As a service learning student, you represent the university and yourself to the community. This is a great opportunity to hone your professional skills and make connections for future opportunities. Use these tips to ensure you put your best foot forward when working with Community Partners.
Clarify project parameters early: Before you reach out to the Community Partner, make sure you understand the assignment, including: final product, time you can contribute, what skills you need to gain, and when you need to finish the project. Approaching a Community Partner know these details will ensure you find the right fit quickly.
Fulfill your commitment to the Partner: Deliver on project deadlines promptly. Arrive at meetings on time, and practice respect and professionalism.
Determine how you will receive feedback on your work: This is a learning experience and an opportunity to gain work experience. Make the most of this opportunity by asking for feedback. Also, you want this product to be useful to the Community Partner, so make sure you ask for feedback to ensure they can use it moving forward.
Perseverance: Because communication is difficult, you must have one key quality: perseverance. Don’t call the Community Partner one time. Call, call again, email them, leave messages, keep trying until you are certain the message has been received.
Do not procrastinate: You need to get started on the project immediately, because everything, and I do mean everything, will take longer than you expect.
Ask them the best way to get in touch: Don’t expect to be able to get a hold of Community Partner at hours convenient to you. In other words, at lunch time they’re likely to be at lunch, and after 4:00 they’re likely to have gone home. You need to call them during normal business hours. Ask how they like to be communicated with- via phone, email, or some other form?
Take this seriously: Remember that even though these are non-profit organizations, they are still organizations. They are working hard, and expect results. Do not have the attitude of, “I am providing this service voluntarily, so the Partner should be grateful for whatever time/effort I can spare.” This is NOT the way to approach service-learning. You are not “helping” them, you are working for/collaborating with them. So treat this as a job, and a job that rewards you with something much more valuable than money: the sense of accomplishment in having made a difference in the lives of people who need help.
Do not leave the Community hanging: If they ask you to come by to meet with them on Tuesday, don’t say, “Well, I might be able to make it, I’m just not sure. I’ll try to be there.” As a wise man once said, “There is no try, only do; You’ll either be there, or you won’t. So let your yes be yes, and your no be no. If you can’t say yes or no for certain at that time, say “I’ll have to check, but I will get back to you tomorrow to tell you for sure whether or not I can make it.” Then, be true to your word. And if you say you are going to be there, BE THERE. If you don’t show up, for whatever reason, it will make you, your group, and your university look very, very unprofessional.
Before sharing your project, get the Partner’s approval: DO NOT share a project that represents the Community Partner publicly until you have received their approval.
Say thank you: When your project is completed, thank the Community Partner for their investment in you as a Service-Learning student. You may need to ask to use your product in a portfolio or on online.