John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

Connecting Classroom to Community provides students with an opportunity to connect what they are learning in the classroom to issues facing the community. The program complements The First Year Learning Communities initiative by providing upper-level students with the opportunity to engage in service learning.  The program also provides faculty with yet another pedagogical tool to enhance both teaching and learning.  Students may be enrolled in any course at the college taught by a faculty member participating in Connecting Classroom to Community. Students receive partial course credit for performing a recommended 20 hours of service in an approved community site over the course of one semester. Students will also need to complete a reflective assignment to be determined by the participating faculty member. Reflective assignments may include, but are not limited to, a written paper or reflective journal. 

The coordinator of Connecting Classroom to Community handles the administrative tasks associated with the program namely recruitment, placements and program evaluation including assessment.  Placements may take place on- or off-campus. On-campus placements focus on involving students in research related activities with full-time faculty members. Students performing their service off-campus are placed at community sites appropriate to the courses for which they are enrolled. The coordinator meets with students, as needed, to ensure the suitability of placements based upon correspondences between the coordinator and participating faculty member.