East Central University

Service-Learning in the Principles of Management

Class

Tori PeteteJunior, Accounting Major

Ada, OK

Pat Fountain, DBAProfessor of Business Administration

and Service Learning Director

MGMT 3013 Principles of Management

• Junior Level Course

• Usually 35-40 Students

• Required for Bus Admin, Accounting, HIM

• Traditional Introductory Management Course– Planning– Organizing– Influencing (Leading)– Controlling

The Community Need

The need the class addressed came from these factors related to the ECU service area.

• 1) the children in the service area are among the poorest in the nation in terms of well being

• 2) the service area is geographically isolated• 3) the service area has a cycle of low

educational attainment and• 4) the service area has low preparation for post-

secondary education

Spring of 2006

• Two Sections

• About 70 Students

• Eight Student Teams/Organizations

• The students were asked to plan, carry out and evaluate a project in response to the economic conditions of the service area

Results of Service-Learning• 4 Communities• 4 School Partners• 5 Community Partners• $4000 in cash and merchandise • Hundreds of hours of time over the

semester• Directly Impacted

25 High School Juniors115 Eighth Graders400 First and Second Graders

Group 1

Promoting Secondary Education at Stonewall High School

“ Counselors and teachers provide information and guidance, but we noticed that our students really paid attention and asked questions when other STUDENTS came and presented the information.”

Jennifer Snell, Teacher Tamara Newberry, Principal Stonewall High School

Group 2

Picket Center School

• Raised over $450 toward purchasing school supplies

• Supplies were also collected and donated.

Group 3

Hammond Heights Neighborhood

Association• Cleaned & mowed lots• Repaired and painted a

house• Worked with university

volunteers & residents

• Contributed over 100 man hours in 1 day

Group 4Ada Boys and

Girls Club

• Raised $600 for summer program supplies

• Bake sales and donations

• Were able to collect and deliver donated supplies

Group 5

Hayes Grade Center

• Raised $450 by conducting a “penny war” and spent time reading to the students

• Principal asked them to “get the kids excited about reading” and get them some new reading material.

• Winning class got to throw a pie into their teacher’s face

Group 6

Holdenville Jr High

• Helped about 115 Eighth Graders learn about College

• Invited them to the campus, gave them a tour, arranged various speakers and fed them lunch.

• Students used a pre/post tour survey and found that the number who knew what the requirements for college were; the number who planned to attend college and the number who planned to attend ECU increased

Group 7

Habitat for HumanityBoy Scouts of America • Cleaned over 250 used

bricks• Removed and disposed

of over two tons of unusable bricks. (worth $500)

• Donated over $150 worth of gloves, tools and safety goggles

Group 8

Ada Family Crisis Center

• raised over $1300 through fundraisers and donations

• Bought items that met the needs of six families

Reflection Activities

Throughout the semester students were asked to talk about, write about and/or think about their projects

At their final exam they were asked • 1. What problem/need did your group’s project address? • 2. In/From carrying out your project (working with the

community group -not the planning or course work part) what did you learn:

A. About the community group / partnerB. About yourself

• 3. Who benefited from your project and how?• 4. Was your project meaningful to you? YES NO If so,

in what way?

Service-Learning

One Professor’s

Experience

Service-Learning

One Student’s

Experience

A Final NoteSome May Wonder if

Practitioners of Service Learning

are really teaching students

are giving students real & useful experiences

are giving away grades

are reaching students

are enhancing their classes or wasting time