The MUSCRAT Community Psychology lab works with the Experience program at the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton to provide guidance for the effectiveness of their programs. This is an organization that depends on volunteers to provide their services. Volunteers are essential to many organizations that serve to help the community. Additionally, there are many individual benefits to participating in service as well. Volunteer engagement among students at Miami University has decreased over the past years. There are many reasons for this, including lack of transportation, students stress and lack of availability, inadequate knowledge of available programs, mental health decline, and social attitudes. Through the review of existing literature on the possible solutions to these challenges, a required service learning class for students emerged as a possible solution. Combining the concepts of experiential learning and traditional instruction, this class would offer an opportunity for greater classroom success, engagement with the community, and exposure to values of social responsibility. Providing transportation, mental health resources, relevant placements, and flexibility to students in this class are all important to the effectiveness. Increasing the number of people who consistently devote their time to service will improve the lives of many people within the communities of Oxford and Hamilton, and increase the meaningfulness of students’ college experience.
Author: Grace M. Moser
Faculty Advisor: Paul Flasphohler, PhD, Psychology Department
Graduate Student Advisor: Amy Kerr, Psychology Department
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