WELCOME
Welcome to the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning!
Affirming central goals of the College, the Underwood Stryker Institute engages students, faculty, and community members in sustained partnerships that foster collaborative learning and civic participation in a diverse, democratic society. By forging a link between service and learning, the Institute works to strengthen the community, invigorate the educational experience, and promote students’ informed and ethical engagement to build a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Over 600 Kalamazoo College students -- about half of the on-campus student body -- work in the community every year, most through service-learning courses. Also each year over 150 students earn minimum wage through federal work-study placements, or work as “volunteers” committing at least two hours per week throughout the term. Our co-curricular programs are coordinated (and frequently designed) by “K” student leaders, who hold Underwood Stryker Institute Civic Engagement Scholarships.
Critical thinking and activism makes these co-curricular service-learning experiences a vital part of the “K Plan.” These programs both benefit from and provide scaffolding for other elements of the K Plan, especially the Senior Individualized Project (SIP) and Integrative Cultural Research Project (ICRP, on study abroad), which complement and/or cap outstanding community-based learning experiences that span the four years of a Kalamazoo College education. Increasingly, thanks to endowed scholarships, students are also able to weave into their K Plans experiences like summer community-based research, internships and externships that focus on social justice and community change.
Service-Learning Courses & Co-Curricular Service-Learning Programs
Course-based service-learning projects occur during ten-week quarters, but co-curricular projects are ongoing. Both kinds of service-learning take place within the context of reciprocal partnerships with the community: not-for-profit agencies, public schools, and government entities, citizens’ coalitions, and/or grassroots efforts. Campus-community partnerships, especially those with Kalamazoo Public Schools, often incorporate both service-learning courses and co-curricular projects that students lead to sustain our partnerships across the full academic year, rather than just during the 10-week quarter.
Both service-learning courses and co-curricular programs integrate structured reflection -- led by a professor, community partner, or Civic Engagement Scholar – as a defining feature.
How Can You Be Involved?
We offer many civic engagement, social justice, and service-learning opportunities throughout the Kalamazoo community -- both through service-learning courses and co-curricular programs. To learn more about specific co-curricular programs, click here. To see a list of our service-learning courses, click here.
General questions? Send an email to maryjane@kzoo.edu or call 269-337-7104.