Graduate Service Learning & Civic Engagement : The Scott/Ross Center for Community Service : Simmons College

Service Learning

Service learning provides an opportunity for Simmons graduate students to apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to fulfill community partners' needs. Graduate service learning projects allow students to take on leadership roles and pilot programs for organizations that may have limited resources.

Service Learning Courses:

Masters in Communications Management
MCM 464: Communications for the Volunteer Manager
MCM 481: Strategic Communication and Organization Change
MCM 454: Communicating Corporate Image
MCM 464: Corporate and Community Relations
MCM 458: Online Communications
MCM 422: Writing for Communication Professionals

Physical Therapy
PT 736: Special Topics in Physical Therapy
PT 750: Health Promotion, Wellness and Advocacy

Masters in Social Work
SSW: C641 Continuing Professional Education Course: Families and Homelessness

Masters in Education
GEDUC 493: Topics in Urban Education
GEDUC 400/401: Pre-Practicum Seminar, Practicum Seminar Elementary

Masters in Spanish
SPAN 380: Migrant in the City: Fieldwork Seminar on Puerto Rican Culture

Graduate students work with a variety of community partners in the Boston and Greater Boston area. Our community partners include: Action for Regional Equity, America SCORES, The Animal Rescue League, Big Sister of Greater Boston, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Association, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Community Servings, Community Re-Entry for Women (CREW), the Farragut School, Fenway CDC, Girls Leap, Habitat for Humanity, Homes for Families, International Learning Center at the YMCA, Jumpstart, Massachusetts Campus Compact, the Peterborough Senior Center, Science Club for Girls, Special Olympics, Tenacity, Walk Boston, and the Women's Lunch Place.

Service Learning Experiences

The PT 750: Health, Wellness and Advocacy doctoral class at Simmons has been working with Community Re-Entry for Women (C.R.E.W) through service learning classes for three years to help educate incarcerated women by promoting healthy lifestyle classes as part of the Community Re-Entry for Women C.R.E.W. curriculum.

The Masters in Communications Management course, MCM 454: Communicating Corporate Image, worked with the Women's Lunch Place in the Spring of 2008. Students divided into teams that focused on a variety of branding and communications needs. The students used theoretical branding models that best supported the Women's Lunch Place objectives.

Physical Therapy students through the PT: 750 Health, Wellness and Advocacy course offered a yoga class for seniors once a week during the spring semester at the Peterborough Senior Center. The goal of the classes was to help participants become more aware of the mind/body connection and increase fitness knowledge.

Civic Engagement
Graduate Students can participate and volunteer in Boston and the Greater Boston Community. The Scott/Ross Center offers a variety of ways that graduate students can engage in the community.

Alternative Spring Break:
For several years GSLIS students and staff have partnered with the Farragut School in Mission Hill to work on the school library. This partnership has helped to bring the library from non-functioning to a fully operational space for students and community members. Each year, GSLIS students and staff, volunteer during spring break to help organize and process books, read to Farragut students, and help to make the library more accessible. This year 20 students and 3 faculty members spent 90 hours working at the Farragut Library during spring break.

Promising Pals:
Promising Pals has been an active civic engagement program at Simmons for over 6 years. Simmons graduate students, staff, faculty, and alums are paired with students at the Timilty Middle School in Roxbury. Over the course of a year, students exchange letters with their pals and are able to meet one another at the Promising Pals breakfast, hosted at the Timilty. The content of the letters is guided by a theme or book that both pals read and discuss.

Boston Cares:
Boston Cares is a non-profit organization that provides volunteer opportunities in Greater Boston to improve local communities. Simmons graduate students from the Gender and Cultural Studies program volunteered with Boston Cares in the fall of 2007 to help clean up around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.