KCC students contributed more than $255,000 worth of service activities into their communities over the course of the 2022-23 academic year through service-learning completed as part of their studies at the College.
Beginning in 2012, a service-learning endorsement requiring at least 15 hours of service-learning experience tied to a course became a requirement for every KCC graduate pursuing a degree outside of the applied sciences.
In the fall of 2022, KCC expanded the program requirement to all students seeking an associate degree, and since that time hundreds of KCC students serve thousands of hours in their communities each semester as part of their service-learning studies.
A total of 448 students received the service-learning endorsement over the course of the 2022-23 academic year alone, equating to a minimum of 8,025 hours. With the current value of a volunteer hour calculated at $31.80, that equals a total of $255,195 that KCC students saved their communities through service.
KCC Chair of Social Sciences and Integrative Learning Kate Coplin said it’s not all about the money, however.
“The impact of service-learning on our students, their families and our community is not only impacting our community financially,” Coplin said, “but the qualitative data has shown service-learning to increase student retention, bring families together as they encourage their families to serve with them, help students continue or become lifelong volunteers and help our students want to become positive change agents.”
For more information about service-learning at KCC, visit kellogg.edu/service.
This article first appeared in the December 2023 edition of BruIN magazine. To read the issue online, please visit kellogg.edu/bruinmagazine. Photo courtesy of Thomas DeVault.