SLS-2c2 Building and Piloting - OSL - Match-making

Each service-learning course must include a service project for a target community, often through a non-governmental organization (NGO). It is in connecting the academics to the communities where OSL made a serious tactical mistake early on and learned a valuable lesson.  We had a need to build up a large number of SL subjects in a short time, meaning we need to find a large number of suitable communities and NGOs to partner with.  There are, of course, plenty of communities in need, and thousands of NGOs helping them in Hong Kong.  The question is which ones are appropriate for the subjects to work with, when the subjects themselves were still in the process of being developed? 

It was suggested to survey potential partners in the community on their needs, in the form of potential projects, and then match SL subjects and teachers to these projects.  It sounded like a systematic and efficient approach at the time.  But it turned out to be a big mistake. We quickly collected more than a hundred such project proposals from dozens of community organisations.  When we presented this list of potential projects to the academic colleagues, however, we had great difficulties in finding takers.  Some teachers were looking for projects but could not find suitable ones from the list.  Many were developing ideas but not yet ready to take on the projects at the time.  After trying very hard for several months, we were able to take up no more than a dozen of those projects.  We ended dup disappointing a lot of friends in the community.  This was a painful but valuable lesson for us.  We should be aware of our strengths and capacities.  And should not create unrealistic expectations.  We have learned to be much more cautious subsequently, when trying to develop collaborations with our partners. 

OSL began to develop strong collaboration with certain academic departments.  The Head of OSL, Dr. Stephen Chan, was seconded from the Department of Computing, where he had been collaborating with Dr. Grace Ngai on developing SL projects, which subsequently developed into credit-bearing SL subjects.  Soon the collaboration spawn a range of projects, in multiple locations in Cambodia.  OSL staff assisted in handling the logistics, arranging the transportation, training the students, and supervising them in the field.  OSL also received a lead from Duta Wacana Christian University in Indonesia for collaboration.  Mr. Joseph Lam of the Department of Land Survey and Geographic Information had been taking students to projects in Mainland China.  We invited Mr. Lam to take a team to Indonesia, to work with Duta Wacana, assisted by a staff from OSL.  

From these seeds grow a number of strong collaborative relationships between OSL and a number of academic departments.  OSL, as a non-academic department, cannot offer SL subjects on it own.  These must be hosted by academic departments.  However, OSL has been developing strong, all-rounded expertise in setting up, conducting and supervising innovative projects.  Above all, OSL has been developing a strong international network of community partners, which is invaluable in setting up new offshore projects and innovative programs.  

On the other hand, each academic department has its own academic discipline and focus, and are responsible for their own students.  They do not have a mandate and strong incentive to develop programs of benefit to the wider university community.  For example, when an academic department developed a project sin a foreign country, it has no strong motivation to share the site with teams from other departments.  In reality, however, the needs of a community are generally multi-facetted.  It may need electricity, clear water, health support, education resources, …, all at the same time.  OSL is in a good position to develop a site for multiple teams, with different skills, from multiple departments, and leverage the connections developed for the benefit of the university as a whole.  

Over time, OSL developed a number of strategies in developing SL subjects and projects.  

1. Need Driven.  Often there is a need that we become aware of that we feel strongly about, such as the plight of the elderly, children with special needs, under-privileged youth, extreme poverty, and green energy.  This may be due to the fact that the need is particularly acute, under-served, or having a strong connection to the university. 
2. Capability Driven.  PolyU is a comprehensive university with some outstanding disciplines, such as a wide range of engineering, fashion design, nursing, rehabilitation, …  We believe all disciplines have something to offer to address societal needs, and are particularly eager to make better use of under-utilised strengthens.   Hence we are actively looking for ways to assist certain disciplines, who are offering relatively few SL subjects, to contribute more. 
3. Strategic Considerations.  We are keen to develop a number of offshore bases, which has demonstrated needs, strong partners, good learning opportunities and potential for innovative practices.  The first of which is Cambodia, where we have worked in since 2010, and have regularly sent 100+ students in multiple teams, from a diverse range of disciplines.  The second one is Rwanda, where we started in 2013.  Here the scale is smaller due to the great distance.  But which offers tremendous learning opportunities and the opportunities to make some great impact.