College of Education

Human Development and Family Science Department

Service Learning in HDFS

To fulfill the Upper-division Service Learning requirement, HDFS students complete a minimum of 25 hours of service in an HDFS-related setting.

Some of the recent service learning placement sites for HDFS students have been:

  • Alisal Community School  - Alisal Union School District
  • Bay View Academy Charter School
  • Cesar Chavez Futbol Academy - Cesar Chavez Library
  • City of Marina Recreation Department (formerly Marina Teen Center)
  • Food Bank for Monterey County
  • Hartnell Child Development Center
  • Monterey County Rape Crisis Center
  • Mt. Madonna YMCA
  • Ord Terrace Elementary School - MPUSD
  • Palenke Arts
  • Salvation Army of Monterey Peninsula Corps
  • Siena House Maternity Home
  • TUCCi Learning Solutions 
  • Valencia Elementary School - PVUSD
    1. In order to fulfill the Upper-division Service Learning learning outcomes in HDFS, students must complete at least 25  service learning hours in HDFS 380S.  In this course, 25 hours minimum, as documented in S4/MySLP, are required in order to receive a final passing grade. 
    2. Students may choose to complete more service learning hours to meet admission requirements for credential and graduate school programs.  No additional credit in HDFS380S shall be granted for additional hours.
    1. Students must have direct contact with participants (e.g., students, clients, consumers, etc.) in the program or setting for at least 75% of the service learning hours completed (i.e, 18.5 hours).
    2. Placements where a direct relative is the supervisor are not permitted.  In addition, placements where services are provided to a relative (e.g., child care classroom with the student’s child or caring for an elderly relative) should be avoided.
    3. Commuting time, additional training for the service learning site, time to get fingerprinted do not count for service learning hours.
    1. Students who work in an HDFS-related setting may use their work hours to count toward the 25  hour requirement, if they are in direct contact with HDFS-related program participants for at least 75% of the time (i.e., 18.5 hours) over the course of the semester.
    1. Students who work in an HDFS-related setting in an administrative role may use their work hours to count toward the 25  hour requirement, if they provide direct training or instruction of staff for at 50% (12.5 hours) over the course of the semester.
    2. Students using work hours for service learning hours must still complete the required assignments for the course, which may require additional hours outside of work hours or other tasks outside of work duties in order to complete the assignment.  It is up to the students to clarify their role as a service learner with their work supervisor.
    3. Work as a nanny or babysitter or other caretaking roles in the home (from infant to elderly) may not be used for service learning, including in-home tutoring.
    4. Students using work settings for service learning placements must comply with the CSUMB Service Learning Institute’s procedures for approval of a placement site.
    5. The course instructor must approve the work setting and work duties as appropriate to meet the requirements for the course.
    1. Students may use the same setting for other service learning courses and HDFS380S.
    2. With instructor approval, students may use hours of training for subsequent experiences to meet requirements (e.g., training to become a CASA). The instructor may approve or deny any assignment modification or creation of new assignments.
    3. With instructor approval, students may use intensive experiences of service learning activity where service learning hours are concentrated in a shorter period of time than the duration of the semester (e.g., outdoor science school).  In this case, students must still complete the required assignments for the course, which may require additional hours in order to complete the assignment. Please contact the instructor for approval and assignment modification, if needed.  
    4. Students must complete service learning hours during the semester in which they are enrolled in the course.  That is, students may not receive credit for service learning hours retroactively or prospectively (i.e., in summer or winter break), if it is not the period of instruction for the course in which they are enrolled. 
    5. Students are responsible to ensure that all necessary Service Learning documentation (e.g., Learning Agreement and Time and Activity log) are submitted for final grading in the course.
    6. Service learning hours must be completed in one placement.  Students may not complete service learning hours across two (or more) venues.