Associate professor Lisa Bowers has been appointed the new director for the Service Learning Initiative at the U of A. This campuswide initiative formalizes and expands service learning opportunities for students taught by faculty while enriching and extending the U of A's impact with community partners.

Bowers, an associate professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program, brings a wealth of experience to this position. She has taught courses with a service learning designation for more than five years, aligning academic coursework with experiential learning opportunities for students that also benefit local community partners.

Bowers has been a member of the SLI committee since 2020, which was founded in 2014 under the leadership of Jennie Popp, Honors College associate dean and professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness, and Angela Oxford, former director of the Center for Community Engagement. Their work overseeing the academic and community partner facets of SLI catapulted service learning engagement on the U of A campus beyond those of benchmark institutions, as measured in the 2022 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) survey. Bowers said, "Continuing to serve on the Service Learning Committee in this new role is an exciting opportunity."

Bowers is committed to bringing the same creative energy to the SLI as her predecessors, most recently Carrie Nelms, who served as the SLI director for the 2022-2023 academic year. Students who take Service Learning courses have their participation designated on their official transcript. Over 300 courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, have integrated service learning into their curriculum since 2015. Bowers looks forward to using that momentum to continue to grow the Service Learning opportunities available to U of A students while strengthening and growing partnerships within the community.

"I am so pleased that Lisa has accepted the role as director," Popp said. "She brings great experiences to the role and has the drive and organization skills that will make her a very effective leader of the initiative."

For more information on how to participate in service learning, please contact Bowers at lmbowers@uark.edu.

For more information on the Service Learning Initiative, visit www.servicelearning.uark.edu.