Undergraduate and law students take academic courses and participate in service-learning projects. Faculty from many disciplines participate in teaching Shepherd courses, in student-faculty seminars presented by visitors to the campus, and in volunteer work in the local community.
Alumni advise the program and assist with the students' summer volunteer work.
Undergraduates begin the program with an introductory interdisciplinary study of poverty as well as through volunteer service in the Lexington-Rockbridge County area. Law students are also eligible for these service-learning opportunities, which are arranged through agencies in rural and urban areas in the United States, in Latin America, or, by special arrangements, in other parts of the world. The summer program is conducted in cooperation with Spelman College in Atlanta and Berea College in Kentucky and includes student participants from those schools, as well as from Morehouse College in Atlanta. These student volunteers meet for an orientation conference prior to undertaking their service and reconvene for a debriefing to share, interpret, and evaluate their eight-week work experience. The participants are eligible for financial assistance.