Summer of Service Workstudy Program

The Summer of Service Workstudy Program is an expansion of the current Community Workstudy Program. Students with workstudy eligibility, interested in not for profit sectors can now work for agencies anywhere in the United States.   The goals of the program are to:

  • Build partnerships with organizations outside of the Tompkins County area
  • Enrich students’ learning through public service
  • Provide intensive, fulfilling and valuable summer work experience in the not-for-profit sector
  • Link work experience to students’ academic and professional goals
  • Provide opportunities for faculty members to connect with organizations through mentorship with students


In order to reach those goals, staff have developed the program based on a service-learning model.  So, it is not just a summer job, it is an opportunity to get deeply involved with the agencies or issues; it is an opportunity to enrich and reinforce academic knowledge

What is service-learning?

Service-learning is an educational approach that builds bridges between academic study and practical experiences. It helps students pair the theoretical knowledge learned in academia with participation in the everyday challenges of communities.  It enhances and reinforces academic knowledge with practical experience, while strengthening civic values and moral character and responding to community-identified needs. Service-learning fosters reflection on, and appropriate responses to, community problems and needs.  In service-learning, students work in partnership with communities to become active agents of social change.

How is this different from other jobs?

How is this different from other work or placement programs? Service-learning placements through the Public Service Center differ from general work study positions in that they involve substantive projects and tasks that are tied to specific learning, upon which students actively reflect before, during and after their service experience. Agency staff and faculty members work with the Public Service Center to develop and promote appropriate service-learning positions through which students can develop specific skills and acquire professional experience and benefits.  Before beginning their work with an agency, students develop a learning plan that identifies specific objectives for the semester related to their educational and professional development. Students also meet on a weekly basis with an identified agency supervisor who conducts mid-semester and final evaluations of the student’s work and progress.