Student FAQ's

https://home-services.apu.edu/services/service-credits/ 

This form is to be completed for any outside service opportunities not through Academic Service-Learning or for one-time/ongoing opportunities through OSD.

Students: Generally yes, you may earn more credits upon approval by both your professor based on the number of additional hours and work completed. In order to be qualified for this exception, your professor would need to commit to verifying and submitting the final amount of credits and students must have completed a minimum amount of hours for the next credit category (5 credits, 10 credits, 15 credits, or 30 credits) or by exceeding the category’s hours. For more information on credits, please view here. To emphasize, credits are not solely based on the number of hours completed but the qualitative experiential experience as well. 

• • The student must get permission on verifying additional hours through the professor. 

  • First, confirm with the professor the number of extra hours including a summary of the work.

  • After approval from the professor, the professor will fill out the course roster at the end of the semester notating the additional credits.

Another way a student can receive the credit is through filling out a service credit form on home.apu.edu with the professor as the supervisor. This will need to be in communication with the professor to determine the amount of credit awarded.

No, to be eligible for service credits, the service must be unpaid. For an internship, the service needs to be off-campus and unpaid (including stipends and any form of payment).*

*Community events hosted on the APU campus may occasionally count toward service credits 

• 120 service credits for students beginning a fall semester as freshmen

• 90 service credits for transfer students beginning a fall semester as sophomores

• 60 service credits for transfer students beginning a fall semester as juniors

• 30 service credits for transfer students beginning a fall semester as seniors

Nope! After the professor confirms your participation, Service-Learning will input those credits into your home portal. There is no action for students other than completing the Student Agreement Form before the project and participating in the project. Make sure to check your email regularly as we will send out reminders for any missing forms.

A service learning credit is the same as a regular service credit, the only difference is that it is earned through coursework for specific classes. Service credits are similar to community service hours but are counted in increments of five; i.e. 5+ hours of service gets 5 credits, 10+ hours of service gets 10 credits, 15+ gets 15, etc.

It depends on what project awarded the service credits. Academic Service-Learning only deals with the service credit awarded to projects done through Service-Learning courses. Please send us an email if you have questions about those! If the credits are through a different or personal project, send an email to spirituallife@apu.edu.

This is determined by type and length of project. During the orientation, the amount of credits should be explained; however, you can contact your professor or Service-Learning if you have questions. Generally, students can earn credits according to the following guidelines:

• 5 credits— 5-9 hours of service (e.g. one-day service project)

• 10 credits— 10-14 hours of service (e.g. two-day service project)

• 15 credits— 15-29 hours of service (e.g. semester long, weekly service opportunity or weekend service trip)

• 30 credits— 30+ hours of service (e.g. mission trip, summer camp)

You will receive 125 service credits total for completing clinicals associated with certain nursing courses. The following is the breakdown of which nursing courses provide service credits and how many credits are awarded for each:

UNRS Courses & Credits:

107 Foundations of Nursing  -         5 

212 Nursing Care of Adults/Aging  - 30

314 Nursing Mgmt & Restorative Care of Adults  -  30

382 Community Health Nursing  - 15

383 International Health Nursing - 15

384 Urban/Rural Health Care  - 15

401 Nursing Care: Mat/Newborn, Wom Health  - 15

404 Nursing Care: Children/Young Adults  - 15

*Courses may be subject to change. Please reach out to SL to confirm. 

This may change semester to semester; however, the courses stay relatively constant. When searching for classes, there will be a Service-Learning indicator in the description of the class. Additionally, the professor will explain if your course is Service-Learning during the class. 

There could be a couple of reasons:

1. Professor has not yet confirmed the credits. Professor is emailed students' names & credits to confirm at the end of the term.

2. Agreement Form Not Signed.  We cannot post credits until the form is signed.

3. No Participation.  If you end up not being able to participate then credits are not posted.

4. Timing. Credits will not appear until 1 month AFTER the term ends! Posting credits goes through a process that takes a bit of time. 

Service-learning, like community service, seeks to make a valuable contribution to the community. Unlike community service, however, service-learning is designed to promote the curricular goals of a specified course through the application of classroom learning in service settings. Community service that is not integrated into the curriculum is not service-learning; it is simply service.

Students, community partners, and faculty benefit from service-learning. Students acquire enhanced learning through a guided service project that allows them to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world situations. Community partners gain from the developing expertise of APU students, who provide them with organizational, social, and technical services. Faculty pedagogy prospers by the implementation of experience-based learning projects within course curricula.

Students who desire the kind of experiential learning that comes from service-learning should encourage their professors and department chairs to initiate new service-learning courses.

The best way to find a ride is to ask fellow classmates if you can carpool. Our office cannot coordinate carpooling due to potential legal liability. The SLC does have the option to create a Google Form and invite drivers to post their email/phone number so other students can contact them about carpooling.

Yes! In the middle of the semester, the SL office produces a Senior Clearance Form. As long as you are on track to complete your credits, you can pick one up and ask your professors to sign that you in good faith will complete your service credits by the end of the semester. Then you take this form to CSA and they will apply the credits toward your requirement.

You can receive service credits through 1) Academic Service Learning, 2) the Office of Service & Discipleship (OSD), and/or through 3) personal volunteer opportunities to fulfill your service requirements. For personal volunteer opportunities,  please submit it through the normal service credits process by completing a Service Credit Report Form on home.apu.edu.They must be off-campus and unpaid.

If you have a service learning project that conflicts with Chapel, please inform your professor 2-3 weeks before the absence occurs. Once your professor confirms the information, they will email us at servicelearning@apu.edu so that we can start processing your chapel absence approval form. After processing, we will email you to let you know if your chapel absence has been approved or denied.