Service learning at VCU lets you earn class credit while participating in organized service activities that meet community-identified needs.

Classes are offered each semester across academic fields. Once you enroll, you’ll participate in at least 20 hours of service for the semester, complete reflection activities and earn the mark “SRV-LRN” on your transcript for the course.

Wilder School faculty members lead service-learning courses every semester. Examples include:

CRJS 352: Crime and Delinquency Prevention: Learn about effective strategies for preventing juvenile delinquency and crime through prevention models, programs and strategies for 21st-century policing. Tutor children and adults and serve as mentors for elementary school children and youth from low-income families.

CRJS 491: Special Topics in Service-Learning: This course focuses on theories and strategies for preventing juvenile delinquency by promoting better communication and respectful relationships between police officers and youth. Students volunteer as tutors, mentors, coaches and referees for community-based programs that enroll at-risk 9- to 13-year-old inner-city children.

HSEP 601 Emergency Management: Planning and Incident Management: Graduate students team up to update an actual Virginia locality’s Emergency Operations Plan in conjunction with the locality’s emergency manager. The plan is presented to the locality’s leadership and emergency management representatives.