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Creating Sustainable Service-learning Programs:

A Role for Student Organizations

Curt DeBerg California State University – Chico

Bernard Milano KPMG Foundation

Dasaratha Rama University of Massachusetts - Darmouth

Contact Author:

Dasaratha V. Rama Department of Accounting & Finance Charlton College of Business University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA 02747 (508) 999 8767

Draft: 04/25/2000 Creating Sustainable Service-learning Programs:

A Role for Student Organizations

Many undergraduate students participate in volunteer activities through student organizations, national honors societies and campus-based student clubs. For example, a recent study of 22,236 college undergraduates (Astin et. al. 2000) found that 46 percent of the students participated in community service activities not linked to a course. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of student organizations in building sustainable service-learning program through a combination of course-based and noncredit projects. Astin et. al. (2000) also found that performing service as part of a course adds significantly to the benefits associated with community service for all 11 outcome measures studied except interpersonal skills, self-efficacy and leadership as compared to noncredit community service activities. Benefits associated with course- based service were strongest for the academic outcomes, especially writing skills.

Similarly, results of Eyler and Giles (1999) also suggest that application of service to coursework enhances service-learning outcomes. While integrating service activities with coursework enhances educational outcomes, a major challenge in course-based projects is the limited time available for service activities in a course, especially given that service is typically only one of many requirements in a course. Student organizations such as STUDENTS IN FREE ENTERPRISE (SIFE) offer one way for addressing these concerns by providing a structure for continuing course-based projects over extended time periods.

Further faculty report time and effort required for service-learning, and lack of resources as barriers to service-learning (Stanton , Hammond 1994, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges 1995, Robinson 1996, Wade and

Yarborough 1997). Another major way in which student organization can enhance service-learning programs is by providing opportunities for students to assume leadership roles in developing and managing projects. Such an approach provides rich educational opportunities for students while simultaneously providing support to faculty in organizing and managing projects.

We discuss a six year implementation experience with Students in Free Enterprise

(SIFE). SIFE is a non-profit educational organization that works in partnership with business and higher education, providing college students the leadership experience of establishing community outreach programs that teach others how market economies and businesses operate. Currently, the SIFE organization consists of about 30,000 students at over 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. SIFE has also expanded to 12 other countries.. By carefully designing community service activities of student organizations and integrating these activities with coursework, SIFE enhances the value of service- learning projects for the community, students, faculty and universities. The following sections discuss different elements of the SIFE implementation that helps in sustaining service-learning.

Establishing and Communicating Outcomes

One key feature of SIFE that facilitates building and sustaining high quality projects in the community is that SIFE programs have clearly defined outcomes for the community and students. Each spring, SIFE teams compete against one another at one of

20 regional competitions throughout the United States. These regional and national competitions provide a formal mechanism for communicating desired outcomes to SIFE teams. Table 1 shows the judging criteria for SIFE competitions. As seen from the table, the primary objective is to establish community outreach programs to teach others about how businesses operate, how to identify market need for a product or service and how to meet that need; how to produce that product or service; how to make a profit, the ethical obligations businesses have to their customers and community, and the skills needed to be successful in the global marketplace.

SIFE criteria also emphasize community impact through item 6 of the judging criteria which involves measuring and quantifying project success. Again, to perform well in the competition students have to be aware from the beginning that they need to devise assessment techniques and collect data to document project success. Thus teams have to pay attention to achieving well-defined, measurable outcomes through their projects.

SIFE also organizes several special competitions (table 2). SIFE’s Home Office finds several sponsors to create special competitions, and projects are designed that meet their specific criteria. These special competitions focus SIFE activities on the accomplishment of specific objectives for the community and the students. For example, one competition focuses on enhancing a child’s understanding about how a business operates, responsible consumerism, professional opportunities, and how business impacts our daily lives. I BELIEVE THERE ARE BETTER EXAMPLES-“Responsible use of credit”; “Reducing the national debt”, etc.

SIFE competitions also provide an equivalent of feedback/grading mechanisms for noncredit settings. To defray costs of travel and provide additional incentives, winning teams are awarded cash prizes. Business supporters and private foundations provide this prize money. Winning teams at the regional competition advance to a national competition held in Kansas City, Missouri in May each year. Judges at these competitions include OVER 250 entrepreneurs, CEOs and other business leaders.

Another beneficial aspect is the added exposure to potential recruiters, given that many of the judges for the competitions are industry leaders. (I WOULD REMOVE THIS The judging criteria also identify educational outcomes for students. Educational outcomes are discussed in the following section.

Designing Service Activities

The needs of students, community partners and faculty need to be balanced in identifying service projects that can be sustained through a given service-learning program. In SIFE, projects are selected in several ways. Many of the projects are initiated when community members contact the faculty advisor. Alternatively, SIFE students suggest ideas that they want to pursue. The project selection process emphasizes building sustainable partnerships with the community. Almost half of the current projects are either continuation projects, or improved significantly from the previous year. Ongoing relationships have been developed or are being established with organizations such as Butte County Office of Employment, Butte County Office of

Employment, City of Chico, Girl Scouts of America, County Center Day School,

Juvenile Hall etc.

Selecting appropriate service activities is essential to sustaining student involvement. First, service activities must contribute to educational outcomes. Second, service projects must be appropriate given student background and amount of time students can spend on service activities.

SIFE Projects and Educational Outcomes

SIFE emphasizes teaching, tutoring and mentoring activities. Hedin (1987) notes that peer-tutoring programs enhance academic achievement both for tutors and for tutored students. Cohen, Kulik and Kulik (1982) found that in 33 of 39 studies, results suggest that students who served as tutors performed better on exams than did control students. Further, in 45 of the 52 achievement studies, the tutored students scored higher on examination performance than those in a conventional class.

SIFE results are consistent with prior studies. For example, a summer program for 30 high school students was assessed using (1) a 10 question pre, post economic literacy test developed by National Council on Economic Education, (2) a 15 question pre post business literacy test. In 1992, American adults scored an average of the 39% and college graduates scored an average 51% on the economic literacy test. The students in the SIFE program had average scores of 37.5% and 64.4% on the pre and post test representing a significant improvement. Students showed a significant improvement on

11 of 15 questions in the business literacy test.

SIFE activities are structured to support the development of various personal competencies in addition to basic business knowledge. As shown in table 1, SIFE provides opportunities to develop broader competencies such as teamwork, communication, project management and leadership skills. Such competencies are being increasingly emphasized in business and accounting education (e.g., AAA Bedford Committee 1986; Arthur Andersen et al. 1989; AECC 1990, AICPA 1999a,b). For example, the recently released “AICPA Core Competency Framework for Entry into the

Accounting Profession” calls for accounting graduates to exhibit highly complex and integrated skills. Table 1 shows examples of how the judging criteria relate to a range of personal competencies identified in the AICPA framework. Elements of AICPA comptency definitions of professional demeanor, problem solving and decision making, interaction, communication, leadership and project management skills are given in Table

Complexity and Diversity of Projects

The nature of SIFE projects make it feasible to sustain student involvement and community partnerships for several reasons. Firts, the tutoring/mentoring tasks are of manageable complexity for students especially if appropriate training is provided.

Project activities can be structured in a way that specific measurable outcomes can be achieved in a reasonable time frame. Third, students typically acquire the business and computer literacy skills that they have to teach to others early in their college curriculum.

By involving students from an early stage in the program it is feasible to create opportunities for participation over longer time periods.

A fourth factor that contributes to sustainability of the SIFE program is that numerous opportunities are available in the areas of teaching/tutoring/mentoring to engage a large membership. As shown in table 1, the basic program developed for one high school has been extended to other high schools, a summer program, a program for youth on probation and a program for incarcerated youth. In addition, programs can be tailored to different age groups – k-8, high school, college age students and adults. Further, a range of topics can be covered in these programs including business and economic literacy, and technology. There are also opportunities to create short term experiences such as Make a

Difference Day and Youth Entrepreneurship camps.

Finally, while a range of opportunities exist, the different projects involve similar types of service. If students are engaged in projects that vary widely in nature and scope, considerable resources may be required for organizing and managing these projects. For example, considerable faculty time and effort is required for helping students acquire the skills necessary for different types of projects, interacting with community organizations, and offering frequent guidance and feedback in a classroom setting. In programs where a large number of students are involved as in our SIFE example, faculty time may be a significant constraint if the project activities vary considerably in nature and scope. To summarize, focusing on a few types of service activities (teaching/tutoring/ mentoring) activities helps to ensure that services are of acceptable quality.

Integrating SIFE Activities with the Curriculum

The SIFE implementation provides a model for sustaining student involvement in service through a combination of course-linked and noncredit activities. As discussed in previous sections, a key challenge in service-learning involves providing services of value given limited student time on projects. Balancing student time on task against community needs is crucial to project success. Longer term student involvement may be necessary in order to achieve measurable outcomes and sustain community partnerships.

One approach to long term involvement is to continue a project in a course over multiple semesters. A major limitation of this approach is that each new set of students needs to be oriented and trained to perform competently. It may be difficult to ensure continuity if the students involved in the project change every few months. Thus finding avenues for continued involvement for students who have acquired the skills necessary to perform competently may be crucial to long term sustainability of service-learning programs.

In the SIFE program, students participate in an initial service experience in the freshman/sophomore year course on Introduction to Business or Principles of

Accounting. Here the faculty adviser trains teams of university students to deliver a series of business and computer literacy lessons to at-risk students enrolled in “alternative” high schools. SIFE provides a structure for sustaining participation over an extended period.

It may be difficult to sustain student involvement in a project over 2 or 3 years entriely through course-based projects since it is unlikely that the same service activity will fit the requirements of numerous courses.

The community benefits because students who have acquired skills to deliver certain types of services continue to be involved in providing these services for extended time periods. Another advantage of this approach is that several veteran students can play a coaching/mentoring role for rookie students. In contrast to projects where a single faculty member has to guide numerous students, the additional support available for rookie students in this model also enhances service quality. As discussed in the next section support activities necessary to sustain community service projects (project management, travel, public relations, mentoring and coaching others etc.) provide rich opportunities for student development even when the nature of the service is unchanged.

Linking to Academic Program As mentioned above, many students begin their SIFE involvement either through an introductory business or accounting course. Veteran students can earn one credit for leadership roles on projects. Recently, an interdisciplinary course of Technology,

Teamwork and Leadership has been created. SIFE officers, project leaders and several students from computer science participate in this course. Students learn technology skills such as computer animation, storyboarding etc. Extensive collaboration is needed to author a presentation for the regional and national meetings.

One unique feature of SIFE is that even the noncredit activities are closely aligned with a student’s academic program as follows:

 The business literacy lessons which are the basis of the teaching/ tutoring activities

were authored by a faculty member

 There is active faculty advisor involvement in SIFE activities

 For many students, the work in noncredit settings is a continuation of a course

project. Thus the service is linked to the curriculum even though it is not part of the

course.

 Rookie students are mentored by veteran students. Thus even for students who start

on a noncredit basis, the training/mentoring helps in connecting the service to the

academic program.

 The SIFE competitions help in articulating and communicating outcomes even when

the project is in a noncredit setting. These outcomes include basic business/computer

literacy as well as broad personal competencies required for success as business

professionals. For example, the linkages between the SIFE criteria and AICPA core

competency framework were discussed in the outcomes section. Reflection

Effective service-learning programs incorporate reflection before, during and after the experience. Prior research suggests that ongoing reflection is key to enhancing educational outcomes from service-learning (Eyler and Giles 1999). Students are required to write reflection papers in SIFE activities integrated in courses.

However, there are also unique opportunities for reflection in SIFE in noncredit settings through three types of activities (1) project management, (2) travel and sharing experiences at regional and national meetings, and (3) mentoring/coaching college and high school students in establishing similar programs. One example is a program for public relations and dissemination. In addition to producing a documentary that aired on the local PBS television station, members of this team have traveled to Washington, D.C. over the past three years to participate in the American Association for Higher

Education’s national conference on school/college collaboration.

Reflection activities that occur in noncredit settings are usually led by students.

For example, the president arranges speakers and workshops for the weekly meetings.

Similarly, project leaders lead and facilitate reflection on project related activities through regular meetings. As discussed in the subsequent sections on project management, and travel and sharing, reflection activities are built into the day-to-day functioning of the

SIFE program.

Project Management

The need for continuity through extended student involvement in SIFE projects must be balanced against the need to provide interesting and challenging experiences for students. While the nature of the service is unchanged, SIFE provides extensive opportunities for project management, public relations, peer coaching etc. to challenge experiences for students as they continue their involvement over time. Another advantage of this approach is that student leadership in managing projects reduces faculty time and effort for implementing service-learning.

SIFE Structure

SIFE provides a structure for managing diverse projects effectively. For example, some students serve as officers. Officers include a president, vice president, VP of technology, VP of public relations, VP of special events, and a secretary. The president organizes weekly member and officer meetings, and bimonthly team leader meetings, and ensures that project deadlines are met. In addition, there are a number of project leaders responsible for managing specific projects in the community. Project leaders participate in an initial orientation session to explain project details to interested students. They also conduct regular meetings to monitor project progress and take appropriate action. Also as mentioned in the previous section, they help in training and mentoring junior students.

Resource Management

SIFE competitions require students to document their utilization of resources including the Business Advisory Board (BAB), students/faculty from other disciplines etc. The fact that students have to discuss resource utilization in their presentation guides student activities and reflection throughout the project. Project leaders/officers have to be aware of available resources, devise ways to effectively utilize resources and track how resources have been utilized across projects. For example, the BAB can (1) help make “connections” in the community, (2) provide a resource base for ideas, funding, and further networking, (3) provide guest speakers, (4) serve as judges for Cal-High SIFE and Summer SIFE projects, (5) help in selecting presenters, (5) attend friends of SIFE

Banquet, (6) host dinners and lunches to brainstorm ideas. Other departments can support the presentation team as follows:

 Documentary (Computer Science, Communications, Music)

 Theme song (Music)

 Introduction for presentation (Computer Graphics)

 Annual report (Communications)

Students have also been effective in generating resources. For example, through the efforts of SIFE students, a local business donated 11 computers to the County Center Day

School. Students have acquired state-of-the-art laptop computers and video display projection systems by authoring grants within and external to the university. Starting in fall 1996, the high school lessons were delivered using PowerPoint presentations and motion graphics.

Student Orientation At the beginning of every semester, an orientation session is organized in which the officers/project leaders describe SIFE goals, projects and other activities involving travel and presentations to students in freshmen/sophomore students.

Interested students then get an opportunity to interact with project leaders to get additional information to help them choose projects. The judging criteria for regional and national competitions provide a framework for organizing and managing project activities. For example, following the judging criteria the use of resources (Business

Advisory Board, other colleges etc.) is discussed at the orientation session. Reflection on such issues early in the project offers advantages to all stakeholders and contributes to project sustainability as follows: First, this approach ensures that veteran students are developing plans for effective utilization of resources and for assessing project success. Second, rookie students become aware of issues to be addressed in project management and best practice issues in the early stages of their involvement and are thus prepared to assume project management roles in the future.

Further, the emphasis on assessing project success and resource utilization can help in stimulating student thinking and discussion on how to effectively deliver services to the community. Such discussions can enhance the quality of the services provided through the program.

Travel and Sharing SIFE teams adopt rookie teams and travel to the campuses to make presentations to students, faculty, administrators and business advisors. The teams have also traveled to many regional, national and international conferences (Australia, Norway, Orlando).

Teams make multimedia presentations to educators on starting SIFE teams on campus.

Another program, Cal - High SIFE involves mentoring high schools in implementing

SIFE teams on their campus. By facilitating mentoring and coaching by experienced teams, national organizations such as SIFE can play a key role in helping others learn how to implement effective service-learning and build sustainable programs in their communities.

In addition, there is an “Adopt a Sister Program” to encourage sharing of ideas between veteran teams. The idea is for veteran teams to share ideas about a few successful projects. Sharing ideas about successful projects that can be replicated in other settings is another way in which organizations such as SIFE can contribute to the development of sustainable service-learning programs.

These mentoring activities provide opportunities for numerous students to reflect on

SIFE projects, best practices that help in achieving desired outcomes, project management etc. and to communicate these issues to others. For example, currently about 20 students are involved in mentoring high school teams.

Sustaining Service-learning through SIFE

This sections presents some data to show how student involvement and community projects have been developed and sustained over the past six years. Currently

120 students are involved in SIFE projects. One way to describe student involvement over time is in terms of number of students enrolled in the introductory courses. 30 students out of 120 students in the introductory courses, participated in the service learning project and earned the extra credit in the previous semester (i.e., 25% chose the service-learning option). About 40% of these students continue their involvement beyond the course.

Students continue their involvement beyond the introduction to business or principles of accounting course primarily on a noncredit basis. Note that many of these students continue to be involved for multiple semesters. For example, of the 120 students currently working on SIFE projects, 10 students have participated for 4 or more semesters and 15 students have participated for 2-3 semesters. Students contribute significant time to SIFE projects both in course based projects and in noncredit settings. 18 of the 120 students plan on taking on leadership roles this semester (50 hours or more), while 52

(31-49 hours) plan on being very active. Once students have had an initial service experience through a course, SIFE provides a structure through which students can assume greater responsibility for conceiving, implementing, and assessing outreach projects in the community. Through such activities students can practice leadership and project management skills that are difficult to teach in a traditional classroom environment. As shown in table 1, there are numerous outreach projects involving teaching, tutoring and mentoring. Several students get an opportunity to serve as project leaders. About 20 students play leadership roles mentoring area high schools in establishing SIFE chapters. As explained in a later section, about 15 students participate in developing a multimedia presentation for business leaders at regional and national meetings

The combination of credit and noncredit activities has contributed to a program with a range of projects which are sustainable over time. Table provides examples of several projects involving k-8, high school, college students and adults. Some of the programs like the “Make a Difference Day” are of short duration. Others involve a more intense involvement. For example, students contributed 4,500 hrs affecting 137 students through the high school programs in 1998/99. There are two major indicators of project success and sustainability. First, more than half of the projects are continuation of successful projects from prior years. Second, many of the new projects are extensions of successful projects in other communities. For example, a successful program for at-risk high school students has been expanded to two other high schools and has led to the development of a summer program, a program for students on probation and a program for incarcerated youth.

Summary and Discussion

This paper discussed the role of student organizations in implementing sustainable service-learning programs. By integrating noncredit activities of a student organization and course-based service, academic programs can create avenues for sustained student involvement and thus enhancing value to the community. Further, the structure and activities of student organizations provides leadership and project management opportunities for students.

In addition to enhancing educational opportunities, student participation in mentoring/coaching, supervising and managing projects, travel and sharing information with students in other institutions can provide support to faculty in implementing service- learning. Since resource availability is viewed as a key barrier to service-learning, an important way in which SIFE enhances sustainability is by identifying and using resources such as the Business Advisory Board, other departments and participation in competitions to acheive their outcomes

This paper focused on a specific student organization. While there may be significant differences between missions and activities of student organizations, many of the key ideas presented in this paper can be adapted to other contexts. For example, even if there are no formal national competitions, student organizations can be asked to make presentations to local business/community leaders. Similarly, regardless of the specific community service activities an organization’s members engage in, the following best practices can help in sustaining community partnerships (1) clearly defining communtiy outcomes, (2) ensuring that students have appropriate skills and time, (3) articulating educational goals that can be addressed through course-based and noncredit activities, (4) developing long range partnerships with community organizations, (5) identifying a range of course-linked and noncredit opportunities for service, and (6) exploring ways to link the service with the curriculum. Finally, student organizations can play a key role in project management and resource generation to support sustainable community partnerships

I MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT BUT DID YOU IDENTIFY THAT THESE TEAMS ARE

MULTIDISCIPLINE INCLUDING STUDENTS NOT IN THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

SO THE EXPERIENCE PROVIDES FOR A GREATER APPRECIATION FOR THE

VALUE AND STRENGTH OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS ADDRESSING A TASK

References Table 1: Judging Criteria for SIFE Regional/ National Competitions

Judging Criterion AICPA Personal Competencies Addressed 1. How effectively did the students document their Communication Skills; activities in their presentation to the judges? Interaction Skills, Professional demeanor 2. How effectively did the students document their Communication Skills; activities in their written annual report? Interaction Skills, Professional demeanor 3. How creative, innovative, and effective were the Communication Skills; students in teaching others an understanding of how Interaction Skills, Leadership market economies work? Skills, Project Management Skills, Professional demeanor 4. How well did the students teach others how Communication Skills; businesses operate, how to identify market need for a Interaction Skills, Leadership product or service and how to meet that need; how to Skills, Project Management produce that product or service; how to make a profit, Skills, Professional demeanor what to do with that profit; and the ethical obligations businesses have to their customers and community? 5. How successful were the students in teaching others Communication Skills; the skills and motivation needed to survive in the Interaction Skills, Leadership global market? These skills might include teaching: Skills, Project Management technology, communication, social, attitude, personal Skills responsibility, business ethics and moral conduct, and entrepreneurial spirit. 6. Did the students quantify the results of their Project Management educational programs, and did they ensure the continuation of their successful SIFE programs in the future? 7. How successful were the students in utilizing their Project Management resources, which included but were not limited to their Business Advisory Board, (2) college students and faculty from non-business disciplines, and (3) the mass media available (taking into consideration the size and location of their community)? Table 2: SIFE Special Competitions

I. USA Weekend: Make a Difference Day

. Projects should focus on how you made a difference through free enterprise education, focusing on human interest (15 “finalists” earn $500 each)

II. Best Use of Internet (AT&T): (K-12) (Summer SIFE)

. How creative and innovative was this Internet project as a teaching and communications vehicle to reach students and teachers?

III. Best Use of Internet (AT&T): Teaching Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Business People (E- Commerce Workshops)

. How creative and innovative was this Internet project as an electronic vehicle to teach entrepreneurs and small business how e-commerce can benefit their businesses

IV. Best In-Depth Education Project (Business Week) (Cal-High SIFE Challenge 2000)

. SIFE Teams who develop outstanding, business related projects which have potential for application nationally

V. Best Use of Mass Media (Business Week) (The Price is Right, starring Rob Best and Bob Barker, Billboard, Live WebCast, Newspaper Articles, KPAY Make a Difference Day and Halftime Shootout; KIXE in February, Entrepreneur Magazine in June 2000)

. To encourage SIFE Teams to utilize all media resources to enhance their educational programs and the visibility of SIFE

VI. Economic Education Integration (DEL Laboratories): K-12 (Cal-High SIFE/SIFE Week in Chico)

. Encourages SIFE Teams to work with the educational system to integrate free enterprise education into their communities

VII. Economic Education Integration (DEL Laboratories): College Age Students & Adults (ACCT 298C: Technology, Teamwork and Leadership)  Encourages SIFE Teams to work with the educational system to integrate free enterprise education into their communities

VIII. Polsky Personal Investing to Achieve Financial Independence (Mutual Fund/Stock Market Simulation) . To teach fellow college students the importance of saving and investments and how to achieve financial independence

IX. Teach a Child about Business (The Cupcake Factory) . To further a child’s understanding about how a business operates, responsible consumerism, professional opportunities, and how business impacts our daily lives. Personal Competenices Professional Demeanor Cultivates growth in personal conduct and capabilities Accepts professional development as a life-long process Performs reliably under changing demands Recognizes situations where professional ethical standards apply and behavesaccordingly Commits to quality and efficiency

Problem Solving and Decision Making Adapts to new contexts and promotes constructive change Verifies information for problem definition and solution Proposes and evaluates alternative solutions Seeks consensus where appropriate Analyzes the impact of potential actions Knows when to follow directions, question plans or seek help

Interaction Recognizes the value of working within diverse, cross-functional teams Interacts and cooperates productively and maturely with others Facilitates free expression and constructive activities of others Coaches or mentors in appropriate circumstances Commits to achievement of common goals when working on a team Accepts suggestions and guidance of team leaders and other members Recognizes and accommodates the protocols and expectations of teams

Leadership Motivates others to achieve excellence Rallies the support of others to accomplish objectives Chairs teams or volunteers for projects Values inputs and points of view of others and responds appropriately Facilitates development of consensus or compromise as appropriate Persuades others to a course of action by reasoning or incentive Practices principles of effective governance

Communication Organizes and effectively displays information so that it is meaningful to the receiving party Expresses information and concepts with conciseness and clarity when writing and speaking Uses interpersonal skills to facilitate effective interaction Selects appropriate media for dissemination or accumulation of information.

Project Management Determines project goals Allocates project resources to maximize results Effectively facilitates and controls the project process Measures project progress Takes corrective action as needed Sees projects through to completion or orderly transition Realistically estimates time and resource requirements Recognizes situations where prompt and determined actions are needed and responds accordingly SIFE Project Examples

K-8 Mentoring/tutoring at-risk Teach business, computer children from single literacy parent/welfare households Work with students in starting own business and sell goods at university Program for Native American Teach computer literacy Students Gifted/Talented education Teach business literacy lessons, Help students develop business plans Boys and Girls Club Teach computer literacy Youth Entrepreneurship Camp Teach lessons on starting/managing business Make a Difference Day Organize activities such as writing a letter using WP, digital camera, insert graphics, browse Internet carnival with games such as SIFE wheel of fortune, face painting High School Summer SIFE Teach business, economic, computer literacy lessons Educating at-risk students ( 3 Teach business, computer high schools) literacy Help students start and operate class business Program for students on Teach business, computer probation literacy Help students start and operate food cart at courthouse Mentoring project for Teach business, litreacy incarcerated youth lessons Mentoring High Schools in Mentor high schools in starting SIFE implemening SIFE teams on their campus which participate in their own competion at the end of the year Make a Difference Day Organize activities such as Hey, Mom, I’m Going to writing a letter using WP, College digital camera, insert graphics, browse Internet

College Polsky Personal Investing Teach fellow college students Workshop the importance of saving and investments and how to achieve financial independence Stock Market Game Teach fellow college students the importance of saving and investments and how to achieve financial independence Technology Workshops Offer Workshops onExcel, Powerpoint and Web design Adult E-Commerce Society Teach entrepreneurs and small Workshop business how e- commerce can benefit their businesses

Granny Goes Surfing Adult Training Center Global Import/Export Partnership with Germany

UAE Workshops on Service Learning and SIFE SIFE: Technology, Leadership, Teamwork

ACCT 298C Course Syllabus – Spring 2000

Official Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to technology, leadership and teamwork skills with one key deliverable: a 24-minute multimedia presentation.

Students will work together to design and produce a 24-minute multimedia presentation documenting the service-learning projects completed by the 1999/2000 Chico State SIFE team. Key dates (1) script completion, (2) all media will be completed (photos, videotape), (3) first draft of production completed, with sound, animated graphics, etc., (4) public presentation at Friends of SIFE Banquet, (5) public presentation in San Francisco at Regional SIFE Exposition, (6) final draft completed, (7)public presentation in Kansas City, Missouri at International SIFE Exposition

This interdisciplinary course will consist of five interlinking teams:

1. The Presenters (six SIFE students) 2. The Project Leaders (several students from SIFE) 3. The SIFE Officers (six students from SIFE) 4. The SIFE-Tech Team (a few students from SIFE) 5. The CSCI-Tech Team (several interns from Computer Science)

The Presenters are the “voice” of this year’s SIFE team. The Project Leaders and SIFE Officers will be the key links between the Presenters and the two Tech Teams: SIFE- Tech CSCI-Tech. Whatever media are needed to support the Presenters will be gathered by Project Leaders and SIFE Officers, with guidance and direction from the two tech teams.

This will take key teamwork and leadership skills, and technology skills (e,.g, design and implementation of computer animation and special effects. We will investigate both the technical and creative aspects of animation. The course will pay special attention to the design and utilization of an integrated computer graphics production facility).

The primary "deliverable" of the class will be a 24-minute, multimedia presentation to 40 leading business executives in San Francisco on April 17, 2000. This presentation will be repeated in Kansas City, Missouri on May 22-23, 2000, to hundreds of CEOs, senior corporate officers, and entrepreneurs. The presentation will describe how the 1990/2000 SIFE team from CSU, Chico has created, delivered, and assessed several entrepreneurship outreach projects to selected clients in Northern California.

Required Materials

“Fanning the Flames of Free Enterprise Education,” the Spring 2000 SIFE Handbook from CSU, Chico (for SIFE Presenters, Officers, Team Leaders, and Tech members only).

"The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging" by Issac Kerlow. Van Nostrand Reinhold Publishing. ISBN 0-442-01896-7 (for SIFE-Tech and CSCI-Tech members only)

Optional Materials

"Digital Character Animation", by George Maestri.New Ride Publishing. ISBN 1-56205- 559-3 "Principles of Three-Dimensional Computer Animation", by Michael O'Rourke. Norton Publishing. ISBN 0-393-70202-2 "Lightwave 3D 5 Character Animation", by Doug Kelly Ventana Comm. Group Inc. ISBN 1-56604-532-0 "The Illusion of Life - Disney Animation", by Ollie Johnston Hyperion Publishing. ISBN 0-7868-6070-7 "Lightwave User Guide and Reference Manual",by Newtek "Becoming a Computer Animator", by Mike Morrison. SAMS Publishing. ISBN 0-672-30463-5

Software:

Lightwave 3-D"; by Newtek Corporation "Maya"; by Alias/Wavefront or any 3D software of choice.

Course Requirements

Five requirements must be met in order to demonstrate that successful completion of this course.

1. You must meet with the instructor for three hours each week. 2. Each Friday, you must submit a one or two paragraph summary of what you did that week, along with a log of hours devoted to the project. The log must show at least 50 hours of service in order to earn three units of credit. 3. You must attend the Wednesday night SIFE meeting unless you have a documented class conflict. 4. At the end of the semester, you must write a 1,000 word essay reflecting on your experience. The paper should describe the project, explain what you learned, offer recommendations to improve the project

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