A Mission of Civic Engagement: Undergraduate Students Working with Nonprofit Organizations and Public Sector Agencies to Enhance Societal Wellbeing

Universities in the U.S. have been criticized for not contributing enough to the social well-being of the communities within which they operate, and business schools have been accused of failing to prepare students adequately for careers in business. These criticisms have led to increased focus on service learning, a form of experiential learning that aids students in the application of theoretical knowledge to “real-life” situations—including problems and opportunities—faced by local as well as international communities. Even though service-learning has become fairly popular in business schools throughout the U.S., there is relatively little literature that illuminates its application. Thus, the present article describes a service-learning project in a marketing research course and how this project supports the university’s mission of civic engagement. Included are also a discussion of course-specific objectives as well as learning goals, objectives, and assessments as commonly required by regional and national accreditation agencies.