By Mark Terranova, Associate Director, The Shriver Center

This column has attempted to highlight many of the partnerships the Shriver Center has been involved with around campus, including departments in both student affairs and academic affairs. It might be helpful this month, at the start of the semester, to highlight our programs in an attempt to inform the campus community about our initiatives.

At the graduate level, the Center currently sponsors two very successful initiatives: the Shriver Peaceworker Program and the Teaching Enhancement Partnership Project.

The Shriver Peaceworker Program enables Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) to adapt their experience in the developing world to the challenges of urban America. The Shriver Center secures funding for graduate students to study at UMBC or one of our consortium partner institutions. Peaceworkers participate in a rigorous, two-year service-learning program integrating community service, graduate study, and ethical reflection. The goal is to prepare citizen leaders who can creatively respond to the economic, social, and cultural problems confronting the United States today.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, and in partnership with Dr. Phil Sokolove (Department of Biological Sciences) and Dr. Chuck Eggleton (College of Engineering), the Teaching Enhancement Partnership Project (TEPP) provides full funding for 5 doctoral and master's level graduate students from STEM disciplines to serve as Fellows in one of five areas middle schools to provide content enhancement to the middle school's curriculum.

At the undergraduate level, the Center offers a wide selection of service-learning opportunities. Students can choose from a long list of community partners with whom we collaborate to tutor, mentor, or otherwise serve for 3 to 5 hours each week. Service-Learning Site includes:

*The Adult Literacy Program at the Learning Bank in Baltimore
*Best Buddies
*The Choice Tutoring Program
*YMCA MS-SWIM
*College Gardens After-School Program and Teen Night
*University of Maryland Medical Systems

Through goals setting and ethical reflection activities, each student completes a practicum course to ensure that best practices in service-learning are in place. Additionally, many of these student elect to combine there service to one of several service-learning courses sponsored by faculty, including American Studies 200: Multicultural America with Dr. Jason Loviglio and Honors 390/English 386 with Dr. Jim McKusick.

This model brings about what is best in experiential education, the enhancement of education through the connection of theory to practice. There are many other experiential education opportunities through the Shriver Center, please visit our Web site at www.shrivercenter.org for more information on these or other initiatives!