Julia,
I would suggest integrating the two dimensions (management and social
justice) by having the students also consider the notion of corporate
social responsibililty through your course.
Because these are business students, most of them will presumably end-up in
*not* in a non-profit position, but rather in the private sector. Within
the private sector, however, they may find themselves asked to contribute
to non-profit organizations through participation in some form of community
collaboration, fundraising, or involvement on a board. Basic familiarity
with how non-profits work (the practical management stuff) will be a start,
but it would be great to expose them to some of the theories and practices
on good corporate citizenship so that they start to consider the community
and social justice issues from a familiar perspective.
In Service,
Lloyd Jacobson (a fellow social worker)
COOL - National Programs Director
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> I would appreciate your feedback for a study I am doing of a
>service-learning course in the business school at my institution. The
>course is an introduction to management of nonprofits, and the students
>complete service experiences related to the management functions of
>various community agencies. The question that has arisen is to what
>extent should a course with this focus engage students in learning about
>the social issues addressed by their agencies. For example, should a
>student working in the management office of a homeless shelter be
>learning about budgets, boards of directors, and PR, AS WELL AS poverty,
>hunger, unemployement, etc? In order to be a service-learning course
>does it necessarily have to include content on citizenship, social
>justice, and so forth?
>
> Given my background in Social Work, I am biased toward social
>justice, but suspect that the Business s-l agenda may take a somewhat
>different form. Please offer personal opinions as well as professional
>knowledge.
>
>*JULIE REED
>*Doctoral Student
>*Higher Education & Student Affairs
>*Indiana University
>*jureed@indiana.edu