Faculty Resources

We recognize the great value a faculty member's presence can add to our programs and the opprortunities you have within the classroom to engage students in service. Faculty are encouraged to attend our programs and contact us for support! Whether you want to encourage your students to attend a program, join us yourself, or create a service-learning opportunity yourself, we are here to help.

Alternative Breaks

Each year, we coordinate two  Alternative Break Trips.  Faculty participants are an integral part of our Alternative Breaks program. Each trip typically includes one faculty or staff member, and they become an invaluable member of the leadership team. As a participant on these trips, faculty members get to travel to another part of the country or another part of world and be a part of the learning and service work that takes place as a part of this travel. They are also able to interact with students from outside of their disciplines as well as facilitate deeper student learning by leading a discussion during reflection time on one of the nights. Please see the Alternative Breaks Faculty/Staff Expectation form for more details.

Contact Jeanie Maidona via email at jmaidona@CalLutheran.edu if you are interested in attending a future Alternative Break trip with us!

Critical Service Learning Model

When implementing service into the classroom, we strongly encourage faculty to use the model of Critical Service Learning to inform their work as we do for our various programs and service trips. 

"While individual change and student development are desired outcomes of traditional and critical service-learning, critical service-learning pedagogy balances the student outcomes with an emphasis on social change. This requires rethinking the types of service activities in which students are engaged, as well as organizing projects and assignments that challenge students to investigate and understand the root causes of social problems and the courses of action necessary to challenge and change the structures that perpetuate those problems."

Mitchell, T. D. (2008). Traditional vs. Critical Service-Learning: Engaging the Literature to Differentiate Two Models. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 50-65.

Link here for the full article.

Center for Academic Service Learning

Cal Lutheran also has a Center for Academic Service Learning (CASL).  Faculty can apply for mini-grants from CASL to incorporate service-learning experiences into their classes.  CASL also has events and activities related to academic service learning.  For more information, visit the CASL website.