With 57 student staffers, the Swearer Center also makes an effort to foster leadership skills. Hocking remembered his surprise when he visited the service program at Stanford. We tried to build this program in relation to the culture at Brown. Brown is a place where students are asked to take a lot of responsibility, both academically and in other aspects. The Swearer Center also stands apart from other schools in that the programs are not directly related to courses.
Many schools have an emphasis on service learning through direct correlation with coursework.
Karen Booth is the service-learning coordinator at Ramapo College, a public university of 4,700 in New Jersey, where most service is done directly through a course. Peggy Rotundo, the Associate Director at the Center for Service Learning at Bates College, said she works with students who are volunteering in conjunction with a course. That number doesn't include volunteer work. We have service learning courses in all different areas of study. Hocking, however, believes that public service work at Brown is often very related to academics for students.