Center for Service Leadership

We challenge students to pursue lives of purpose, in their classrooms and communities alike.

Our students become servant leaders who make connections between head, hands, and heart.

Waynesburg University’s commitment to service involves partnerships with over 50 local, regional, and international service agencies. We engage students in service learning classes that blend lecture and practical application, and facilitate mission and service trips throughout the summer and during school breaks.

Waynesburg University Service Projects

Through the Center for Service Leadership, students volunteer with hospitals, libraries, city revitalization efforts, food banks, habitat organizations and more. In addition to weekly opportunities, the Center for Service Leadership coordinates Service Saturdays that provide additional service opportunities throughout the community. The Center for Service Leadership also supports the Bonner Scholar Program, a scholarship opportunity that connects students with financial need to a transformative service learning journey.

Mission and Service Trips

We help establish year-round mission and service trips that see Waynesburg students selflessly volunteering more than 50,000 service hours annually in locations across the globe—from restoring the battlefields of Gettysburg National Park and assisting with urban outreach in Atlanta, to working at a Christian radio station in Bonaire and assisting abandoned children in Jamaica.

Service Classes

Integrate service into your learning experience, gaining course credit while donating your time to worthy causes.

SLR 105-305, 1-3 credit hours

Waynesburg University offers a service-learning experience for one credit hour. A variable credit option is available to students seeking additional service opportunities. This course, which is part of the general education requirements for the Waynesburg University baccalaureate degree, provides the student with an opportunity to participate in service with a non-profit organization for a minimum of 30 hours a semester.

SLR 105, Service Learning I

A minimum of 30 hours of pre-approved, unpaid service in a non-profit organization. The service must be performed in the same semester in which the student is registered for the course. Learning activities that fulfill requirements for other courses or complete degree requirements cannot be used to fulfill the requirements for this course. Students will reflect upon their experience, it's current and future impact, and the implications for life-long learning through the writing of reflection papers, other brief writing assignments, the creation of an electronic or photographic portfolio, and a final paper. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the first level course during their freshman or sophomore years. A student may repeat SLR 105 once for additional credit when the service is performed at a site different than the site where the first credit was performed.

SLR 106, 206, 306- Service Learning I, II, III Mission and 1-3 credits Service Trip

Students will complete pre-approved, unpaid service experience within the context of a University-sponsored mission and service trip. The service must be performed as part of the designated trip experience. Students will reflect upon their experience, cross-cultural issues, and relevant social policies. Students will identify the implications for current and future impact upon them through the writing of reflection papers, other brief writing assignments, the creation of an electronic or photographic portfolio, and/or a final paper. Students may enroll in particular sections based upon the designated service experience and location. Levels of credit depend on two factors: the number of hours the student serves (30, 60 or 90) and the level of the learning activities in which the student engages. These courses fulfill the General Education Requirement in Service Learning (SLR 105).

SLR 205, Service Learning II

In addition to the requirements for SLR 105, students will perform an additional 30 hours of community service, for a total of 60 hours, and they will compose an additional research paper that investigates a situation encountered at the service site. This situation may relate to issues of providing service, agency structure and/or funding, individual psychological, sociological and/or public policy causes of the needs that the agency intends to meet, etc.

SLR 305, Service Learning III

Students will complete the requirements for SLR 205 in this course. In addition, they will perform an additional 30 hours of community service, for a total of 90 hours, and they will compose an additional research paper that identifies possible short-term and long-term solutions to the problems identified in the SLR 205 research paper. Students will also make a public, oral presentation of the findings of the research