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Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship (CELTS)

Types of Student Placements

There are several types of academic partnerships available to your community organization. To learn more about what each of these opportunities requires of both your organization and the student you are recruiting, click to expand each section below. 

Academic Internship

  • Requires 100+ hours of work over the course of the semester
  • The internship acts as the class; the student takes a small supplementary course alongside the internship
  • Nature of supervision is more intensive, resembling more of a professional mentorship
  • Students expected to do high-level, professional-level work
  • Can either be paid or unpaid 
    • Should be paid if at all possible. Even if the intern is receiving credit, even a small stipend can communicate the level of professionalism expected from the intern
  • Learn more here

Service-Learning

  • Requires 20-40 hours of work in the community (which can be done remotely)
    • The University requires a minimum of 20 hours.
    • The instructor can set a higher minimum for their course.
    • If your organization requires more hours than the course does, that is ok! Please confirm that your student understands your requirements prior to starting. 
  • The service acts as a supplement to a class in which the student is already enrolled
  • Service is one of three types
    • Placement - more traditional sense of service. Students typically take on roles your organization already offers for volunteers
    • Project – Under direction from organization and a professor, students, individually or in groups, produce something new for you or your clients
    • Education/Advocacy – students create content aimed at building or sharing knowledge for advocacy or social change
  • Service is unpaid
  • Learn more here

Undergraduate Research

  • Loyola offers many undergraduate research courses through which students can receive academic credit for completing research either on campus or in the community.
  • Students may also receive funding through a Loyola Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (LUROP) fellowship.
  • There is a specific LUROP fellowship awarded exclusively for community-based research. 
  • Learn more about undergraduate student research
  • Contact us about a potential research project

There are several types of academic partnerships available to your community organization. To learn more about what each of these opportunities requires of both your organization and the student you are recruiting, click to expand each section below.