Because the vast majority of students in the School for Professional Studies at both the graduate and undergraduate level are employed full-time and have families or other personal and professional obligations, Service Learning activities must accommodate the busy schedules of students as well as those of faculty. For example, many of the direct service opportunities will have to include opportunities for entire families to be involved in the activity or activities will have to take place on weekends or evenings. Examples may include serving food in a shelter or assisting with organizing and distributing food at a food pantry. The crux of direct service is most often that students are required to physically be at the service site or otherwise have direct contact with a client or program participant.
Advocacy involves acting on behalf of another individual, group or cause.
Considered a form of indirect service, students do not have to be physically present at the service site to participate. Many students in fact are already involved in this form of service through membership on the boards of local organizations, through letter writing campaigns or through participation in various demonstrations designed to increase public awareness about a given issue. Consciousness Raising is a primary goal of Service Learning. Ideally students learn through their experiences both in and outside the classroom and are driven to act upon this knowledge to improve their communities. By increasing student exposure to given social issues, faculty have a better chance of raising consciousness in students.