One element of the concentration is the completion of at least 100 hours of community service. These 100 hours must be completed at a site approved by the service coordinator of the Ethics Program. Required service may be done at the same site or at several different sites.

Each site is judged in accord with the following criteria: 1) the service engages the students in issues related to the chosen track of study, 2) the service and site do not contradict the values of Villanova’s Roman Catholic and Augustinian identity, and 3) the service enables the student to have direct contact with the population being served.

Normally, the service requirement is completed during the academic year. However, service can be done over breaks or in the summer. It is also possible to do service work while studying abroad. There are many alternatives to satisfying the service requirement. The service coordinator is the final arbiter of whether or not a site or option is acceptable, so an effort should be made in advance of the service work to get approval from the service coordinator if there is any question about the appropriateness of the service site.

Students are permitted to count up to 40 hours of general service toward this requirement regardless of their chosen track as long as the service is for an underserved population or an endangered ecosystem and satisfies criteria (2) and (3) above. Students in Villanova's Service Learning Community (SLC) who want to pursue an Ethics Concentration can count 40 hours toward the service requirement for whichever track they choose. A letter from the director of the SLC indicating full participation on the part of the student is all that is required to document these hours.

At least 60 hours of service that meet the 3 criteria above must be completed at sites that provide service or assistance for underserved populations or endanged ecosystems and that are connected to the academic track that the student has chosen to pursue.

Site Selection and Service Process

• Contact the service coordinator to confirm the acceptability of a site you've selected. Acceptability is determined by the way in which the site reflects the criteria listed above.
• Contact the site to pursue the possibility of a volunteer commitment.
• In consultation with whoever will serve as your site supervisor during your service, draw up a contract detailing your responsibilities at the service site. You or the site supervisor should keep this contract in a safe place until your service at the site is complete.
• When your work at the site is done, both you and your site supervisor should sign off on the contract indicating the hours completed. The final, signed contract should include an accurate description of the work you did during your service and the hours of service completed. This signed contract should be submitted to the service coordinator.
• At the end of your service, the site contact person or site supervisor evaluates you, in writing. This evaluation should be sent to the service coordinator.
• At the end of your service, you evaluate your experience at the site, in writing. This form should be sent to the service coordinator.
  
• Confirm that all forms (the signed contract documenting the nature of the work and the hours completed, the supervisor evaluation, and self-evaluation) are delivered to the service coordinator. Without completed paperwork documenting your 100 hours of service, you will not receive the concentration.

Service Coordinator: Brett Wilmot, Ph.D.,  610-519-7197 (SAC 424)