The form is called a Service-Learning Agreement & Verification form and can be found on our Web site. 

1. Read the FAQ's to learn the do's and don'ts of service-learning. Important!
2. Find an approved agency from our Service-Learning Database.
3. Fill out the service-learning form online (handwritten forms are not accepted).
4. Read the Serving Safely Guidelines.
5. Print the form and sign it.
6. Submit the form to the service agency on the day of your service.
7. The agency service supervisor signs the form after the service work is completed.
8. Do make a copy and turn in the original, completed form to our office. See FAQ #5 for our office location.
9. A green drop box is available for your convenience to submit your form.

What is meant by "approved" agency?

Agencies in the Service-Learning Database meet our risk management guidelines and are nonprofit, not-for-profit, or a governmental organization. There are nearly 300 agencies for you to choose from. You can search for an agency using our alphabetical listing or by category such as environment, education, social service, etc.

The agency I want to volunteer at is not listed in the database. How do I get approval?

If service is not being done in conjunction with a course and the service site is not in the database, obtain email or signature approval from the Office of Service-Learning before the service begins. Attach the email approval to the Service-Learning Agreement & Verification form. For approval, email lpaige@fgcu.edu, or visit the office on the 4th floor of the library, room 458G or 458I. For further questions, call 239-590-7015.

Exception:  You may volunteer at a public school (not private school) and with a church (no preseltyizing) without getting service-learning approval.

Can I volunteer with a daycare?

I searched the Service-Learning Database and did not find Relay for Life? Why is it not listed in the database?

Relay for Life is the event name, not the agency name. In this case, Relay for Life is the event hosted by the American Cancer Society. You can find the American Cancer Society in our database. You would list American Cancer Society on the form as Service Agency Name.

How do I record serving multiple days with the same agency?

You don't need a form for each and every day when your serving the same agency over a period of time.

Say, for example, your working every Friday and Saturday at the Lee County Library. Submit one form to the agency on your last day of service and they will sign the form and write the total number of hours that you served.

Do I need to attach a worksheet to my form to show all the days/hours that I served?

We do not need a worksheet attached to your form. If you choose, you may find keeping track of your hours in an Excel spreadsheet or calendar a convenient way to validate your hours with the agencies records.

If I volunteer a total 12 hours and 15 minutes, how is this recorded?

The service supervisor writes the total hours by rounding to the nearest 1/2 hour.  

12 hours and 15 minutes = 12

12 hours and 30 minutes = 12.5

12 hours and 45 minutes = 13

There are a multitude of ways to find opportunties!

1. On the Service-Learning website, you'll find a target. Click on any category of interest and you'll be directed to the approved agencies.
2. Visit our database of 300 approved agencies in Lee County, Collier County, Charlotte County and more.
   • Search for an agency alphabetically (i.e., Calusa Nature Center, Harry Chapin Food Bank, YMCA)
   • Search for an agency by category (arts, education, environment, health, special needs, etc.)
   • If an agency that you're interested in is not listed, contact our office for approval prior to performing service.
3. Come like us on Facebook! Agencies, students and the service-learning staff post opportunties that are happening now.
4. Follow us on Twitter at @EaglesConnect.
5. Read page 2 of the Eagles News.
6. Visit our Calendar of Events on our website.
7. If you are taking a service-learning course, the faculty member teaching your course may have some ideas.
8. Visit our Information Station (4th floor of the Library Building) where we have agency brochures, volunteer application forms, booklets, posters, etc. 
9. Stop by the Office of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement on the 4th floor of the Library Building, Room 458. We'll be happy to help out! Visit with any staff member available.

                                           How Can I Do My Hours?

Driving to and from an agency is NOT counted for service-learning hours.

Check with your academic advisor. Right now the rule is 80 hours for students entering FGCU as freshmen and sophomores and 40 hours for students entering as juniors and seniors with 60 or more transferable credit hours. Another way to tell is to access your Gulfline account. If you are listed as upper level, you'll need 40 hours. If you are listed as lower level, you'll need 80 hours.

You may deposit your form in the Service-Learning Drop Box

For your convenience, you may deposit your original form in the green drop box at the entrance to our office provided you made a copy for your records. Our office is located in the Library Building, 4th Floor, Room 458.

In addition, Nancy Eckert (Room 458I) and Lisa Paige (Room 458G) have drop boxes on the wall panel, just outside their office. You may deposit forms there provided you've made a copy for your records.

Or you may mail the forms to:

Absolutely, yes.

Occasionally there is a discrepancy and the only way to rectify the situation is for us to ask you for your copy of the form. Otherwise, you will need to re-document your hours, which sometimes is hard to do as too much time has passed since you completed the hours. 

Sometimes students turn in their forms to their instructor or someone else on campus who say they'll forward your form. The best course of action is for you to turn in your form directly to the service-learning office to avoid delays and/or confusion.

We do not accept faxed or scanned forms.

You can check service-learning hours on GULFLINE. 

Follow these step to find the hours on your unofficial transcript:

1. Go to Student & Financial Aid
2. Go to Student Records
3. Go to Academic Transcript
4. Click Submit
5. Scroll down to Events (under Transcript Totals just above your GPA) you will see Service Learning Hours Earned
   • If you see a number, that is the total number of hours that you have.
   • If you see the word COMPLETED, you have successfully met your service-learning requirements. 

I'm a transfer student that submitted 40 hours and I don't see the word "completed". Why?

Your record won't say "completed" until the graduation list is delivered to us from the Office of the Registrar in the semester in which you are graduating.

A student is sometimes required to attend agency training prior to beginning service-learning work with that agency.  In this case, the student receives service-learning hours for the training as soon as an equal number of service hours have been completed with the agency.  For instance, if a student attends a 5-hour training session, then the student must perform an additional 5 hours or more for service. The student then claims a total of 10 hours (5 for training and 5 more for service). If a student does not complete an equal number of service hours, the training hours are forfeited.

Normally, your form will be processed within 30 days. When it's near the deadline for seniors to turn in their hours for graduation, it may take much longer. Please be patient with us as we receive thousands of forms during that time period.

Are you graduating this semester?

Please read these FAQs for Seniors:

Try some of these suggestions listed below:

I filled out my form online and submitted it. I don't see it. Where did it go?

Be sure to enter your Eagle Email address. Do not use spaces or periods in entering your email address. Forms go directly to your Eagle Email account, not Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

My form looks jibberish. What happened?

Not all browsers are compatible with the form. Try using Internet Explorer or Firefox.

I tried the steps above and I'm unable to print it out correctly. What next?

You may be using an older version of MS Word that does not support RTF (Rich Text Format). Go to a computer lab on campus and try to print it out.

I'm having a problem getting my form to print. What do I do?

Are you using a Mac? If so, please visit the Mac Lab in Reed Hall on the 2nd floor.

I tried all of the above solutions and I'm having still having a problem. Now what?

Contact Computing Services at 239-590-1188.

Only service-learning hours done since you received your acceptance letter to FGCU or hours done specifically for a service-learning course on the transcript from another university are counted at FGCU. We don’t have the staff to check “old” experiences, and they are probably volunteer or community service hours rather than service-learning hours.

There are many wonderful changes!

What this forms offers:

• Hold harmless clause. Risk management has reviewed our form and has made legal changes. In order to comply with their new requirements, a student must now affix their signature acknowledging that they have read and understand the hold harmless clause.

• Serving Safely Guidelines. The student must now acknowledge reading the Serving Safely Guidelines to understand what to do in case of an emergency and to use reasonable precautions regarding safety.

• Printed information, not handwritten. It’s easier to read data when the information is printed. Handwriting leads to mistakes. This office has processed over 5,000 forms in 6 months and the ones that are unreadable go to the bottom of the pile for processing.

• Course information. We must run reports from time to time to capture CRN information. Our online form allows the student to enter this information and we input this into the database.

• Original forms. Our policy is to accept only original forms; not faxed or scanned copies. Students will be contacted to resubmit their form if the format does not meet our standards.

• Service-Learning Approval. Our staff will gladly assist students needing information about nonprofit agencies that are not in our database. In order to approve a new agency, our staff must research their nonprofit status and decide if the organization meets our guidelines for service. Our form allows a staff member to “approve” agencies.

• Form saved in student’s email. Once a student fills out an online form and clicks “submits”, the form is sent to their Eagle email.

• Estimated graduation. Knowing the graduation year allows the forms processor to prioritize allowing graduating seniors ease of mind knowing they have met their service-learning requirements.

• Service Agency. The old form listed “Service Site” which caused much confusion. Students often wrote addresses or event names. The new form has “Service Agency Name (nonprofit, not for profit, or governmental agency)”.

• Branding. Our form contains our EaglesConnect logo and it clearly states that it is for “Service-Learning”.

• Copy Retention. The new form reminds students to make a copy of the original document to keep for their records until they receive their official FGCU diploma.

• Completed Hours. When students have completed their 80 or 40 hour requirement, the service-learning office checks a box on the form changing the status from current to archival.

• Easy to Read. The new form is divided into four blocks of information making it easy to read.