Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC's Service Learning Selected as Exemplary Model

Photos and story by James Hill

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Community College is a model of exemplary practices in service learning, according to Campus Compact and the American Association of Community Colleges.Service learning is a teaching method that connects students beyond the academic classroom to community service to enhance classroom concepts and provide relevance for students’ education. PCC students are engaged in helping middle school English as a second language students, developmental reading programs, restoring wildlife in refuges and parks, writing technology handbooks for non-profit organizations and helping elementary students by showcasing scientific experiments.Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 850 college and university presidents committed to promoting community service, received a three-year grant from Carnegie Corporation to document the best practices, as well as help campuses achieve broader institutionalization of civic engagement. In the first year of the initiative, Campus Compact teamed with AACC to survey its 1,700 members about their civic engagement practices and selected 13 colleges nationwide to showcase. The group will conduct a site visit to PCC sometime in February."We look forward to visiting your campus,"said Campus Compact Executive Director Elizabeth Hollander, "to learn more about the exciting civic activities taking place at Portland Community College." The PCC service-learning program continues to grow with more than 110 faculty now involved. For more information on PCC’s Service Learning program, contact Kim Saliba, sociology instructor and service learning faculty coordinator, at 503-977-4097.