Benefits of Volunteerism: From Extracurricular to Service Learning and Beyond

Faculty continue to support extracurricular activities, co-curricular activities and service learning for the long-term student's benefits that outweigh obstacles present in community engagement. This case study describes relationship building between a community partner and an interior design programme through extra- and co-curricular activities which led to more robust projects for service learning and engaged research. The programme was able to initially engage students with the community through a student volunteer charrette led by the student organisation. This extracurricular service activity resulted in continued engagement with one invested undergraduate student through a faculty-supervised independent study that centred on research for the design of place-based recovery spaces. The student and faculty continued to work with the organisation for ongoing spatial needs after the semester, including an abrupt re-thinking of the space due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The narrative analysis of the case will demonstrate the benefits, challenges and impact of extra- and co-curricular engaged activities as well as advocate for best practices in diversity, equity and inclusion to be explicit within existing frameworks for service learning.