FAQ (Student)

Starting from the 2016-17 intake of first-year students, Service-Learning (S-L) became a graduation requirement. To fulfil the S-L graduation requirement, each student is required to participate in at least ONE course with an S-L element before graduation.

In order to fulfil the S-L requirement, students have to:

• complete the required S-L experience (including 30 service and training hours) as confirmed by the Course Instructor;

• submit all relevant S-L documents, and

• pass the course.

You must enroll in one Service-Learning Course listed in the section “Service-Learning information” section on the Registry’s Website and complete all the S-L tasks.

• If you cannot find a suitable Service-Learning course from your department, you can consider taking a Service-Learning course from other departments/ units.

• If you find out that you don’t have credits to take one more course, you can consider applying for the extra credits with your departments (Please visit the FAQ “Study Load” Points no. 1 & 2 from Registry’s website for more information)  
   

If you take an SO (Service-Learning Optional) course, you can choose whether to join the Service-Learning or not.

If you take a SC (Service-Learning Compulsory) course, you should join the Service-Learning. If you don’t want to join the Service-Learning project, you can drop this course and add another course without S-L elements.

No matter whether you join a SC or SO course. If you select to join the S-L project, please ensure you engage in all S-L projects and tasks because it is counted as a part of your grade. If you cannot complete any of the S-L tasks mentioned in this FAQ point no. 2, the S-L project will be marked as “incomplete” in your transcript and degree work. 
 

Register and attend the first lecture of courses with S-L experiences and choose the projects that interest you.

Besides signing up for the course, you also need to register for a specific S-L project through the online system during the Service-Learning online registration period marked on the Academic Calendar. Please remember to attend the first class of your selected course with S-L elements. More information on the registration procedure can be found here.

It depends. S-L is different from the traditional learning approach. It is challenging but rewarding. Good planning and division of labour will significantly enhance work efficiency.

The answer can vary; in general, at least 30 training and service hours in total are needed to complete an S-L course (the regular lecture time is not counted as S-L hours except for S-L-related discussions, presentations and consultations during the lecture time):

• Training and Orientation specifically provided by the Agency

• Preparation meetings for service

• Consultation meetings

• Actual service hours (direct and indirect service)

• Report back celebration/S-L-related presentation (if any)
   

Yes, but you need to have good time management skills and a work balance. Check and arrange the practicum time carefully to avoid time conflicts between different S-L projects.

 It depends on the course, so please ask your course instructor about the tutorial and S-L project requirements.

After the end of each term, you can check the updated record in Degree Works to ensure the fulfilment of the S-L graduation requirement. For the date of the Release of Graduation Information, please refer to the Registry's website.

In order to use a course taken at another university during your exchange to fulfil the Service-Learning graduation requirement, this course needs to meet the following requirements:

• The course needs to be for-credit (non-credit bearing courses, extra-curricular activities, etc., cannot be used to fulfil the S-L graduation requirement)
• The course needs to include at least 30 hours of Service-Learning (including service and training hours), as confirmed by the exchange institution’s course instructor.
• Students on exchange still need to do a pre and post-course questionnaire and track hours to fulfil the S-L graduation requirement using a course at the exchange institute.
• Fulfilling the S-L graduation requirement during your exchange needs to be approved by Lingnan University. As the approver varies according to your study programme, please contact [email protected] to ask for more information concerning the S-L graduation requirement before you start the course at the exchange university.

As you need to pass the course to fulfil the S-L graduation requirement, you can check the result of the S-L graduation requirement in Degree Works after the official grade announcement. If you want to appeal your result, you must send your request to [email protected] or your S-L Coordinator within the official appeal period. No late application will be accepted.

All the official announcements will be sent to your Lingnan Email. Please remember to check your Lingnan Email regularly, especially for the end of the semester. If you received an email about the failure of the S-L graduation requirement, please contact your S-L Coordinator for more information. Also, suppose you did not complete the S-L graduation requirement before the semester. In that case, you may need to enrol in another course with S-L elements next semester or another semester to fulfil your S-L graduation requirement.

There are four steps:

• Prepare (e.g. set goals and do research) and actively participate (raise questions) in the agency orientation and training;
• Discuss with your team about anticipated difficulties and possible solutions before the practicum;
• Communicate with the Agency Supervisors to agree on service needs and execution during the service practicum;
• Do reflection and evaluation throughout the process.

About S-L and projects:

• Visit the OSL website for publications with previous projects’ information (i.e. reports, products);
• Visit students’ work products in the OSL library; and
• Invite your course's Service-Learning Project Assistant to share their experience.

About service targets and agencies:

• Research for related books, journals, and online materials;
• Consult with the agencies during the orientation visit and throughout the programme.

About updated information and arrangement:

• Talk directly to agencies, the respective OSL Coordinator, and the Course Instructors.

Experiences, skills, and friendship!

S-L experiences credit your ability and will help with your career path. Also, you will be considered favourably in your application to various S-L-related programmes, such as the Mainland and International Service-Learning Programs and S-L conferences.

You are not alone! Contact the related person for support:

• Academic and course-related: the Course Instructor and the respective Project Assistant (PA);
• S-L project arrangement: the respective OSL Coordinator, the respective PA, and/or Course Instructor;
• Service Practicum Arrangement: the Agency Supervisor and representatives.

Service Hours

Please keep a good track of your service hours throughout the course. At the end of the course, you will be asked to fill in your service hours in the post-test questionnaire via Moodle.

Reimbursement

Please download and complete the Reimbursement & Allowance Claim Form and send the form with the original receipts with company chops to your S-L Teaching Assistant or S-L Coordinator.

Before submitting the form, please check if all the information and receipts comply to the Guideline for Reimbursement.

UGC Full-time undergraduate students who have achieved outstanding performance in Service-Learning projects and good academic performance (with an accumulated GPA of 3.0 or above) during the year are eligible for application for the CCUAA Outstanding Service Scholarships (each scholarship shall be HK$5,000). Please submit the completed application form before the application deadline.

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