From the President's 2017-18 Annual Report:
UVM is an early leader in the field of service learning, putting into pedagogy and practice the civic imperative reflected in the University's land-grant mission. From the King Street Center in Burlington to the farm communities of Addison County, and from New Orleans to the island of St. Lucia, UVM students and faculty are putting academic learning into practice in the real world. UVM currently offers nearly 100 designated service-learning courses every year, partnering with over 200 community organizations and reaching 20% of the student body. By graduation, over 40 percent of UVm students have participated in at least one service-learning course, a higher percentage than many of our peer institutions. Student-driven volunteer projects and internships in the community increase this participation percentage. A top producers of Peace Corps volunteers, UVM ranked number 7 among medium-sized universities in producing Peace Corps volunteers for 2018. Twenty-eight UVM alumni currently serve worldwide in the Peace Corps.
The award-winning service learning course "Race, Identity, and Migrant Labor." developed by CUPS Faculty Fellow (2015) Rachael Montesano, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, weaves Spanish composition and conversation with the historical experience of Mexicans in the U.S. Partnering with several community organizations to establish gardens at Addison County and Northeast Kingdom farms with plants traditionally grown in Mexican culture, and engaging in communal meals and Day of the Dead celebrations with farmworkers, bridges the divide between cultures and eases the sense of isolation for migrants living in Vermont.