Community Partner Resources

Service-Learning student volunteering at Neighborhood House

Non-profit community agencies in the area and Portland Community College (PCC) have formed educational partnerships to seek new and innovative ways to meet student and community needs. PCC students provide valuable service to community partners who, in turn, support students' educational endeavors.

Find out what's going on with the Service-Learning Partners' Newsletter!

Benefits to Becoming a Community Partner

  • Provides short-term volunteers to meet community needs.
  • Provides potential long-term volunteers and potential recruits for agency employment.
  • Increases awareness of agency services and social issues within the community.
  • Service-Learning initiatives provide the community with substantial human resources to meet its educational, human, safety, and environmental needs. The talent, energy, and enthusiasm of college students are applied to meet these ever increasing needs.
  • Many students commit to a lifetime of volunteering after this experience creating a democracy of participation.
  • Service-Learning creates a spirit of civic responsibility that replaces the current state of dependence on government programs and altruism by the experts. It results in a renewed sense of community and encourages participative democracy.
  • Community agencies gain the opportunity to participate in educational partnerships.

Becoming a PCC Service-Learning Community Partner

To be considered a PCC Service-Learning Community Partner, we have a few criteria you must meet.

  1. Be a non-profit or public agency serving community needs.
  2. Be located near PCC campuses and throughout the PCC district (including Multnomah County west of 205, Washington County, Columbia County, parts of Yamhill County, and Lake Oswego).
  3. Provide volunteer positions that foster learning objectives.
  4. Incorporate risk-management procedures for injury prevention and liability reduction.
  5. Accept volunteers for one quarter (up to ten weeks), with the possibility of continuation beyond the quarter. (Note: Instructors assign varying minimum hours for the quarter, ranging from about 5 to 20 total hours.)
  6. Have a responsible contact person who will:
    1. Respond quickly to student inquiries.
    2. Let students know quickly whether they are accepted.
    3. Place students in positions matching educational objectives.
    4. Ensure that students are oriented, trained, and supervised.
    5. Communicate with students and/or PCC instructors about problems and successes.
    6. Follow the guidelines on the PCC Service-Learning Agreement.
  7. Interested in promoting students’ academic learning, volunteerism, and civic engagement.

If you would like to be added to the PCC community partner site lists or have any questions, please contact Pattie Hill, Service-Learning Coordinator.

Service-Learning Procedures & Tips

PCC instructors create a variety of approaches to service-learning, based on the following general principles:

  1. The instructor and student establish learning objectives for the service experience, related to course learning objectives.
  2. The instructor, student, and community partner work to match course learning objectives with agency service needs.
  3. The instructor facilitates ongoing student reflection to link service experiences with the learning objectives.
Examples of service-learning objectives from Service-Learning Agreements
  • Utilize and expand German language reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
  • Increase awareness of the bond between child and family and of resources available to the family. (Early Childhood Education)
  • Discover and research the relevance of organic chemistry in everyday life.
  • Learn how to interact with different cultures in a classroom setting. (Early Childhood Education)
  • Form bonds across generations, learning to know seniors as people who have lived stories. (Writing)
  • Develop diverse perspectives, question and revise assumptions, and realize civic power and obligations. (Writing)
  • Practice new study skills by teaching these skills to others and discovering the benefits of these skills to others.
  • Appreciate the benefits of excellent reading strategies.
  • Discern what social problem the agency addresses and how the agency defines and addresses this problem. (Sociology)
  • Understand the causes and consequences of specific social problems and identify potential solutions. (Sociology)

Typically, instructors introduce the service assignment in class. They refer students to particular agencies, or they guide them to the Volunteer Sites web page, or they ask students to use their own resources to find the agencies where they will serve. We ask instructors to provide students with the Service-Learning Agreement, including the learning objectives. Supervisors should make and keep a copy of the Agreement in order to contact students or instructors and resolve any problem or to share feedback. The second page of the Agreement outlines guidelines for the constituent service-learning participants.

We want the Service-Learning experience to be a positive one for both student and community partner. Towards that end we have created the following tips:

Other Community Service Departments and Resources at PCC

Cooperative Education

Cooperative Education courses provide credit for student experience in the community, including service to non-profit and public agencies. There is a Cooperative Education office on each campus.

Student Volunteers

To recruit potential student volunteers, contact the following:

  • Associated Students of Portland Community College offices (student leadership offices):
    • Cascade campus (503-978-5379)
    • Rock Creek campus (503-614-7442)
    • Sylvania campus (503-977-4361)
  • Community service fairs:
    • Contact the Sylvania Cooperative Education Office or the student leadership offices.
  • Tabling:
    • To set up a volunteer-recruiting table on one of the campuses, call the student leadership office for that campus.