Black Ink February 11. 1991
10
&ppl-6s
allowing people to plan learning experiences in service
Allowing People To Plan
Learning Experiences In
Service (a.p.p.l.e.s.)
By Terri Stroud
Contributor
On Feb. 12, the student body
will elect officers it feels are both
best suited to represent them and
conscious of their needs and inter
ests. Whether they prove this is
questionable, and their effective
ness can only be assessed after
their terms end.
This year, however, in addition
to candidate elections, there will
be a referendum for a student fee
increase that would create a
coordinator’s position for a JHO-
gram that is unquestionably mind
ful of, and responsive, to Univer
sity students. That program is
a.p.p.l.e.s. (allowing people to plan
learning experiences in service).
a.p.p.l.e.s. came into existence
last spring when a group of stu
dents got together and examined
combining service learning and
UNC’S traditional academic cur
riculum at UNC. Its purpose is
reflected in the preamble of a
proposal the group submitted to
Student Congress. They sought to
install “a structured combination
of learning and service [that] would
transform and add value to both.
Service translates philosophical
and academic ideas into active and
tangible results. In turn, these re
sults add new dimension to the
classroom educational experi
ence.”
These students noticed that
achieve this would be to establish
a “structured and institutionally
supported program with perma
nent staff’ that would help define
service learning for students and
faculty, preserve academic legiti
macy while keeping s^vice valid
and useful, centralize prior efforts
while coordinating new efforts to
Commentary
(Hograms similar to a.p.p.l.e.s had
been implemented at Brown,
Georgetown, UCLA, and the uni
versities of Virginia, Southern
California, and California
(Berkeley). Further investigation
showed some UNC faculty mem
bers had actually begun integrat
ing service projects as part of their
classes.
The students did not want to
copy the service learning programs
of other schools. Instead, they
decided to design one that catered
specifically to University and
community needs as well. The
group decided the best way to
integrate service and learning, and
provide greater accessibility to
service for all students through
various classes and departments.
a.p.p.l.e.s. will act as a broker
between service opportunities and,
eventually, every discipline at the
graduate and undergraduate lev
els. Furthermore, a.p.p.l.e.s. will
try to develop a mutually benefi
cial relationship between student
body, faculty and community.
a.p.p.l.e.s. has three projects in
progress. The first is the compila
tion of a resource handbook that
will include a listing of available
service learning classes and proj
ects within the University. The
second project goal is participa
tion in the University Bicenten
nial. It is felt that a.p.p.l.e.s.’ goals
parallel the objectives of the ob
servance, which are to strengthen
the bonds between the people of
North Carolina and UNC, reaf
firm theUniversity’scommitment
to the pursuit of knowledge and
continue the University’s200“year
tradition of service to the state,
nation and world. The third proj
ect is the pilot program, which
consists of six classes that inte
grate participation in community
service projects with classroom
learning.
a.p.p.l.e.s. has the potential to
be a powerful force on campus and
in the community only if it has
three things: 1) administrative
faculty and support, 2) student
motivation and ownership, and 3)
permanent staff.
The first two goals have been
partially realized. With the help of
Gillian Cell, dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences, a.p.p.l.e.s.
was able to assemble a task force
comprised of faculty, administra
tors and community residents. Two
members of the task force are Sonja
Stone and James Wilde, associate
professors in Afro-American stud
ies and economics, respectively.
Also, many professors have ex
pressed interest in installing serv-
ice-leaming projects in their
classes. Six have done so this
semester under the pilot program.
And, as stated earlier, a.p.p.l.e.s. is
the child of UNC students and
continues to grow under their lead
ership.
The last goal is wh»e the stu
dent body comes in. By voting for
a referendum that would increase
student fees by 90 cents and create
a position of a.p.pl.e.s service-
learning coordinator, students
wouldimjTOveaprogram that tries
to enhance students’ experiences
at UNC. a.p.p.l.e.s. would allow
people interested in various disci
plines, whether business or drama,
to learn more about these fields
from a service angle. They would
discover the practicality of mate
rial learned in class as they saw it
work for others. Students would
also give to the people of the state,
as UNC is a state university that is
heavily subsidized by tax revenue.
As a result, every UNC student is
not paying for what their educa
tion is worth. Service-learning
would provide students with an
opportunity to show their grati
tude.
The service-learning
coordinator’s sole responsibility
would be the a.p.p.l.e.s. program.
The duties of that office would
include advising program partici
pants and activities and maintain
ing communication with campus
service organizations like the
Campus Y and community organi
zations like the Interfaith Council
to establish where service needs
lie and how they can be met with
service-learning classes. These
tasks and others would help guar
antee the success of a.p.p.l.e.s.
With student funding, students
would maintain control of
a.p.p.l.e.s. Whoever filled the
position would be accountable to
neither the administration nor the
state government, but to the stu
dent body. Furthermore, student
funding would protect the posi
tion from vulnerability to budget
cuts and the fluctuation of yearly
funding procedures.
a.p.p.l.e.s. seeks to enhance the
quality of the education UNC stu
dents receive. As such, it deserves
your support.
Race Relations Week
1991
Something Is Destroying
Our Campus