Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that engages students in service through mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships with approved community partners. These credit-bearing opportunities enrich the learning experience, integrate reflection, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
Service-Learning
Engaging with Your Community through Service-Learning
Service-Learning offers you the opportunity to serve with one non-profit agency over the course of the semester. Through service, you learn about underlying social issues and how your agency works to alleviate the issue in the local Oswego community. In the classroom, you focus more broadly on human rights, culture, identity, and privilege, and critically analyze your contribution to social problems and how you can alleviate them. A focus on civic engagement teaches the many different ways you can become civically engaged, including activism, advocacy, purchasing power, and volunteering.
Leadership in Your Field is designed to prepare you for a more seamless and successful transition from college to the community. You will complete a service-learning project in the community as an engaged member of a productive team with a higher purpose. The online academic component will enable you to develop key workplace competencies and leadership skills, expand your network, and critically analyze and evaluate your role as an integral player on a team and contributing members of the community. For more details, contact [email protected].
Focus Forward
By working with local children to build their self-confidence and giving them tools to be effective learners, Focus Forward allows SUNY Oswego students interested in adolescent development and youth mentoring the opportunity to impact the Oswego community and gain valuable professional skills.
Focus Forward Courses:
Oswego Children's Project
If you're considering a career in counseling, psychology, or social services this year-long program provides invaluable experience in the field. This community-based program allows you to work with pre-at-risk children through the implementation of play techniques.
Oswego Children's Project Courses:
First-Year Experience Success Coaches
First-Year Success Coaches are upper-division students who help incoming students as they are transitioning from high school to college. They're responsible for meeting with students in a variety of settings to help them navigate the campus, make healthy choices, and make lasting friendships. Our coaches:
- Serve as guides to help students pursue holistic academic and personal wellness
- Promote social wellbeing, student involvement, and skills development
- Enrich the connections of Oswego students to each other, the college, and the campus
- Meet with small groups of assigned students and facilitate discussions
- Accompany students to in-person and virtual campus events, speakers, and performances
Campus-wide Initiatives and Programs
SUNY Oswego is proud to have received the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement in Teaching Classification for Community Engagement. We are committed to helping students and faculty engage fully with our local, regional, national, and global communities through initiatives such as our Grand Challenges: Race, Racism and Social Justice. A variety of liberal arts and professional faculty and students participate in the Smart Neighbors Initiative through courses as diverse as Marketing, Sociology, Creative Writing, Filmmaking, Graphic Design, History, Composition, Music, Photography. Working collaboratively to promote local independent businesses and not-for-profits, such as a bookstore, candymaker, city farmers market, nautical museum, and citywide water tourism, through digital materials, as highlighted in the Collaboration section of the online repository or student work DigitalOz.