Place-Based Service Learning in Higher Education: Building Trust and Opportunities Over Time

This book looks at the intersection of student research and community-based learning in a concentrated location over a period of ten years. This study examines the use of an urban neighborhood as a place-based source for engagement partners and opportunities. With a sustained, programmatic commitment to the neighborhood, Northern Kentucky University sought to build trust over a period of ten years with residents, nonprofit agencies serving them, and other stakeholders, who in turn could generate a steady stream engagement opportunities valued by the neighborhood and valuable to students’ learning. Our analysis found that this sustained, programmatic commitment indeed built trust with partners and produced mutually beneficial opportunities. This has resulted in tremendous benefits to the university by creating lasting relationships, impactful work in the community and by retaining faculty and students.