The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

MISSION STATEMENTIn order to fashion a more humane and just world, the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good educates leaders committed to lives of ethical public service by implementing academically rigorous programs, cultivating authentic community partnerships, and creating transformational experiences.

SERVICE-LEARNING>> SERVICE-LEARNING

SEMINAR FOR FACULTYThe McCarthy Center invites USF faculty of all disciplines to participate in six seminar sessions designed to enhance understanding of service-learning theory and practice, guide development or revision of a service-learning course syllabus, and nurture equitable sustained partnerships with community organizations. The content is taught through readings, interactive activities, and discussions. Panel discussions with experienced service-learning students and community partners further enrich faculty learning. Faculty Service- Learning Seminars are generally offered each semester. Participants receive a stipend upon completion of the seminar and submission of a syllabus to their college’s curriculum committee.

ABOUT LEO T. MCCARTHY AND THE LEO T. MCCARTHY CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE COMMON GOOD Leo T. McCarthy served as a San Francisco county supervisor, a member and speaker of the state assembly, and lieutenant governor for the state of California for three terms. His public life was characterized by passion, integrity, and a commitment to social justice. He was particularly attuned to the voices of those marginalized by the political process with specific attention to the poor, elderly, and farm workers. An alumnus of USF, he worked to establish the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good in 2002.

>> FACULTY CONSULTATIONSMcCarthy Center staff are available to meet with faculty regarding their community-engaged learning course development, planning, implementation, and enhancement. Assistance is provided with identification of potential community collaborators, partnership dynamics, syllabus construction, and pedagogical components such as reflection and assessment.

>> ACE PROGRAMIn this paid position, an Advocate for Community Engagement (ACE) makes a one-year commitment to work on site at a Bay Area non profit organization to facilitate meaningful service-learning experiences for USF students. Primarily, the ACE acts as a liaison between the community organization, USF faculty, and students to design and support service-learning projects.

>> PARTNERSHIP ASSISTANCEThe McCarthy Center coordinates relationships between faculty and community partners, helping to cultivate partnerships in which course objectives and organizational goals are reciprocally met. Our staff regularly visit community organizations to learn about their work, and host networking events in which faculty and nonprofit staff can explore mutual interests and potential partnerships.

>> SERVICE-LEARNING SEMINAR FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERSThe Community Partner Service-Learning Seminar welcomes nonprofit staff interested in fostering sustainable, reciprocal service-learning partnerships with USF faculty and students. Participants attend five sessions designed to define and distinguish service-learning’s role in the organization; provide support for building and maintaining faculty partnerships; create templates and systems for managing students, and share tools for enhancing student learning and reflection. Throughout the seminar series community partners develop processes and resources to enhance the benefits of service learning to their organization. Community Partner Service-Learning Seminars are generally offered twice a year. Participants receive a stipend upon completion of the seminar.

MCCARTHY CENTER PROGRAMSThe McCarthy Center offers support

for the development of service-learning courses and directs the following programs: academic internship opportunities (both domestic and international), an undergraduate minor, and two graduate degree programs. For more information, please visit our website at www.usfca.edu/mccarthycenter.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE OF STUDY>> MINOR IN PUBLIC SERVICE

AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTThe Minor in Public Service and Community Engagement is a 22-unit, interdisciplinary program open to USF undergraduates from any major. The course of study guides students in their development of skills and knowledge necessary to undertake effective public service and community engagement, while also helping them explore the personal values and beliefs that will guide their service commitments and the social, cultural, and political contexts that contribute to and complicate service and engagement. This minor is ideal for students who have an academic area of interest that draws upon courses from a variety of departments and programs. Students can create concentrations within the minor around specific issues such as food security, justice and the arts, international social justice, etc. The minor includes a 2-unit capstone seminar taken after completion of all other required courses.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS>> MASTERS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (MOPA)

The Master of Public Affairs Program (MoPA) provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary for effective political action by merging hands-on experience with rigorous graduate seminars to bridge theory and praxis. Graduate students apply their skills outside of the classroom to create positive change in their communities, the political process and political systems. The two-year, 36 unit program culminates with a full-time, graduate level internship and capstone project, where students develop expertise in their area of interest, while building professional skills and growing career networks.

>> MASTER OF ARTS IN URBAN AFFAIRS (MAUA)The Master of Arts in Urban Affairs (MAUA) combines rigorous graduate seminars in urban studies and public policy with the hands-on experience in applied urban research, community engagement and organizing. A comprehensive background in urban history, political dynamics and sociology is blended with tools for community-based research, policy design, analysis and implementation. The two-year, 36 unit program culminates with a full-time, graduate level internship and community-based research project, where students develop expertise in their area of interest, while building professional skills and growing career networks.

PUBLIC SERVICE ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS>> MCCARTHY FELLOWS SUMMER

IN SACRAMENTOIn this summer program, McCarthy Fellows spend 12 weeks in full time internships at Sacramento institutions that contribute to the California policy-making process, engaging in ever ything from conducting legislative research to responding to constituent concerns to drafting policy memos. Concurrently, students participate in a California Politics course focused on exposing and analyzing the structures and systems that frame our state’s policy making processes and helping students make meaning of their first-hand experience. Students live, work, and learn in the state capital, while taking advantage of powerful learning opportunities within the context of their internships, their academic course, and the co-curricular offerings that abound in their thriving host city.

>> USF IN DCUSF in DC is a semester-long program in Washington D.C. that integrates a full-time internship with relevant coursework taught by USF faculty. Participants can choose from a range of elective courses which might include: American National Polit ics, Polit ical Journalism and Media, Campaign Politics, US Foreign Policy, Middle East Studies, International Law and Policy, Consumers and Public Health, Sustainability & Environment, International Relations, Washington Ethics, and more. The program includes 16 units: 4 unit internship, 4 unit research seminar, 4 unit special topics seminar, and 4 unit elective. Students also satisfy the Core Curriculum service-learning requirement through USF in DC.

>> GLOBAL SERVICE-LEARNING: BOLIVIA, UGANDA AND INDIAThe Global Service-Learning Fellows (GSLF) Program is an intensive interdisciplinary year-long program that combines community-based sustainable development projects abroad with intensive educational program-ming on campus. The program begins with a spring course on global sustainable development, taught by a USF faculty fellow. The summer abroad experience takes place in India, Uganda, or Bolivia, and is facilitated by the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD). Students live in homestays and engage in full-time in- ternships in grassroots organizations where they develop a proposal for a sustainable development project, solicit grant funding, and collaborate with colleagues and community members to implement the project. The experience culminates with a 2-unit course in the fall that allows students to reflect upon their internships abroad through an academic and values-based lens. GSLF is funded in part by a grant from the Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.

SERVICE-LEARNING

Service-learning courses are an integral

component of the University of San

Francisco’s undergraduate curriculum,

providing students with community-

based lessons about social justice

issues and their own potential to be

agents of change. Since 2002, all USF

undergraduate students have been

required to complete one or more of

these courses in order to graduate. The

university’s service-learning requirement

offers a central mechanism for achieving

the university’s mission of developing

in students “the values and sensitivity

necessary to be men and women for

others.” The McCarthy Center provides

support for service-learning through

Faculty Development, Advocates for

Community Engagement, and Community

Partner Development.

For more information, please contact:Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good 2130 Fulton StreetMasonic 102-110San Francisco, CA 94117www.usfca.edu/mccarthycenter

facebook.com/mccarthycenterusfca

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SUPPORTING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AT USF:The McCarthy Center is located within the College of Arts and Sciences at USF, and as such it supports the multiple facets of academic excellence that comprise the USF experi-ence. In addition to supporting the USF mission “to educate leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world,” the McCarthy Center’s mission and vision is clearly intertwined with the USF 2028 Planning Document. As the USF 2028 Planning Document states,

“USF offers students a demanding, integrated, and holistic education that is the product of our Jesuit Catholic tradition, our San Francisco location, a global perspective, and the diverse experiences, perspectives, and opinions within the university community and the Bay Area. These qualifiers are not discreet attributes that may be easily separated from one another, but five closely interwoven strands that together, and only together, are the “whole cloth” of educational excellence in our distinctive Jesuit tradition.”

As San Francisco’s first university, the history of USF and the history of San Francisco are interwoven. As an urban university, USF has a unique opportunity, and responsibility, to serve the citizens of San Francisco and the world. McCarthy Center programs are a key part of the demanding, integrated, and holistic education that USF students receive.

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