This article is an introduction for students who are using a Connect site to respond to volunteer opportunities and log volunteer hours as a course requirement. It explains how to join a course on the site and provides links to articles on finding service opportunities, responding to available needs as part of a course, logging your volunteer hours, and viewing your course progress.

To access the full SLM Student Guide, click here.

Connect Site Terminology

By default, Connect sites use the terminology defined below:

  • SLM - Service Learning Module. Many Connect sites are used by both educational institutions and the general public. This article uses "SLM" when referring to use by students, professors, and nonprofits participating in a service-learning type of program where students do community service as part of their course requirements.
  • User Group - An academic course that has a service-learning component.
  • Need - A volunteer or service opportunity.
  • Response - A response to a need; on a Connect site, when you sign up to volunteer, you're creating a need response.

Your site manager has the ability to override these terms, so it's possible the terms on your site may not match those used in this and other articles.

Joining a Course

Even though you may already have signed up for a course, you need to "join" the course on a Connect site so that your instructor can track your service hours. Typically, you will join a course by clicking a link provided to you by your instructor.

Once you click the link, depending on your site's setup, you may be asked to sign up, log in, or answer questions to join. You'll then be taken to your My User Groups page, which will have a message that you've been added to the user group and a list of any other user groups that you belong to.

To view the needs (service opportunities) available for your course, click View Needs. 

Using Your Connect Site's SLM

As a student, you'll use your Connect site to find your course's service opportunities, respond to needs, log hours, and monitor the progress of your and your fellow students. See the articles below for more information.

  • Finding Service Opportunities - Explains how to use the site to locate the needs that have been assigned to your course.
  • Responding to a Need - Explains how to sign up for a service opportunity, edit your response, change the shift you signed up for, or unregister from the need altogether.
  • Submitting Your Volunteer Hours - Walks you through the process of logging hours for volunteer work completed, including selecting your user group when adding your hours.
  • Monitoring Your Service-Learning Progress - Shows you how to access and use the SLM User Groups area of the site, as well as how to generate reports showing your volunteerism accomplishments.

Related Articles

Your SLM Student Guide contains additional articles on responding to needs, logging volunteer hours, and monitoring your progress toward your course's service-learning goals.