Service Learning & Civic Engagement
The Mount prepares students not only to be leaders in their careers, but to be leaders in their communities. The Service Learning Program at Mount St. Joseph University provides a comprehensive array of experiences that help students to be prepared to be engaged in the workplace and in the community.
All Mount students receive hands-on, or experiential, education as part of their program. The Mount’s Service Learning program offers students an opportunity to engage with their community in a wide variety of ways, including:
- Service projects that are embedded into specific classes (such as graphic design classes doing pro bono projects for local nonprofits).
- Credit-bearing service learning classes.
- One-time volunteer experiences such as Welcome Week Service Day.
- Ongoing volunteer opportunities.
- Student Philanthropy Project.
- Civic and voter engagement opportunities.
Nationally Recognized
Mount St. Joseph University is nationally recognized for service learning & civic engagement programs:
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Since 1994, our service learning students have contributed over $ 1,964,653 worth of in-kind service in Greater Cincinnati through our credit-bearing service learning program. The Mount was recognized by the Corporation for National and Community Service with the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for our commitment to service learning and civic engagement.
Since 2016, Mount students have contributed over $60,000 to 40 local nonprofit organizations through the student philanthropy program. The Mount’s academic student philanthropy program was featured in the 2019 April/May edition of Cincy Magazine.
Mount St. Joseph University was designated as a 2023-2024 Voter Friendly Campus by the Campus Vote Project and NASPA (Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education). The Mount is one of only seven Ohio colleges/universities to hold this distinction since 2017-2018 because of our commitment to civic education and student voting. The Mount has also been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as a 2022 Most Engaged Campus and as having a Highly Established Action Plan. The Mount was awarded the Gold Seal in 2020 (and 2018) for its student voting rate of more than 70% by ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
The Mount is also a respected member in good standing with the Ohio Campus Compact.
Service Programs
The Mount provides a variety of service experiences for the Mount community.
Service Learning
Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with valuable instruction and reflection. The service learning experience offers an irreplaceable enrichment to course curriculum, teaches civic responsibility, and strengthens community ties. Service learning is available to all graduate and undergraduate students of all majors. Service learning can be embedded into a course or it can be attached to a course as an additional credit. Credit-bearing service learning experiences are defined as placements of 30+ hours of community service with one of our nonprofit community partners over the course of a semester. Since 1994, our service learning students have contributed over $1,964,653 of in-kind service to Greater Cincinnati through our credit-bearing service learning program.
Featured Service Learning Courses
- Service Learning: Global Human Rights: The Case for Women & Children
- Service Learning: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- Service Learning: Appalachian Culture & Spirit
- Service Learning: Human Exceptionalities.
Service Events
- Welcome Week Service Day is held in August. All students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to begin the school year by serving the community.
- The University celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through its annual MLK Day of Service, hosted by the Center of Mission and Belonging.
- The Mount supports over 70 nonprofit community partners through service events like these.
Service Clubs
The Mount has numerous student organizations that participate in service events or encourage members to complete service hours. For example, HAVIC (Helping All Veterans in Communities) hosts regular fundraisers for local organizations serving veterans.
Service Year Programs
Completing a year of service after graduation can be a great way to transition from school to career. Moreover, service year programs offer a variety of benefits, including: living allowances, health coverage, education awards, professional development opportunities, and childcare assistance. Students can work with the Career & Experiential Education Center team to receive 1:1 assistance on applying for service year programs such as: AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Public Allies, Teach for America, and Vincentian Volunteers of Cincinnati.
Student Philanthropy
Student philanthropy courses prepare student philanthropists to be able to make decisions about awarding funding to nonprofit organizations. Faculty develop the philanthropy requirements of the course and set parameters for students to research nonprofits and solicit proposals for grants of $1,000-$2,000. The students then collaboratively decide on a nonprofit to invest in after researching the nonprofits and examining the proposals. The student philanthropy program is funded by the Cambridge Charitable Foundation. Since 2016, Mount students have contributed over $60,000 to 40 nonprofit organizations through the student philanthropy program.
Student philanthropy grants have supported these organizations:
- Boys & Girls Club
- Churches Active in Northside
- Cincinnati Dragons Wheelchair Basketball
- City Gospel Mission
- Mill Creek Alliance
- Northern Kentucky Scholar House
- Ohio Justice & Policy Center
- People Working Cooperatively
- ProKids
- Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank
- Welcome House of Northern Kentucky
- Women's Crisis Center
- And more!
Civic Engagement
The Career & Experiential Education Center facilitates a comprehensive democracy program that aims to register students to vote, educate students on voting issues, and to get out the student vote.
Voter Registration
- MSJ’s 2024 Voter Portal – Visit here to get started!
- Ohio residents can register to vote online.
- Kentucky residents can register to vote online.
- Indiana residents can register to vote online.
- On-campus Recognition of National Voter Registration Day every September
Voter Information
The Mount provides non-partisan information to help educate students about upcoming elections.
Other Election Services
Our team also provides assistance with the following:
- Absentee ballot requests
- Voter registration checks
- Residency letters for students living in the residence halls
- Nonpartisan issues and candidate lists
- Voter identification assistance
- Assistance identifying polling locations.
Contact Information
Email: career.center@msj.edu
Phone: 513-244-4888