A virtual meeting with authorities from some twenty Catholic higher education institutions from the five continents, convened by the coordination of Uniservitate, showed that service-learning is advancing steadily in the Catholic university world and that, to be implemented successfully, it requires institutional support and a major change of mindset, especially among faculty members.
On March 13th, the second meeting with chancellors since the creation of the programme took place; the first one was held in Rome in 2022, in the framework of the 3rd Uniservitate Symposium with 20 participants. This time, 44 representatives from supported universities and international associations with which the programme works hand in hand were present. Among them was Donna Caroll, newly appointed Executive Director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), which brings together 230 educational institutions in the United States and Canada, and Rodolfo Gallo Cornejo, President of the Organisation of Catholic Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean (ODUCAL).
Nieves Tapia, director of CLAYSS, underlined the importance of this meeting with the leaders of Catholic higher education institutions, given that “Uniservitate was not designed to support isolated projects but to support institutional policies that allow service-learning to help integrate the mission of teaching, research and social commitment with a clear Catholic identity”.
After presenting a brief summary of the work carried out so far by Uniservitate, María Rosa Tapia, coordinator of the programme, encouraged the participants to share achievements and pending challenges regarding service-learning practices in their respective institutions. The raised hands promptly filled the screen and for almost an hour and a half many of the participants described their experiences in a spirit of fraternal trust.
The most appreciated and repeated “accomplishment” was the progress, to varying degrees, in the process of institutionalising service-learning. Some institutions commented with satisfaction that all the degree programmes they offer include the service-learning proposal in their curricula; others reported that they give monetary recognition to professors who commit to these practices, and even to the adaptation of the institutional project to national educational regulations. The latter is the cacas at Assam Don Bosco University in India, where SL activities are carried aout under the term “engagement”.
The documents and projects carried out in collaboration were also positively highlighted, such as the case of a “legal clinic” that is being planned by the Uniservitate teams of the Catholic University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic Javeriana University of Colombia and the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and in which other institutions could be incorporated. Experiences that, in addition to promoting “going forth”, will strengthen links and foster mutual enrichment.
A “legal clinic” run by law students is now also being developed in Ukraine. The Rector of the Catholic University of Ukraine, Taras Dobko, said that the young people, supervised by teachers, provide legal services to veterans who have lost their limbs, and to families of missing persons or prisoners of war. He added: “Our participation in the Uniservitate programme (…) was providential” because in the face of the Russian invasion “one of the main issues for the students was how to make their studies relevant and meaningful. (…) Everyone wanted to do something important and be useful. I think service-learning as a tool allowed the students to combine and link voluntary social work with their studies. In that sense it was perfect in a situation like this”.
Among the challenges that higher education institutions face, several mentioned the change of mindset that service-learning requires, especially among professors. “Many teaching logics need to be deconstructed,” said Andrés Mideros Mora, vice rector of the Catholic University of Ecuador, where the curricula of all undergraduate courses have been reformed and specific service-learning subjects have been incorporated in all of them.
Other “pending issues” are the inclusion of service-learning in the research area, getting community partners more involved and, in Taiwan, attracting more men as 80% of service-learning participants are women.
Maria Cinque, from LUMSA University (Italy), said that since they started working with Uniservitate, service-learning has become increasingly important and now this pedagogy is part of the university’s Three Year Development Plan. In LUMSA different initiatives are being carried out, some of them linked to faculty because “motivated professors are fundamental for service-learning”. Cinque then referred to the 5th Uniservitate Symposium which will be held at LUMSA on November 7th and 8th and in the framework of which a new meeting of rectors will take place. She added: “Rome will provide us with an inspiring setting to reflect on our progress, tackle our challenges and envision the future of service-learning within our institutions”.