attending class, required to take place during business hours, or making phone calls to community partners. SLAs are expected to be available to work for at least one full semester, and are often invited to continue in future semesters. SLA positions are federal or Duke work-study positions, paid at $20/hour. SLAs submit biweekly time reports and are paid based on actual hours worked. Reporting: SLAs will be employees of the Program in Education (the administrative home of Duke Service-Learning). Duke Service-Learning will screen and interview applicants, make work assignments, provide training and ongoing support, collect time reports, and assist with questions related to compensation. SLAs will be expected to attend training sessions and meetings, develop a work plan for the semester, submit time reports, and communicate regularly with the instructor(s) with whom they have been assigned to work. If you would like to apply, please send your work study verification and amount, an updated resume, a paragraph describing your interest in becoming a service-learning assistant, and your class schedule. Please email these documents to Kathy Sikes@ Kathy.Sikes@duke.edu as soon as possible. Thank you! |