ITM 295 Portfolio Service Project engages students in service-learning opportunities to bless other lives by using the skills and knowledge they gained through their course of study in their degree program. It is designed to help students achieve the mission of BYU-Idaho to – “develop disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities” (University Mission Statement).
To receive a passing grade, complete the following tasks while you are registered for the course:
Be engaged in your volunteer service throughout the semester. On average, you should be spending 3 hours (or more) for your volunteer work each week to meet the 39 minimum service hour requirement.
Using the journal section your copy of the ITM 295R Project Proposal Template document,
The reflective comment section of your journal may include information such as what challenges you faced and how you overcame them, what you learned, how you may do things differently next time, any insights you gained, how the Spirit helped you, how an experience you had relates to what you had learned in class, interactions you had with those whom you serve, any frustration you encountered, etc.
For those weeks you did not engage in your project (e.g. you went on a trip, you were ill, you finished your project early, etc.), report what happened to you that week with ‘zero’ hours. You will not be penalized so long as you record them in your journal.
By the time you record your journal for the week, most of you should know the specific tasks you need to perform the following week (and beyond). Add those tasks to the following week’s “Weekly Schedule” in your copy of the ITM 295 Project Proposal Template document and make necessary schedule adjustments.
There is much you can learn from the experience of your classmates as they engage in interesting projects. Beginning Week 2, you will be randomly assigned to review one of your peer’s ITM 295 Project Proposal Template document each week. After reading the project description and journal entries, give some thoughtful input or ask meaningful questions (more than just “Great job!” or “Keep up the good work!”), acknowledge his/her accomplishments, offer help, offer to introduce other people you know that might be interested in the organization or the work being done, or make any other comments that may be of benefit to your peer. If you did not submit your weekly journal by the due date, you will lose the opportunity to review your peer’s work.
You will have an opportunity to meet with your instructor via Zoom sometime during the semester. In the meeting, you will report on the progress of your service project, share highlights of your service project so far, and discuss any challenges/issues you are faced with. The instruction on how to sign up for the meeting will be given on Canvas.
During the final weeks of the semester, you will schedule a time with your client, project sponsor, or supervisor to wrap up your project. The meeting need not be long and it can be a part of the last meeting you will have with your client, project sponsor, or supervisor.
Some of you work on projects that has a deliverable at the close of the project (e.g. software design and development). Schedule a time with your client to deliver and/or review the product(s) and/or service(s) you promised to provide. This meeting will serve as a time to hand-off the project, give demonstration, teach how to use it, get feedback, etc.
Some of you work as a volunteer staff for an organization (e.g. helpdesk, incident response, etc). Schedule a time with your supervisor and thank him/her for the opportunity. You may go over what you had accomplished, interesting stories from your experience, recommendations for future volunteers and/or employees, and share what you learned and gained from the experience.
You are encouraged to ask for feedback on your work or any advice your supervisor may have for you, including what knowledge, skills, or certifications may be important in his/her line of work. Some of you work directly with individuals (e.g. repair computers of community members, teach coding at a library, etc.).
As all of you are engaged in interesting and meaningful projects, your classmates would benefit from your sharing of your experience. You will be randomly assigned to a peer group of 3 to 4 individuals to do a “show and tell” of your project through Zoom. It must be a live session and all members of the group must be present. It will be scheduled during the final weeks of the semester. You must bring a visual aid to this meeting. It can be PowerPoint slides, a demonstration of a product/feature, photos, screenshots, video clips, drawings, etc. Share what you had accomplished, what you are most proud of, what obstacles you faced, how you overcome them, and what you learned. Guidelines for this presentation will be given in the Canvas course.