Promoting Service-Learning through an Interdisciplinary and Decentralized Faculty Fellow Program

The adoption of service and community-based learning can be a challenge across college campuses. Some units or departments might embrace the approach, while others believe it cannot be done in their discipline. Despite being shown to offer benefits for learning and retention, recruiting faculty participation in service and community-based learning (SL/CBL) can be challenging. This article describes the origination and first two years’ outcomes of a decentralized Faculty Fellows Program (FFP) across six colleges at a metropolitan university. After collaborating with college administration to determine priorities, the first cohort of faculty recruited for the FFP was tasked with serving as a resource for fellow college faculty/staff. This paper utilizes the fellows’ end-of-year reports organized around priorities and goals, activities planned or undertaken, and the fellow’s reflections of the year to conduct a qualitative analysis. Results show the FFP allowed an individualized approach to address goals, determine tactics, and achieve outcomes across college units and offers an opportunity for implementation at any university because of its decentralized structure and ability to adjust to the needs of any specific college or unit.