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STUDY ABROAD + SERVICE-LEARNING

IPSL programs combine academic studies and community service and full cultural immersion to give students a deeper, more meaningful study abroad experience.

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IPSL ACTIVITIES AND MISSION

ABOUT IPSL

ISPL programs combine academic studies and volunteer service and full cultural immersion to give students a deeper, more meaningful study abroad experience.

The International Partnership for Service-Learning™ and Leadership, founded in 1982, was an international not-for-profit educational organization serving students, colleges, universities, service agencies, and related organizations around the world by fostering programs that link volunteer service to the community and academic study.

IPSL GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Today, IPSL, LLC offers a graduate program and undergraduate service-learning™ programs in nations across the globe—programs in which nearly 4,000 students from more than 400 universities or colleges in the U.S. and 25 other nations have participated.

The IPSL Graduate Program in International Development and Service:  learning from theory and putting into practice principles that create sustainable change grounded in service leadership and social justice. Gain intercultural competency, international exposure and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a global citizen leading in service.

The IPSL master’s degree is an accredited program that combines rigorous graduate-level study with hands-on volunteer service in the United States and abroad – namely, Italy, and in an emerging economy like Chiang Mai, THAILAND, Quito & Galapagos Islands, ECUADOR, Guadalajara, MEXICO, or Kingston, JAMAICA. The program, begun in 1996, is a theory-to-practice, experiential-learning program that prepares students for a variety of careers in global not-for-profit service agencies, NGO’s, and international education.

IPSL students learn theory, apply learning through grassroots experience, gain leadership skills and capacities that international organizations need, and solve real problems in informed, responsible ways for communities in the U.S. and abroad. IPSL graduates assume leadership roles in agencies serving the needs of diverse populations. And because IPSL graduates build an international, professional network during their program, they often have job offers before they graduate.

SERVICE-LEARNING™ PUBLISHING

To advance service-learning™, IPSL publishes and distributes books related to service-learning™, leadership and/or international education. IPSL international conferences, which have been held in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, draw participants from around the world. Ongoing research evaluates the impact of service-learning™ on students, institutions of higher education, and on the agencies and communities in which the students serve. Our Membership Program provides a network for institutions active in service-learning™ to engage in dialog and exchange on international service-learning™ practices.

Each year, IPSL publishes and distributes books and newsletters related to service-learning™, leadership, and/or international education. The biennial conference, which has been held in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, draws participants from around the world. Ongoing research evaluates the impact of service-learning™ on students, institutions of higher education, and the agencies and communities in which the students serve.

IPSL MISSION

The mission of IPSL is twofold: to promote service-learning™ through publications, conferences, research, and training opportunities for faculty and service-agency staff and to offer international programs for undergraduate and graduate students from institutions of higher education around the world. IPSL aims is to engage students, educators, and community members in the union of service and learning, so that all may become more civically engaged, interculturally literate, internationally aware, and responsive to the needs of others. 

We fulfill our mission by offering higher education programs that unite academic study and volunteer service to communities in international/ intercultural settings, and by creating models for the practice of service-learning™ that emphasize partnerships with the host community, rigorous academic learning, substantive service, a clear connection between the studies and service, and reflection. We also serve our mission by promoting the theory and practice of service-learning™  through research, publications, conferences, training, and a network of institutions that share our commitment to service-learning™. Fundamental to our work is the concept of multilateral reciprocity—that students, educators, educational institutions, communities and others benefit mutually from the process and results of international/intercultural service-learning™.

IPSL VALUES

The International Partnership for Service-Learning™ and Leadership values:

  • Rigorous academic intercultural learning through real-life experience, study and reflection within the host society
  • Substantive service that is beneficial for all stakeholders: students, faculty, postsecondary institutions, communities and those who are indirectly impacted
  • Respect for differences in societies, cultures, and social institutions
  • Collaboration with educational and community institutions to share best practices, ideas and resources in the field
  • Leadership that models the ability to work effectively in a world that is both interdependent and diverse

IPSL HISTORY

Formally founded in 1982, the Partnership for Service-Learning™ was the first national organization devoted solely to the union of academic study and volunteer community service and the first to offer such programs overseas. In September, 1982, forty educators and service agency professionals gathered at the Stony Point Conference Center in New York to consider the value of uniting service and learning and to discuss the possibility of cooperative structures. From that meeting, a task force was appointed to develop both the idea of service-learning™ and an appropriate organization for furthering service-learning™ opportunities. Howard A. Berry and Linda A. Chisholm, both of whom would go on to serve as the co-directors of the burgeoning organization, were appointed co-chairs of the task force to investigate this initial concept. The task force chose the name The Partnership for Service-Learning™, and wrote a Mission Statement which was ratified by a Board of Trustees in March, 1985.

Berry was named first president of the Partnership and Chisholm executive vice-president. In 1996 the Partnership formally recognized the role it had assumed for its international work by changing its name to the International Partnership for Service-Learning™ and Leadership (IPSL).

SERVICE-LEARNING™ ADVOCACY

To develop and promote service-learning™ in institutions of higher education around the world.

  • sponsors international conferences
  • collaborates onresearch on the effect of service-learning™ on students, educational institutions and communities
  • publishes curricular and other materials related to service-learning
  • conducts symposiums for faculty members and administrators, program directors, alumni and members
  • offers international networking and learning opportunities through membership in IPSL
  • through various activities, helps to develop partnerships between colleges/universities and service agencies, both locally and internationally.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

IPSL belongs to numerous professional organizations that help us to remain at the top of our field by providing conferences, research, publications and other resources to keep us informed of the newest developments in the field of study abroad, service-learning™ and language acquisition.

ISPL is a proud member of:

GOVERNANCE AND STAFF

Governed by an international Board of Trustees including college/university presidents and the executives of national education and service organizations, IPSL is staffed by full-time professionals who oversee the programs and visit the sites regularly. Each program has an in-country director. The Program Directors meet annually with the officers and Board of Trustees for review and training. The faculty are in-country, fully qualified academicians.

FUNDING

The International Partnership for Service-Learning™ and Leadership has received funding from various foundations, including the Ford Foundation, the Hitachi Foundation, the International Foundation, the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., and NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

Scholarship funds of the International Partnership for Service-Learning™ and Leadership are primarily funded by individual donors. Each year, there are many qualified students who would not be able to participate in an IPSL program without a scholarship. If you would like to give to an IPSL scholarship fund, please contact IPSL.

Tax-deductible contributions to the ongoing work of IPSL may be made online through Network for Good or directly to IPSL. Please contact IPSL with inquiries.

BECOME INVOLVED

There are many ways to become involved with IPSL activities:

  • send students on IPSL programs
  • become a top-sending institution
  • become a Member
  • attend (and present at) the IPSL international conference
  • host an IPSL service-learning™ development seminar
  • represent IPSL on your campus or with your organization
  • donate to an IPSL scholarship fund.