Click here for a complete OVERVIEW of SLICE!

SLICE Student Applications for 2012-13 Include:

To be completed and submitted by the student (fill in app online, attach transcript, resume, and essay, and submit):

Student Application Form

To be completed by or shared with the Faculty Member/Instructor of Record (access online, type or sign as needed, print and submit) :

Student Recommendation Form (faculty can click, type answers, print and submit)

Faculty Role: Instructor of Record Form (faculty can click, print, sign and submit)

Fact Sheet for Faculty (for a SLICE applicant to share with faculty)

Application materials should be submitted to the CILSA Main Office, 1st Floor Ferroggiaro. Thank you!

SLICE (Student Leaders in Community Engagement) is designed for academically motivated juniors and seniors who are invested in using what they learn to improve the lives of others.

SLICE participants study issues of leadership, justice or equity in their major or minor discipline and put their knowledge to use through the creation of a project that addresses an issue and meets a need in the community.

As an upper division, two-semester independent study of academic distinction, SLICE is initiated in the Fall semester (1 course credit) and completed in the Spring semester (.25 credit).  Each student participant will identify and invite a faculty member in his or her major or minor discipline to serve as an instructor of record, registering for that department’s independent study (Examples: COM 197 or CHEM 197).

Students will work closely with their faculty member throughout the year. In the fall, they will meet with their instructor every other week, and participate in a twice-monthly seminar in Catholic Social Thought, leadership, and community engagement led by Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action (CILSA) staff. This will provide an underpinning for the development of the community-based project. In the spring, students will meet in a monthly CILSA seminar aimed at providing support for the community-based project.

Examples of Community-Based Projects:

The Community-Based Research or Service-Learning Project is generated by the student. Its impact is formally assessed by the community partner.

Community-Based Research (CBR) Project – Using sound methodology, the student conducts research to answer a specific question or address a need identified by a community partner. For example: Current SLICE student Sihang Chen, an Economics major, is working with professor Kara Boatman and a nonprofit start-up called Blue Seed. Blue Seed's mission is to increase the overall efficiency of social service agencies that support youth by providing a resource and referral system that can be utilized by those agencies. Sihang is working with professor Boatman and Blue Seed to develop and test an economic model that will illustrate potential improvements in efficiency (wage hours saved, etc.) gained through successful utilization of Blue Seed's services.

Service-Learning Project – Carefully consulting the professional literature, the student develops a product that can be utilized by the community partner after completion of the independent study. For example: Aleenah Mehta, a Politics major, is working with professor Patrizia Longo and The Urban Farmers in Lafayette to create and document a successful gleaning program. This program will enable groups of volunteers to glean (gather) fruit grown on the land of partnering local residents and deliver that fruit to food banks in Contra Costa County, where healthy, fresh food is in high demand. Aleenah will create a program model for this process and design a website that will serve as a resource to other communities who would like to replicate this program.

Time Line for 2012-13 Applications:

Mon, February 20           Applications Out

Fri, April 27th                 EXTENDED DEADLINE! Applications Due to CILSA

                                      (including rec forms & transcripts)

Mon, April 30th              Applications Screened by CILSA staff & faculty

May 2-7 (Fri-Mon)          SLICE Interviews

Wed, May 9                     SLICE Decisions Communicated to Applicants

For more information contact Beth Hampson, coordinator of SLICE, at edh2@stmarys-ca.edu or 925-631-8543.