Elon’s hands-on approach to learning has brought the school more recognition. The university will host the statewide, fourth annual Service Learning Institute on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. in Moseley Center.

The Service Learning Institute is sponsored by the North Carolina Campus Volunteers Coalition, headed by Elon University.

"One of the things Elon does really well is to get students out of the classroom so they can get hands-on experience, and service learning is a great way to do this," Kathy Manning, director of Service Learning, said.

Some classes at Elon require students to log service learning hours with an organization in their area of study. Though it is similar to community service, service learning is more related to academics. When students leave the classroom, they receive hands-on experience in their area of study, observe leadership styles and see how organizations work.

Professors from other colleges in North Carolina will come to Elon to strengthen service learning opportunities on their own campuses by conferring with experienced practitioners. They will also learn how to get students to reflect on their experiences in the field.

Those attending the conference will participate in formal workshop sessions and informal roundtable discussions about service learning. Visiting presenters from North Carolina colleges will lead the workshops, including Lea Wells of North Carolina State University, who will speak about a course management system called WebCT and Dr. Steve May, whose presentation is about project-based teams in service learning. During the roundtable discussions, professors can ask questions about specific topics such as "Community Partnerships," hosted by Mike Giancola of N.C. State, "Reflection," hosted by Kim Abels of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and "Ethics in Service Learning," hosted by Dr. Toddie Peters of Elon.

"The Institute is a really important opportunity for faculty to network and to learn from each other about how to use service-learning as an educational tool," Manning said.