ASL project contract (5%, includes submission of rough draft) - note: if you are working with a partner, this is one document that you turn in together. Single space the document; double space between paragraphs/sections. Brevity is encouraged and appreciated. Use bullets or numbering where appropriate.

It is important that you write the contract after discussing each of the contract elements with your agency rep. Then, submit a draft of the contract to the instructor for feedback as well a fellow student for a peer critique before finalizing the contract with the agency. Since both you and your agency rep will sign the contract, it is imperative that he/she has a say in what goes in the contract (it is especially important to clarify the responsibilities sections and the timeline).

Formatting the contract:

At the top of the page, centered should be the header “Academic Service Learning Project Contract” and the date

Just below the header, flush left, should be the following:

title of the project – give your project a title, something short yet descriptive

agency name and address

agency supervisor name and contact info (phone/e-mail)

your name(s) and contact info (phone/e-mail)

capstone instructor’s (Dr. Kindred) name and contact info (phone/e-mail)

Include the following sections, each one clearly labeled. Single space the contract; double space between the paragraphs/sections.

Description of the agency and their mission: Write (in your own words) a brief description of the agency, and include some information on the focus or mission of the agency (what is it they do? what is their cause? who do they serve?). Please do not simply cut and paste from the agency’s web site.

Description of the project and need that the project will fill: Restate the project and then describe clearly the need (problem) that your project is hoping to address. Be specific here. Don’t just say “they need help planning an event,” or “they need new PR materials.” What is the need that is actually driving the project? Help with planning an event might mean there is a need to raise necessary funds; creating new PR materials might mean there is a need to make services more visible to a specific population. Also provide a listing of the specific goals/outcomes of the project. Work to phrase your goals in such a way that you can measure them when the project is complete.

Student responsibilities: A description of the specific duties and responsibilities of the student(s). (NOTE: if you are working with a partner, indicate clearly who will be responsible for what part of the project - there should be clearly defined roles/jobs for each of you - and which aspects of the project you will be responsible for together). Include here all task responsibilities but also include process responsibilities (such as “attend weekly meetings with agency supervisor,” etc.).

Student Learning Objectives: Include your 5 personal learning objectives* here. These are different from the project goals that are included above. If you are working with a partner, you should each list your own learning objectives that are personalized to you. See below for a description of how to write your personal learning objectives.

Agency responsibilities: A description of specific duties and responsibilities of the agency and representatives - for example will the agency rep provide you with information/resources? Meet with you weekly? Supervise the event? Provide funding? Include here a statement about the agency’s responsibility to provide feedback to you and to the instructor on the overall project.

Timeline: A timeline of when certain and specific milestones will be completed. Be as detailed as possible here – your agency should get a good sense of how you intend to use the entire semester to complete the project and when they can expect to see drafts of your work or final “

Approval and Signatures: Both you and the agency rep should sign and date the contract once it has been approved by the instructor and the agency rep. Please make sure that both you and your agency rep each have a hard copy of the signed contract. You can submit your “approved” contract to the course web site in one of two ways:

Submit the signed contract in its entirety (scan the signed contract as a PDF file before uploading it to Canvas)

Submit the unsigned contract and forward to me an e-mail approval from your agency rep

Submit the unsigned contract and upload an image of the signature page

**However you choose to do it, your agency signed contract must be submitted by the due date

Grading Criteria: The contract needs to be thorough, clear, concise and complete. Grading is credit/no credit (either you get all the points or no points). Specifically, I will look for the following:

-All parts of the contract are completed thoroughly

-The project description, agency description, project goals, timeline, responsibilities, and resources are articulated clearly and concisely - the contract gives a very clear picture of the agency, the community, the need, and of the overall scope of the project

-The contract is well organized and easy to follow

-The contract is professionally presented

-The contract displays college level writing

If the contract is not clear and complete, you will need to revise it before any points will be awarded.

*Personal Learning Objectives

In the contract, identify at least five learning objectives that you hope to achieve by the time the ASL project is completed. After getting started on your project and reflecting on Academic Service Learning and your own communication strengths and weaknesses, and the new knowledge you hope to gain this semester, you should have a good idea of what you personally want to learn via the ASL project. Your identified learning objectives should be a combination of both knowledge and skills. For example, perhaps you hope to gain knowledge about social media marketing strategies or event planning, and you also want to improve your public speaking skills. The syllabus lists several different learning outcomes which might also help you as you work to frame your objectives for the ASL project. Every individual student’s learning objectives will be different, as each student will take away their own personalized learning from this course. If you are working with a partner, you should each include your individualized personal learning objectives in the contract. Start each of your objectives with “To.” These objectives are very important, as you will revisit and reflect on them at the end of the semester.

Examples:

To improve time management skills (skills objective)

To learn about the foster care system (knowledge objective)

To learn how to create and embed videos (skills and knowledge objective)