School of Medicine

Student Government Association

SLE Bylaws

Service Learning Elective

Mission: 

To provide a method by which medical students can receive recognition for their volunteer involvement in community service and professional development activities.

Educational Value:

Participation in service programs develops several skills such as organization, leadership, communication, and the ability to teach.  In addition, such activities allow students to gain insight into the diverse cultural and socioeconomic groups within our community. Participation in professional development projects enhances a physician’s ability to communicate, lead, educate peers, and develop organizational capabilities.  

Projects:

For an activity to be deemed acceptable for hours it must meet all of the requirements listed below.  A committee has been established to manage the regulations of these hours and approval of all projects.  This committee consists of the faculty advisor, the Vice-Presidents for Community Affairs, the class secretaries, and past members of the SLE committee.  If a project is approved, it must be able to be monitored in order to establish the amount of hours for each event.  Recording hours will be the responsibility of the student (project coordinator) in charge of that particular activity.

Project Criteria:

  • Community Service (CSE)
    • Projects meet CSE criteria if they directly benefit any community that is not LSUHSC
    • Students will earn 1 CSE credit hour for each hour of time volunteered
  • Professional Development (PDE)
    • Projects meet PDE criteria if they facilitate student learning and/or serve the LSUHSC community
    • Students will earn 1 PDE credit hour for each hour of time volunteered
  • Donation Drives (DD)
    • Projects meet DD hours if students donate items to an approved LSUHSC student organization as part of an approved donation drive 

Medical Student Performance Evaluations

  • All CSE & PDE hours earned by a student during their time enrolled at LSUHSC will be reflected on their Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE), which is included in the student’s residency applications.
  • While there are no minimum requirements for number of hours completed for either category, the Office of Student Affairs encourages students to maintain a healthy balance of both community involvement (CSE), LSUHSC involvement (PDE), and donation drives (DD).
  • DD hours are not eligible to be included in the MSPE

Advisors:

LSU Faculty members must be available to monitor the type of work done by students who are participating in this course.  For each activity that is approved, the mentor must be aware of the activity and be available to answer any questions that may arise concerning that activity.

Structure of the SLE Committee:

  • 9 member committee with 2 co-chairs: the SGA VP of Community Affairs and another member of the SLE committee which shall be slated by the committee at the end of each academic year. The second co-chair must have at least two years of experience on the SLE committee.
  • L1 VP of CA and L2 VP of CA: will help to maintain contact information for all approved projects
  • L3 VP of CA and L4 VP of CA: will act as flexible members of the committee
  • SGA VP of CA: will serve as committee co-chair and be responsible to call meetings as needed
  • Class Secretaries: will be responsible for maintaining spreadsheet information for members of that class who are participating in the SLE program.
  • Any member of the committee can retain membership and act as a source of information, but if they do not retain their class position they will not be a voting member.
  • SLE committee will meet a minimum of two times per academic semester.  Meetings will be announced to the classes at least one week in advance

Project Approval:

  • Student organizations and individual students may submit project proposals via the SGA website. In order to do this, the proposal information must be filled out completely and the project must have an LSU faculty member willing to serve as advisor for the project. The proposal form must be completed by someone in a position of leadership that explains how the project satisfies CSE or PDE criteria. Projects must be made available to the LSU medical school community through a school organization or class-wide announcement.
  • Project proposals will be evaluated by the SLE Committee in a timely manner
  • Project coordinators will be contacted by an SLE Committee Co-Chair with regards to the status of their proposal
  • All approved projects will be posted on the SLE website

To Reiterate the Goals of the Service Learning Elective Program:

  • To encourage students to develop a habit of community service
  • To encourage upperclassmen to stay involved in their previous projects and assume leadership roles
  • To foster exposure to a variety of community service ideas and experiences
  • To facilitate professional development with skills such as organization and leadership, which can be applied to a future career in medicine

Amending the SLE Bylaws:

  • A two-thirds (⅔) vote of the members present at any SLE Committee meeting is necessary to pass an amendment to the SLE Bylaws.
 
REVISED BY: SLE COMMITTEE IN July OF 2024