Academic Service
Learning Center
Room 59
Main Building Level G2
Phone: (616) 234-4162
Fax: (616) 234-3494
Hours: 8am - 5pm M - F servicelearning@grcc.edu
ABOUT US
The Academic Service Learning Center (ASLC) works directly with students, faculty, and community partners to make a difference in the lives of others while simultaneously providing students with unique learning opportunities and instructors with alternative teaching methods.
Mission:
The Academic Service-Learning Center’s mission is to provide students, faculty, and staff with opportunities that enrich and deepen learning and to encourage community engagement.
Vision:
Over the next five years the Academic Service Learning Center is expected to undergo a major transformation. The economy of the U.S. has captured the attention of our country’s top leaders. Higher education/community partnerships are making sustainable contributions in human, economic and social terms throughout the world. President Barack Obama recognizes the power of service, elevates the importance of community engagement and has allocated funding to support these initiatives. Obama’s Blueprint for Change includes three objectives under the Service section (Enable all Americans to serve to meet the Nation’s challenges, Integrate Service into Learning, and Invest in the Nonprofit Sector). Each of these objectives falls squarely within the framework of GRCC's Academic Service Learning Center. The academic service learning center is poised to adapt to the increasing demands that will be made to accommodate the effective tracking of service hours and to meet the increased demand for center lead programming/service opportunities with the support of the college.
National Service:
As the nation continues to face an economic crisis, volunteers may be needed more now than ever. Many nonprofits are facing the challenge of increased demand for services at the same time they face the problem of diminished resources. In response, many are turning more to volunteers who can provide vital support to help them continue to meet growing needs. New research at VolunteeringInAmerica.gov shows that despite all the additional stresses of a difficult economy, volunteers are still serving. In fact while charitable giving declined for the first time in over 20 years, volunteering held steady between 2007, when 26.2 percent of Americans volunteered and 2008, during which 26.4 percent volunteered.
