Volunteering & Recording Service-Learning Hours

Our office has created useful guides explaining the process of finding and documenting your service-learning experiences with FGCU:

• Written guide
• Video guide

For Classes

Make sure to submit your form and get your community partner approved as soon as you have confirmed who you will work with. You should have your community partner approved in Eagle Service Network no later than mid-semester. To make sure your hours are approved in time to get credit for class, make sure to track your hours in Eagle Service Network at least two weeks before the last day of class. 

For Registered Student Organizations (Clubs)

As a club, you can serve with any community partner that aligns with your mission. Most clubs create a long-term relationship with one or two community partners. To create and maintain these relationships, it is important to discuss expectations, always put the community partner’s needs first, and send updates to keep them involved. 

When submitting your hours, make sure you always put the non-profit or government agency you are working with and not your club. Activities that only benefit the club, regular club meetings, fundraising for the club treasury (equipment, tools) and recruitment for the club do not count as service. 

For Fraternity & Sorority Life

As a chapter, you can serve with any community partner that aligns with your mission. Most chapters create a long-term relationship with one or two community partners. To create and maintain these relationships, it is important to discuss expectations, always put the community partner’s needs first, and send updates to keep them involved. 

When submitting your hours, make sure you always put the non-profit or government agency you are working with and not your chapter. Activities that only benefit the chapter, regular chapter meetings, fundraising for the chapter treasury (equipment, tools) and recruitment for the chapter do not count as service.

Where do I find the total number of service-learning hours I need to meet my graduation requirement?

This can be found in Degree Works. Look for “Service Learning Hours Progress” in the first box at the top of the page. You can see how many supervisor-verified hours you have already completed as well as how many total hours you need to meet the graduation requirement. 

How do I find service-learning opportunities?

• Eagle Link Service-Learning Opportunities page
  • These are upcoming opportunities that have been submitted by both campus and community partners. You can use the “Search Events” box to find service that matches your goals and interests. Contact information for the person who is coordinating the opportunity is provided on each page.
• The Office of Service-Learning’s Community Partner Database

• • To narrow down the list and find organizations that align with your interests, click on Advanced Search and select your preferred counties, categories, and Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Contact information is provided on each organization’s page so you can reach out and see what opportunities are currently available.

• Even if an organization isn’t in our database or Eagle Link, you may still be able to serve with them as long as they are a registered nonprofit organization or government agency and the experience meets all other service-learning criteria. See below for how to get service-learning experiences approved.

How do I know if an experience meets service-learning criteria?

Service-learning must be completed in partnership with a registered nonprofit organization or government agency, unpaid, and not part of a current credit-based internship. To ensure that all criteria is met, please submit a form in Eagle Service Network BEFORE you begin volunteering so our office can review it and make sure criteria is met (use your regular FGCU credentials to log in). 

How do I document my service-learning?

Eagle Service Network is the platform used to document all service-learning. Please note that you will need the name, email address, and phone number of the person who will be verifying the accuracy of your hours (you will need to enter those details in the Supervisor Contact Information section of the form). The supervisor must be either an employee from the nonprofit organization/government agency where you complete the service or an FGCU faculty/staff member who can confirm your hours; students cannot verify hours for other students.

1. Fill out a form in Eagle Service Network 
   1. Click the Service-Learning Form box on your homepage
   2. Click the green Add New button
   3. Provide all of the required information and click Submit
2. The Service-Learning office will review your form to confirm that the organization is a nonprofit or government agency and the experience meets all service-learning criteria. This usually takes between 2-3 business days.
   1. Once your form is approved by our office, you will see a green box that says “Approved” next to that experience in the “Service-Learning Form” section of your account. If your experience doesn’t meet criteria for service-learning, you will see a box that says “Rejected” next to the experience in Eagle Service Network and receive an email explaining the reason for the rejection. 
3. Go out and complete your hours with the organization!
4. Track (enter) your hours once you complete your experience:
   1. Click Service-Learning Forms
   2. Find the experience and click the Track Hours link underneath it (the link will appear once your form has been approved by our office)
   3. Scroll down and click the green Add Hours button
   4. Enter and submit your information

I have a recurring service-learning experience with the same organization – should I track my hours each time I serve or enter the total all at once?

For ongoing service experiences with the same organization, we recommend entering the total number of hours you served on the form in Eagle Service Network at the end of each semester so you’ll only have to submit one form per term.

The Add Hours button isn’t showing up anymore – how can I add more hours to my form?

Once your supervisor verifies hours for an experience, the system won’t allow additional hours to be added to that same form. You can add more hours by creating a new form (click Edit underneath the original form then click Copy to New Work Term, make sure all the information is still correct and adjust dates as needed, then submit). Once we approve the new form, you’ll be able to add those additional hours to it. If this is an ongoing service experience with the same organization, we recommend entering your hours at the end of each semester so you’ll only have to submit one form per term.

How do I receive credit for my service-learning hours?

It is very important that you provide an accurate email address for your service-learning site supervisor when you submit your initial form in Eagle Service Network; this is how we confirm that hours are accurate. Emails with a link to verify hours are sent to supervisors from eagleservicenetwork@fgcu.edu (Subject: “Service-Learning Supervisor Verification for FGCU Student”) after hours are tracked by the student every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. 

It says “Approved” next to my service-learning experience in Eagle Service Network but my hours aren’t showing in Degree Works.

When you see the green box that says “Approved” next to an entry in Eagle Service Network, that just means that the FGCU Office of Service-Learning confirmed that your experience meets service-learning criteria. In order for your hours to be counted toward your graduation requirement, you need to manually track (enter) them in Eagle Service Network so the supervisor from the organization you served with will receive the emailed hour verification link to verify that they are accurate. 

I tracked my service-learning hours but they aren’t showing up in Degree Works. Why?

The first step is to check your form and make sure your site supervisor’s email address is correct so they can receive the hour verification link from our office. If the email isn’t correct, you can click Edit and submit the updated address; the hour verification link will be emailed to the correct address the next time a batch is sent out. As long as your supervisor approves your hours, they will be added to your total hour count in Degree Works the following day. 

How can I tell if my site supervisor has approved my hours?

Once your hours are verified by your site supervisor, a link titled “Community Partner Final Evaluation” will appear underneath the entry in the “Service-Learning Forms” section of Eagle Service Network. When you open the link, look for “Are hours input by student accurate?” It will say “Yes” if your hours were approved. If it says “No,” that means the hours were denied by your site supervisor and there will be a comment explaining the reason; you will also receive an email notification that the hours were rejected. If the hours are approved, you will not receive an email notification. Approved hours are also added to your total hour count in Degree Works.