From nonprofits to neighbors: Exploring the locus of campus-community partnerships

Abstract

Service learning and community engagement (SLCE) have become near ubiquitous across U.S. higher education. While much scholarship has demonstrated positive student learning outcomes of SLCE, there has been unequal consideration towards understanding the experiences of communities involved. Because community voices and perspectives have been largely missing from literature, this paper, drawing on a community-based case study, and neoliberalism as a theoretical framework, uniquely explores the significance of SLCE at one institution from the vantage point of community members, notably local residents. As a result of the community contributions shared, this paper offers a way of thinking about SLCE “from nonprofits to neighbors” with an aim of (re)imagining SLCE with those who have often been left out of research.