Geraldine Stirtz
director of the Office of Service-Learning, 308.865.8957
A consortium of 22 college and university campuses, which includes the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus, has received a $368,619 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to support and expand service learning on campuses in Nebraska and South Dakota.
The group of institutions, known as the Midwest Consortium for Service Learning in Higher Education, is made up of a diverse collection of public and private colleges and universities from both rural and urban settings. Grant funds are distributed to member institutions through a sub-grant process operated from the Student Involvement Office at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Member campuses will use the funds to certify community agencies and increase service learning opportunities for students. Services to immigrants, refugees and resident living in poverty will be among those to benefit. The project’s goals include increasing civic engagement among college students living in Nebraska and South Dakota through service learning.
In March of 1987, the Nebraska Consortium for Service Learning in Higher Education received its first Learn and Serve America grant. Since that time, the number of member institutions has grown to 22, including the addition of the University of South Dakota. In the past five years, member institutions have improved their infrastructure, increased the number of faculty rewriting courses to include service learning projects, and have received nation attention for innovative programs.
Geraldine Stirtz directs the UNK Office for Student Learning.
