For Students
Welcome Students
The Office of Community Engagement & Service Learning is here to help you or your student organization connect with community agencies, track your hours, and find placements for your service-learning course requirement.
Individual and RSO (Club) Community Placements
Students or student organizations can partner with any approved WSU Health Sciences Spokane affiliate partner. The student participants and the agency will determine the goals of the community opportunity, number of hours, and duration of the project.
The steps below are designed to explain your role in this important partnership with community agencies.
- Agency Selection
Visit the Community Partner List on CougSync or search for community agencies in Spokane and Yakima using other resources – volunteermatch.org- and select a site that you can support given the agency’s mission, and your personal, academic, and/or professional interests. - Partnership
Communicate with the agency via email or in-person to understand the agency’s expectations, and be clear about how many hours you will be committing to this organization. Complete and submit the Partner Request Form online to document your community partnership with the university. - Engagement
Prepare for your project by reviewing community engagement entry considerations. - Community Engagement
You can record and confirm your community engagement hours using one of the options below:- Option 1: CougSync
- Option 2: Paper Hour-Log (For RSOs) (For Individual Students)
Thank the community agency for their collaboration with you or your RSO.
Service-Learning Placements
What is Service-Learning?
Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy [and a form of experiential learning] that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities (National Service-Learning Clearinghouse).
In other words, service-learning is a volunteer project specifically connected to what you are learning in your courses.
- Service learning hours can range from 2-20 hours per week depending on the project.
- Reflection is the key element in service learning; this is typically done through writing assignments which helps students develop a deeper understanding of course content, awareness of community needs and builds confidence to take informed action.
If you have any questions about service learning, please contact our office at spokane.engagement@wsu.edu.
Service Opportunities and One-Day Events
The Office of Community Engagement & Service Learning offers and promotes community engagement opportunities.
Off-Campus Service Opportunities
All Off-Campus Service Opportunities can be accessed on CougSync.
You can also explore other off-campus service opportunities and register them with CESL:
Cougs in the Community Program
Visit the Cougs in the Community page for more information about one-time projects. Or, visit the Cougs in the Community CougSync Calendar to get involved.