About Learning in Action
Our Mission
We are dedicated to connecting students, faculty and community members to academic community engagement and co-curricular service opportunities within and beyond the University.
What We Are
Learning in Action – From Classrooms to Communities is the front door to public service at the University of Virginia, designed to connect students, faculty and community partners to social entrepreneurship, community engagement and co–curricular service opportunities. The initiative is a product of a multi-year collaborative process among students, faculty, staff and community members. It lists events, opportunities and organizations involved with service and community-based research, as well as resources that direct users to specific programs and offices based on individual interest. Community members and agencies can also post events and opportunities to the page and access all of its resources. Currently, the Public Service Committee of Student Council and Student Affairs Community Engagement are responsible for all content.
History
Learning in Action’s roots lie in a series of recommendations contained in two presidential reports, the Commission on Diversity and Equity Report (CODE) and the Commission on the Future of the University (COFU), for how public service and diversity should shape and inform the U.Va. student experience. Implementation of those recommendations was guided by the Public Service Advisory Board (PSAB), a group of students, faculty, staff and community members charged by the executive vice provost for academic programs and the vice president and chief student affairs officer to advise that effort. A central recommendation for the PSAB’s 2009 report was the creation of a website that would function as the “front door” for the many opportunities for public service at the University and the communities of which it is a citizen, and which would provide a road map for both students and community members seeking opportunities to serve together. Undergraduate students in INST 575: Advertising in Action, a service-learning course taught by Professor Greg Fairchild from the Darden School of Business, developed the logo and marketing plan for the new site. Implementation of that plan is currently underway.
