Prospective Partner

Interested in forming a partnership with Loyola's service learning program? Here's the process:

  1. Apply by filling out our Partnership Application Form.
  2. New placement agencies are investigated every summer (late May, June and July).  During this time, our staff will follow up with applicants to learn more about your agency. This process may include informational meetings with key staff, site visits, and/or program observations.
  3. Project partners are solicited on an as-needed basis, usually through a "call for partners."  The professor or the service learning office will circulate a short description of a service learning course and a few parameters and ideas for possible projects.  Calls for partners are sent to all agencies in the service learning database.  Any interested agency may respond to a call for partners with a brief description of a proposed project.  Professors choose the most suitable projects.
  4. If a mutually beneficial partnership can be formed, your agency will need to read and agree to all the provisions in Loyola’s memorandum of understanding (MOU), which outlines mutual expectations and clarifies liability matters. 

Criteria for agency partners

These are criteria used to select new partners:

  1. Match between your agency's mission and Loyola's mission
  2. Appropriate level of volunteer management capacity at your agency
  3. Match between the needs and assets of your agency and the needs and assets of Loyola's service learning program
  4. Availability of courses and students with relevant interests and skills
  5. Themes and topics of upcoming service learning courses
  6. Appropriateness of proposed tasks and projects to course learning goals
  7. Logistics (schedule, locations, transportation, etc.)
  8. Whether the proposed partnership complements or duplicates existing partnerships

Frequently Asked Questions

What is service learning?

Why is service learning important?