Service Learning & Student Engagement

Auburn University has a long history of service to the community as part of its land-grant mission of outreach. The value of public service is also emphasized in the Auburn Creed. Service engagement is one of Auburn’s strategic objectives for enhancing students’ academic experience, and it is required for many courses of study. Students may engage in organized outreach activities over their academic career at Auburn, through a variety of curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular services experiences.

Service engagement enhances academic study and provides opportunities for personal and professional growth, while making a difference in the surrounding community. Engagement also builds appreciation for collaboration and cooperation by working with community partners in a service environment. Students may participate in public service activities through formal service-learning courses and internships that have been established in the university curriculum. Many majors require service as a component of disciplinary study. Students can also fulfill their personal service interests through student organizations, volunteerism in campus service projects, or direct engagement with community agencies.

Students can access information on service learning and service opportunities through AUBURNSERVES, an on-line network hosted by the university’s engagement office, the Office of Public Service. AUBURNSERVES is a collaboration of campus partners including University Outreach, student organizations, learning communities, and academic programs in the schools and colleges, and more than 175 non-profit and community agencies in the east Alabama area and across the state. AUBURNSERVES offers students and their faculty mentors contact information for a wide range of organized service options available through these campus and community partners. The network also provides online resources for managing and documenting service projects.

For more information on student engagement and service learning at Auburn University, and to access the AUBURNSERVES network, visit www.auburnserves.com, or contact the Office of Public Service at (334) 844-5117.