Regis College Center for Service Learning

The Center for Service Learning in Regis College began in 1987 and since that time has worked with faculty and students to connect the academic objectives of particular courses to specific needs out in our community. At Regis University service learning takes four basic forms:

Direct service
Advocacy
Community based learning and research
Consciousness-raising in the community

Standing within the Catholic and Jesuit traditions, service learning at Regis is specific in terms of its intended outcomes and its principle focus. Through these traditions, we are called to promote justice and to discern the influence of our actions from the perspective of the poor and marginalized in society. As we work alongside marginated people, we develop our capacity to listen and to learn from people who are not often heard or valued in our culture. Over time, we can grow in solidarity with them and begin to see society as an integrated whole. As members and sustaining links of this whole, we are not able to easily forget, dismiss, or distance ourselves from the people or their experiences on the margins of society. We glimpse the relational nature of justice, and are hopefully transformed to rise to meet the challenge of becoming positive change agents for a more just society.

Our goal, therefore, is not simply to experience and gain a deeper understanding of the voices of the marginalized in our society, but rather, to learn about and gain the tools through which the inequitable systems and structures of society can be challenged and changed.

To achieve this goal, the Center for Service Learning offers the following services and programs:

Service Learning Classes: Integrate specific learning goals with needs out in the community. These courses offer opportunities for reflection and critical analysis in the classroom. The Center for Service Learning provides faculty with community resources, placement and follow-up for their students, with guest speakers for in-class discussions or field trips, and with course planning and facilitation support.

Community Based Learning Classes: Incorporate experiential assignments that ground student learning in the context and content of what they encounter in particular community settings. These courses aim to deepen student understanding of issues such as race, class, gender, violence, poverty and justice. The Center for Service Learning provides faculty with community resources, with guest speakers for in-class discussions or field trips, and with course planning and facilitation support.

Service and Peace and Justice Events: The Political Engagement Conference at Regis University will be held Saturday October 9th from 8:30-4:00pm. Please click this link for more information and a registration form.

Romero House Academic Year Program: Provides 5-6 students an opportunity to live in an intentional community and share in an experience of service, faith, commitment to social justice, and the desire to live simply. Romero House is located in the Highlands Neighborhood of Northwest Denver.

Romero House Summer Service Corps: Offers 5-6 students an opportunity to work in a Denver non-profit agency for ten weeks during the summer, while also living in an intentional community, educating themselves on social justice issues, and growing further in their own spirituality.

Regis Community Scholars: Each semester, offers 12 Regis students who are engaged in service in the community an opportunity to consciously come together to reflect throughout the year on issues of service and justice.

Alternative Spring Break: Nueva Rosita, Mexico: Gives Regis students, faculty and staff the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Mexican history, people, and culture as well as to experience the faith and generosity of the Mexican people. This trip is currently offered as part of a Junior Seminar.

English as a Second Language B & G Custodial/Regis Partnership Program: Partners Regis students, faculty and staff with Regis custodians from Mexico and El Salvador to build stronger relationships within the Regis community, to demonstrate a celebration of diversity on the Regis campus and to improve English skills.

Tinansa International Service Learning Experience in Ghana: Offers a balanced academic and experiential learning program that explores the connections between West African history and heritage and African American social thought and experience. The program involves three phases: classroom instruction, field experience, and community outreach.

Cascade Tutoring and Mentoring Program: Pairs Regis University and Skinner Middle School students together three times a week to build positive relationships between college and middle school students. The program works to support Skinner students?learning needs.

Community-Based Work-Study: Permits students who receive state or federal need-based work study awards to apply their award to off-campus jobs in community organizations, earning the highest available work-study pay rate at $8.10 per hour.

Service-Based Scholarship Opportunities: Allow students to apply for AmeriCorps educational scholarships for completing community service. Awards range from $787 to $2,363.

Volunteer Opportunities: Encourage interested students, faculty, and staff who would like to get involved in short or long-term volunteer opportunities in the community. The Center for Service Learning helps facilitate the placement process.

Service Learning, Travel, and Work Experiences Guidelines. In order to access these pages, please login to INsite using your RegisNET account, then click on "Policies" in the Links for You list on the right side of the page.

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