Criterion Five: Engagement and Service Core Component 5b: The organization has the capacity and the commitment to engage with its identified constituents and communities.

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	Service Learning at UMKC UMKC has a strong tradition of civic engagement, community-based learning and other forms of outreach. Our service-learning programs make an important contribution to many outreach projects. In 1999, UMKC developed the Center for the City (C4C), an initiative designed to contribute to the development of Kansas City’s urban core. With the help of trusted partners in our university and community, C4C launched its services to engage UMKC students with the community and provide hands-on service-learning. Along with administrators, community members and students, a task force of nine academic units was formed to plan the programs. Its recommendations for program services set C4C’s foundation, and between 2002-2008, servicelearning courses, student enrollment and total hours increased considerably. During the 2002-2003 academic year, student enrollment was 1,175 and by 2005, service-learning enrollment rose to 2,984. In total, the service-learning programs involved 11,909 students between 2002 and 2008. By 2006, support for service-learning from the central administration had declined, but the urban mission was unchanged, and many service-learning courses were integrated into core academic programs.
To aid in the continuous improvement of our service-learning programs, and as part of a Learn and Serve America grant, UMKC’s Institute for Human Development conducted an in-depth assessment of students, faculty, and community organizations participating in service-learning programming. For three years, UMKC staff monitored assessment data to inform programmatic practice and policies. A high proportion of respondents (between 80 and 90 percent) stated that the classes gave them an opportunity to discuss their community work and its relationship to the course material; that their service-learning had a moderate effect on their attitude toward community involvement/citizenship; that the work they did through the course benefited the community; and that they had a responsibility to serve in their community. Student evaluations demonstrate, in addition to learning about their particular disciplines, that service-learning students also gain knowledge about people who are different from themselves. The results of the community evaluation show the importance of mutually beneficial service-learning projects and affirm that students can make a difference. Of the community respondents, 65 percent said the program enhanced their services; 53 percent indicated an increased number of clients served, and 41 percent responded that new connections were made with other organizations.