10th Annual Service-Learning Symposium Returns In-Person
The College of Coastal Georgia will be celebrating 10 years of service-learning at the 10th Annual Service-Learning Symposium on Thursday, April 28 starting at 3 p.m. at the Southeast Georgia Conference Center. The Symposium will return in-person this year and will showcase how the partnership between students, faculty members, and community agencies benefitted the local community and contributed to students’ education.
Dr. Cody Cocchi, interim Director of Service-Learning and Undergraduate Research, is excited to have the Symposium in-person again—especially for the students.
“In many cases, the Symposium is their first professional presentation of their work to a broad audience. It provides them an outlet to share what they did and why it was important,” Cocchi said. “It also provides an opportunity for faculty and community members to ask questions of students, which fosters a deeper level of reflection upon the service-learning project.”
Service-learning projects reinforce classroom instruction by having students apply what they are learning in the classroom to real-world situations and address a need in the community at the same time. For the current academic year, 954 students engaged in service-learning courses and completed over 130 projects with 82 different community partner agencies, and over 25 new community partnerships were formed. Over 14,000 service hours were spent with the community.
“Through service-learning courses, I hope students learn the value of social awareness and engagement, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication, professionalism, and personal responsibility,” Cocchi said. “One cannot fully engage in an impactful service-learning project without building and growing in these areas. These skills can only help their chances of success after graduation.”
The Symposium will feature the Excellence in Service-Learning Awards Ceremony, followed by the poster showcase. The ceremony recognizes outstanding students, faculty, and community partners who have displayed excellence in contributing to a service-learning project. At the poster showcase, students will present their projects, discuss their experiences, and reflect on how their projects relate to their chosen career paths. Attendees will able to see the impact of a broad spectrum of service-learning and research activities that engage students and faculty in addressing community needs.
Members of the community and College community are encouraged to attend the Symposium.