What Influences the Long-Term Sustainability of Service-Learning? Lessons from Early Adopters‪.‬

In recent years, there have been increasing investments in service-learning by academic institutions, community partners, and funding agencies. The growing number of students participating in service-learning, the popularity of the Carnegie Foundation's Community Engagement Classification, and unprecedented federal support for service-learning through the 2009 Serve America Act all signify that these investments will likely continue to grow. As a result, it is critical to understand the factors necessary to sustain service-learning for the long-term. Sustainability is important to the efficiency, quality, and impact of service-learning. It ensures that front-loaded investments--including developing community-academic partnerships, incorporating service-learning into the curriculum, and training faculty and staff in skills for service-learning--are not unnecessarily replicated. It prevents challenges that may be caused by interruptions in service-learning, including reductions in services or programs among community partners that have come to rely upon student and faculty participation (Cashman, Hale, Candib, Nimiroski, & Brookings, 2004; Kushto-Reese, Maguire, Silbert-Flagg, Immelt, & Shaefer, 2007), and reduced willingness among community partners to participate in community-academic partnerships (Shediac-Rizkallah & Bone, 1998). Moreover, long-term commitment and participation may be required to achieve some of the most ambitious goals of service-learning, such as shifting the culture of academic institutions toward greater civic engagement, generating community-engaged scholarship, enhancing mutual understanding among academic institutions and communities, and building the capacity of academic and community partners to address community needs and work for social justice (Cashman & Seifer, 2008; Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, 2007; Gelmon, Holland, & Shinnamon, 1998; O'Toole & Freyder, 2000; Seifer, 1998).