I. INTRODUCTION

The Academy of Management, as a national professional academic association, has long fostered dialogue regarding meaningful and effective management education, and in recent years, calls for reformulating the field have been heard.  As an example, at the 1999 national meeting an All-Academy symposium on the transformations needed in management education for the 21st century featured management thinkers Karl Weick, Peter Senge, and Henry Mintzberg.  Additionally, a second symposium on the implications of global corporate citizenship for management education was a theme session for two divisions.  All of this activity speaks to a growing concern about the function and nature of management education as it is currently framed and implemented.
 
Contributing to this dialogue are discussions regarding reforming management education towards civic engagement and community-based service-learning. At recent Academy national meetings, attention has been given to this important and growing area of scholarly concern.  Since 1997, service activities have been hosted at each of the meeting sites; PDW and regular program sessions and symposia have been devoted to civic engagement and service-learning. Five divisions have taken the lead in sponsoring these activities and sessions.  Specially designated All Academy symposia related to service-learning and civic responsibility have been held during the past two years. Additionally, since its inception in 1997, the Academy Service-Learning Network grew to over 60 faculty and today the service-learning list-serve on the Academy web site has over 200 subscribers (see MGSERVLEARN@aom.pace.edu). Furthermore, an expansive array of resource materials (about 110 pages) was placed on the Academy CD for the San Diego meetings in 1998.

With funding from Aspen Institute and Campus Compact/PEW Charitable Trusts, these activities have been extended into the Initiative for the Advancement of Civic Engagement and Community-based Learning.  For the 1999-2000 academic year, funding enabled a planning committee to meet in Chicago to configure the initiative.  Out of that meeting, the Academy of Management Task Force on Service-Learning in Management Education was formed; planning began for the service activity in Toronto; the service-learning listserve on the Academy website was initiated; plans began for securing more funding; and other ideas and assignments were put forth.

For the 2000-2001 academic year, additional funding has been provided for the Academy of Management Service-Learning Fellows Program. The purpose of this project is to encourage and reward future curriculum-based faculty efforts to advance civic engagement and service-learning in their classrooms, departments, institutions, and the field of management as a whole. Funding of $1,000 - $2,000 be awarded to each successful Fellow candidate, with a full match from the candidate’s department or school/college. Fellows and their projects will receive Academy-wide recognition.

It is important to recognize that the Academy is not alone in rethinking its field.  Under the leadership of the American Association of Higher Education, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and other prestigious associations, higher education is being rethought and scholarship is being reconsidered.  Numerous academic disciplines--from chemistry to communications, from philosophy to physics to political science, from engineering to sociology and psychology--are advancing civic engagement and service-learning through their disciplinary associations.

The rest of this document is comprised of the following sections: the significance of the initiative; distinctions of experiential education and service-learning; the announcement of the Service-Learning Fellows Program; and a list of the members of the Academy Task Force on Service-Learning in Management Education, along with their contact information.
 

II.  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INITIATIVE

Civic engagement is a critical value for all educators in free societies.  In a democracy, where the government is of and by The People, virtually every action by all organizations can be said to have ramifications that impact the common good; thus it is important for educators to engage students in understanding their responsibilities as fellow citizens.

With regard to management education, the call for civic engagement affirms to management students--as well as to faculty--the need for vitality and balance among the three sectors that comprise modern society.  These sectors are the economic/business sector, the public or governmental sector, and the nonprofit sector--the sector known as civil society, third sector, or the independent sector.  Civic engagement also affirms the need for citizen participation on the part of individuals in order to ensure the strength of democratic institutions.

While the three sectors are usually discussed and studied as separate entities, in reality they are interrelated in symbiotic fashion.  Each of the three sectors of societal organizations is critical for the well being of the society as a whole; each sector has a stake in the viability and missions of organizations in the other sectors.  When any one of these sectors gains too much power and influence, the delicate system that operates for the common good is jeopardized.  Obviously, business efforts need government in order to operate--the problems faced by businesses in Russia where contractual agreements are not honored, is but one case in point.  Likewise, governments face a myriad of crises during severe economic downturns--the Great Depression in the United States is one such illustration.  The nonprofit sector, that which includes religious and other charitable organizations, foundations, associations (such as the Academy of Management) and other critical institutions, provide the lifeblood of modern society.

At times, distinctions between organizations in the various sectors are blurred:  some government functions, such as the management of prisons and other correctional institutions, are being privatized; many business routinely engage in the government function of tax collection; sometimes nonprofit organizations accumulate considerable wealth.

Importantly, generic management and organizational principles and concepts apply to all.   Corporate firms, churches, and public agencies have much in common: all are organizations and subject to the same dynamics and authority issues, the same management principles and competencies--only applied in different settings.

Of special interest to management educators is the fact that organizations in each sector may have a great deal to learn from those in the other sectors.    For instance, public agencies have gained from the research and experience of business organizations, as Vice-President Al Gore’s Reinventing Government Campaign demonstrates.  Much to the surprise of many, some government agencies have made considerable strides in organizational innovation and responsiveness and even customer service!  Likewise, many business organizations take social responsibility seriously, without threat of sanctioning by government regulatory agencies.  Finally, as Peter Drucker has pointed out, business and government organizations alike might gain from the practices of nonprofit organizations; perhaps something can be learned about motivating paid employees by examining the practices of those who manage volunteers.

While there are many similarities between organizations in all of the sectors, it is clear that each sector has its unique challenges.  For example, with specific regard to business organizations, the Porter/McKibbon Report (1988) pointed out numerous significant problems, many of which have proved quite intractable and still exist today.  Among the demands that managers continue to face are:  the need to be team players and individual contributors, to employ much better written and oral communication skills, to enhance their personal awareness and interpersonal skills, to be comfortable with individuals and work groups from diverse backgrounds.  Particularly as the economy continues to globalize, managers need to develop skills in dealing with multiple stakeholders who bring conflicting and even controversial demands to the enterprise, and to deal with constantly intensifying public and governmental scrutiny from all quarters of the world.  To this set of skills we would add the need for future managers to understand the complex role that businesses play in their necessary engagement with the civil and governmental sectors of society.  Businesses and, accordingly, management educators, cannot afford to continue business as usual and still expect to make their journey into the 21st century successfully.

Numerous management challenges are found in the public sector, as well.  Faced for decades with bureaucratic inflexibility, the term “bureaucrat”, often used with derision, has become a synonym for the public employee. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), the accrediting body for public administration and policy graduate programs, has embarked on an initiative to place service back into public service.  NASPAA hopes to influence MPA programs to emphasize service to others for students as they assume positions of government authority.

Management in the third or nonprofit sector has long been ignored by scholars.  That sector has the distinction of becoming increasing visible, as it is the fastest growing sector in the United States.

While organizations are characterized by similarities across sectors, each has its unique challenges; perhaps, they share a common solution.   Assessing what is needed, Bilimoria, editor of the Journal of Management Education, called for nothing less than a "diasporic shift" that would redirect management education away from the classroom toward "real-world learning" (Bilimoria, 1998).  That is, she proposes a learning model that is intimately engaged with practice on which practitioners seriously reflect so as to understand the implications of their actions and decisions.  Changes are needed in management education that shift from the learning of theory in the classroom setting toward the learning and application of theory in reflective practice toward the types of unstructured, socially intractable problems that actually face managers in their daily lives.   Such changes are necessary in undergraduate, graduate, and executive management education, as well as in public administration and not-for-profit management programs.  Linking theory and practice, particularly through service-learning initiatives that include active, interactive, hands-on, and action learning can readily be directed at encouraging a responsible attitude towards the impacts and outcomes of business activities, as well as government practice.  Further, such models of learning can engage learners in moving toward positive and proactive civic engagement across all sectors of the economy.

The Academy of Management is well positioned to provide leadership for civic engagement in higher education. As the national professional association for management faculty, its membership includes distinguished educators from all management fields, representing each of the three sectors.  The Initiative encourages critical cross-fertilization of ideas across sectors.  The influence of the Academy is even more profound than its stature; the influence is monumental because of the member faculty who affect the lives of generations of students, who in turn, assume positions of leadership in all sectors.

There are three compelling reasons for this Initiative:

A. Intellectual:  While many Academy members are faculty in public administration programs as well as in sociology and psychology departments and divinity schools, most members are faculty in business schools and programs.  They recognize that the work of business does not take place in a vacuum, and that the health of business, government, and nonprofit organizations are inextricably intertwined.  All are stakeholders in the public good.  Businesses unavoidably impact the societies in which they operate and need to be accountable not only for the positive, but also the negative by-products of that intersection.   Further, business graduates frequently come to hold positions of responsibility in nonprofit organizations and government agencies.  Business leaders sometimes accept a call for public service and may lead a public agency.  They often serve on boards of nonprofit organizations.  Additionally, public policy and business interests converge in key areas.  Successful business leaders know how to interact effectively with public policy makers in a wide variety of forums. For example, in various states, councils of business leaders are set up to advise government agencies charged with implementing new welfare policies.  Under welfare reform, many businesses are engaged in the training and hiring of welfare recipients, helping them to attain a measure of self-sufficiency.  By all accounts, government and business efforts across sectors will increase during the coming century and the barriers between sectors will become increasingly blurred.  Particularly in the global arena, daily business operating decisions, such as the establishment of working conditions, treatment of workers, production efficiency and by-products, are increasingly of governmental and public concern.  Effective business leaders know how to operate responsibly and with positive societal impacts to avoid problems and ensure that their businesses gain reality-based reputations as good corporate citizens.

B. Pedagogical:  As faculty in various fields and disciplines, most Academy members are primarily educators.  Community-based service-learning encompasses action, active, interactive, and experiential forms of learning that are combined with reflective practice.  It has been shown to be a compelling and important pedagogical tool for educators in institutions of higher learning.  As today’s students of all ages seek for meaning and relevance in their course work, opportunities to assist those in need and in their own communities, is compelling for students.

Community-based service-learning is far more than helping others; it is an academically rigorous curriculum tool that assists students in reflecting on their own lives, helping them consider consequences and impacts of business, economic, and public policy, and a powerful way to learn about their world and their responsibilities.

C. Moral:  Management educators, in whatever fields and disciplines, have a fundamental moral responsibility to their students and to the public at large, for advancing civic engagement and service.  In our undergraduate and graduate programs, we prepare students to assume positions of authority in organizations.

Managers are inherently in positions of authority over other people--either subordinates, or customers, or clients, or the general public.  Authority is exercised in a wide array of instances, from the mundane (ensuring customer convenience) to the traumatizing (deciding which good employees to downsize out of their jobs, or denying continued public assistance to clients).  Managers in organizations are endowed with a legitimacy and power that is not available to others.  The Academy of Management Initiative, by advancing civic responsibility and community-based learning, will have important long term effects, such as helping students anticipate and prepare for the externalities associated with corporate activities, including pollution, impact on other cultures, and power. Another effect would be to equip students to disarm the negative impacts of socio-economic class distinctions, understand those who are less fortunate, and exercise power with more wisdom, discretion, and hopefully compassion.
 

III. SOME RELEVANT TYPES OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

Distinctions and Understandings

The following is a conceptualization of the various forms of experiential education, of which service-learning is one.

Experiential education involves the integration of meaningful student activity into the learning process. It implies learning beyond the traditional classroom lecture method where the student is primarily cognitively engaged.  It may include anything from chemistry and biology lab work to structured experiences in the classroom to work in corporate and community settings.  Medical School  residency requirements might be included here.  Experiential education has strong theoretical roots, and is often associated with the noted American philosopher John Dewey.

In management education the application of the principles of experiential learning takes many forms.  Working in a corporation or other organization might be part of a course requirement, or it might be structured into a program.  The use of structured activities for managerial competency development, as well as the application of learned professional expertise to struggling inner-city businesses (as in the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City) and micro-credit/enterprise activities in impoverished nations, all are forms of experiential learning in management education.

Types of experiential educational experiences can differ according to the following criteria:  1) administration:  whether the experience is administered by an academic institution or program, or by individual faculty in their courses;  2)  goals: whether the goals of the experience are primarily for professional socialization or for academic learning;  3) units: whether the units addressed in the experiences are organizations or individuals; 4) the use of reflection.

Co-operative education gained acceptance in the 1950's as a way for students to gain work experience while enrolled in school. Under this model students were placed into part time jobs that often held promise for developing into full-time employment upon graduation.  Co-operative education programs are likely attached to academic institutions or programs, rather than to specific courses and thus do not have grades or faculty oversight.

The internship is a feature of many graduate professional programs, and is often a requirement for completion of the degree. Students who have sufficient professional experience may obtain a waiver from the internship requirement.  In this capacity students often work part time or full time for 6 months (usually paid but may be unpaid depending on the academic program rules) in a corporation or agency.  Internships are usually a program requirement, and thus not attached to a course.   There is little or no oversight by faculty; students often write a report about their experience and submit to their academic program director, along with a performance evaluation from their agency or corporate supervisor. The purpose of internships is to socialize students into the profession.  The interaction is primarily with the organization rather than with the clientele served by the organization.  This socialization can be very useful to the student.   One example is the Executive Director of the Utah Department of Human Services and member of the Governor's cabinet who served her internship at DHS while a student in the University of Utah MPA program.

Action Learning addresses the activities of nontraditional students who are already working in an organization, as they take theory learned in the classroom and apply it into practice.  The classroom and other activities provide a forum for reflection on what has happened and what has been learned in the process.  Often called work-based learning, this pedagogy can be used in virtually any applied discipline. Reflection is a key feature of action or work-based learning. Reflection, grounded solidly in learning theory (see Schon, Kolb, Dewey, and others), means that learning does not occur primarily from doing the experience but from considering what the experience means, applying the lessons of the experience, and testing theory with it.  This is an important and sophisticated process.

Service-Learning is a “form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development.  Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts of service-learning" (Barbara Jacoby in Jacoby and Associates, Service-Learning in Higher Education, Jossey-Bass, 1996, p. 5).  It is an academically rigorous pedagogy merging intellectual and civic engagement, whereby faculty incorporate meaningful service to those in need into their courses.   Service-learning as practiced tends to be course-specific and thus has faculty oversight.  Student service is unpaid and may involve direct service to those in need (such as assisting teachers at the school at the homeless shelter) or to government and nonprofit organizations that serve those in need (such as helping the homeless shelter set up its computer system). The use of reflection is a critical element in service-learning.

A key consideration in service-learning is reciprocity; that is, considering the needs of those being assisted and their relationship with those rendering the help.  Drawing on political scientist James McGregor Burns' theory of transforming leadership, reciprocity directs our attention to the fact that both the served and the server teach each other and grow from the relationship. It is not the case that one person or group has the resources to help the helpless "other"; reciprocity surfaces the fact that the server is helped by meeting the needs of the other.

Community-based learning in its use is practically synonymous with service- learning.  Like service-learning, CBL draws our attention to the needs of the community rather than to the professional goals and aspiration of the student.  In some circles it is deemed wiser to use the term CBL rather than service-learning, in the event that some associate negatively with the concept of service in academia.
 

IV.  SERVICE-LEARNING FELLOWS ANNOUNCEMENT

The Academy of Management Task Force on Service-Learning in Management Education is pleased to announce the Academy Service-Learning Fellows Program.  This exciting new program is part of the Academy Initiative on the Advancement of Civic Engagement and Service-Learning in Higher Education.  The Academy has received an award of $10,000 from Campus Compact/ PEW Charitable Trusts to support the Fellows Program.  Academy members in all fields are invited to apply for a Fellows award of any amount between $1,000 - $2,000.  The amount requested must be matched by an equal amount from the applicant’s department or school/college.  The award is for the 2000-2001 academic year.

Successful candidates may be engaged in any new curriculum-based academic activity that advances civic engagement and service-learning in management education.  Examples of such activities include:

1) Conducting original publishable research on civic engagement and/or community-based service-learning in management education;
2) Setting up a civic engagement/community-based service-learning initiative in one’s own academic department or school/college;
3) Developing civic engagement/community-based service-learning models for different types of management education, including undergraduate, graduate, distance learning, executive education and management development programs;
4) Developing and disseminating via appropriate publications and other vehicles assessment models for civic engagement/community-based service-learning;
5) Developing civic engagement/community-based service-learning models relating management education to public policy and different types of government action: legislative, executive policy, etc.;
6) Developing civic engagement/community-based service-learning models relating management education to critical areas such as: global commence, workforce diversity, technology, etc.

Deliverables:
Each effort is expected to produce at least one article published in a reputable journal or book.  In addition, the review committee will view favorably proposals that incorporate other deliverables, including:

1) Organizing and presenting high-quality scholarly sessions at the national or regional Academy of Management meetings on civic engagement and community-based service-learning;
2) Setting up local initiatives that could, for example, involve additional faculty in service-learning; instigate a system of rewards for service-learning faculty; set up a department-wide program; set up partnerships between the academic department, community nonprofit organizations, and corporate firms around an issue of community concern;
3) Delivering talks and presentations on the initiative at regional and national scholarly meetings (including but not limited to Academy of Management meetings);
4) Organizing small group meetings of interested faculty to pursue further development of ideas (may be within the awardees’ university, among local universities, or in collaboration with state Campus Compacts);
5) Writing and submitting larger grant;
6) Setting up meetings with community organizations, agencies, and networks related to the service-learning initiative to be followed by written reports;
7) Writing newsletter, op-ed, and newspaper articles for local community-oriented newsletters and professional associations;
8) Developing a website related to specific service-learning activities at a given university;
9) Creating and maintaining a listserver on specific service-learning and civic engagement activities;
10) Organizing focus groups of faculty to discuss obstacles and driving forces of civic engagement and service-learning in management education.

General Procedures:

1. Selection Committee:  A five-person Selection Committee headed by Laurie DiPadova, chair of the Academy Task Force on Service-Learning in Management Education, and Tim Peterson, chair of the Academy Teaching Committee, will evaluate the proposals.

2. Selection Criteria:  Criteria for selection include: significance of contribution to the advancement of civic engagement and service-learning in management education; significance of contribution to scholarly work; innovativeness, provocativeness, and creativity; and timeliness of the proposed initiative.

3. All applications must consist of the following elements:

A. A 3-5 page letter outlining the proposed activity, the ways in which this activity advances civic engagement and service-learning in the profession, a deliverables action plan, and the amount of funding requested.
B. A letter from the applicant’s department chair or dean confirming the full match.
C. Curriculum vitae of the applicant.
D. A stamped self-addressed envelope to facilitate acknowledgment of application receipt.

4. Five copies of each application must be sent to Laurie N. DiPadova at the following address:

Dr. Laurie N. DiPadova
Academic Outreach
1901 E. South Campus Dr., Room 1215
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9359
Email: ldipadova@acad.utah.edu
Phone: 801/585-1771
Fax: 801/581-3165

5. Due Date. Applications are due by Monday, May 15, 2000. Note: Application must be received on or before the due date. This is not a postmark date.

6. Questions: Please contact Laurie DiPadova with any questions you may have about the Service-Learning Fellows Program.

7. Decision Timeframe: The committee anticipates announcing the successful applicants and their projects by June 15, 2000. Upon selection, an appropriate press release will be sent to media relations at each awardee’s institution.  The conference packet for the annual meeting in Toronto will include an announcement about the entire Academy Initiative for the Advancement of Civic Engagement and Community-based Learning, and the Academy Service-Learning Fellows program as part of that initiative.  Fellows and their projects would be listed in the conference packet for the Toronto meeting.   Also, if possible, they will be recognized at a special Task Force Academy session.

8. Submission of two progress reports: A preliminary progress report will be required from Fellows on November 1, 2000, for review by the Selection Committee.  The final progress report on the funded activity is due on July 1, 2001 (3-5 pages) for review by selection committee members and transmittal to Campus Compact.  Drafts of related working papers, submitted and published papers, as well as relevant reports, newsletter items, and reports on other deliverables should be included as well.  The Task Force anticipates that Fellows will report on their work at the Academy of Management meetings at the 2001 Washington, D.C. annual meeting.
 
 

V. TASK FORCE ON SERVICE-LEARNING IN MANAGEMENT
EDUCATION: 1999-2000

All who would like to join the Task Force are invited to contact the Chair, below.
 
Chair: Laurie N. DiPadova
University of Utah
Academic Outreach
1901 E. South Campus Drive, Suite 1215
Salt Lake City, UT  84112
801-585-1771
801-581-3165 (fax)
 ldipadova@acad.utah.edu

Monica Dean
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
727 Atlantic Avenue
Suite 600
Boston, MA  02111
617-292-2372
617-292-2380 (Fax)
mdean@icic.org

Sue Faerman
University of Albany-SUNY
Department of Public Administration & Policy
135 Western Avenue
Albany, NY  12222
518-442-3950 (Ph)
srf90@cnsvax.albany.edu

Sherril Gelmon
Portland State University
College of Urban & Public Affairs
PO Box 751
Portland, OR  97207-0751
503-725-3044
503-725-8250 (Fax)
gelmons@pdx.edu

Paul Godfrey
Brigham Young University
789 TNRB
Provo, UT  84660
801-378-4522
801-378-8098(Fax)
Paul_Godfrey@BYU.edu

David W. Hart
Department of Business Administration
208 E. Monroe hall
Mary Washington College
1301 College Avenue
Fredericksburg, VA  22401-5358
540-654-1460 (office)
dhart@mwc.edu

Robert Hogner
Florida International University, Miami
Department of Businesss and Environment/CBA
Miami, Fl  33199
305-348-2571
305-595-4507 (Fax)
rhogner@fiu.edu

Amy Kenworthy-U’Ren
School of Business, Room 4113
Bond University
University Drive
The Gold Coast, QLD 4229
Australia
61-7-5595-2241 (phone)
61-7-5595-1160 (fax)
Amy_Kenworthy_Uren@bond.edu.au

Larry Lad
Butler University
4600 Sunset Avenue
Indianapolis, IN  46208
317-940-9530
317-940-9455 (Fax)
llad@bulter.edu

Gordon Rands
Western Illinois University
Department of Management
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL  61455
309-298-1342
309-298-1019 (Fax)
GP-Rands@wiu.edu

Grace Ann Rosile
2831 Buena Vida Court
Las Cruces, NM  88011-5056
505-532-1693 (Home)
505-646-5684 (Office)
garosile@aol.com

Marilyn Taylor
University of Missouri-KC
Bloch School of Business & Public Administration
5110 Cherry
Kansas City, MO  64110
816-235-5774 (Ph)
816-235-2312 (Fax)
taylorm@umkc.edu

Charles Wankel
St. John’s University, NYC
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, NY  114339
908-218-5646
908-218-5652 (Fax)
WANKELC@STJOHNS.EDU

Ex-Officio:
Tim O. Peterson
Texas A&M University
207 Wehmer
College Station, TX  77843-4216
409-854-4873 (Office)
409-862-2337 (Fax)
TOPeterson@tamu.edu

Sandra Waddock
Boston College
Carroll School of Management
Chestnut Hill, MA  02467
617-552-0474
617-552-0433 (Fax)
waddock@bc.edu

Edward Zlotkowski
Bentley College
American Association for Higher Education
PO Box 1380
W. Tisbury, MA  02575
508-693-4262
ezlotkowski@yahoo.com