Practicum (5 credit hours total, fall and spring semesters)
The Clinton School Practicum is a year-long required field service learning course that gives students the opportunity to work in project teams to apply skills learned in the classroom. The Practicum, which is taught in multiple projects, with each project involving a partnership with one or more Arkansas organizations, promotes the Clinton School's mission to educate young leaders to build and sustain healthy, engaged and vibrant communities in Arkansas and around the world by emphasizing the "practice" of public service through collaboration with community leaders to achieve partner and community objectives.
During the 2009-10 academic year, the Clinton School Practicum project teams are working on diverse organizational and community priorities in partnership with Arkansas non-profit and government organizations. The projects included:
2009-10 Practicum Projects:
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Statewide
- This team will work with Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families to strengthen the network of child advocates across Arkansas. The students will identify new child advocates in each legislative district, develop a communications plan for reaching out to the advocates, identify advocacy training opportunities and recommend methods to mobilize new advocates on specific policy issues.
Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock
- This team will work with Arkansas Baptist College to engage in an urban renewal effort surrounding its campus in Little Rock. The team will develop assessment procedures to determine the overall effectiveness of the urban renewal project.
Arkansas Coalition of Excellence, statewide
- This team will work with the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence, a statewide nonprofit advocacy organization, to create a handbook about nonprofit advocacy in Arkansas. The book will include information about state and national lobbying laws, ways to participate in advocacy and legal information for nonprofits in the state.
Arkansas Community Foundation, statewide
- This team will work with the Arkansas Community Foundation, an organization that works with donors, nonprofits and communities to build philanthropy across the state, to help evaluate the foundation’s readiness at the community level to be transformational through grant making, donor services and community leadership.
Arkansas Literacy Councils, statewide
- This team will develop a modernized tutor training program for Arkansas Literacy Councils, an adult literacy organization supporting 46 grassroots, nonprofit literacy councils throughout the state. The program will utilize online courses offered by the Verizon Literacy Foundation that can be shared across a national network.
The Arkansas Service Commission, statewide
- This team will assist the Arkansas Service Commission, a branch of the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism, with implementation efforts of new AmeriCorps programs in the state under the Serve America Act that recently passed Congress. The students will identify successful AmeriCorps member and recruitment strategies to help plan for the expansion.
Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center (BGACDC), Marvell
- This team will develop organizational plans for BGACDC, a grassroots organization that works to improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged, mainly African American residents in Marvell. The students will develop plans related to transportation, community involvement, fundraising and employment sustainability.
Delta Visual Arts Center, Newport
- This team will work with a coalition of organizations in Newport on planning efforts for a downtown arts center. The team will assist in branding efforts, developing an organizational structure for the operation of the center and determining initial design structure and needs for the center.
Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Services, statewide
- This team will work with the Arkansas Division of Youth Services on efforts to reform the state’s juvenile justice system. The team will target three judicial districts in the state and map community assets that help divert youth from entering or penetrating further into the juvenile justice system.
Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, statewide
- This team will assist Goodwill Industries of Arkansas with efforts to help ex-offenders have a positive reentry into their communities through training, education and employment services. The students will study ways to assist ex-offenders to secure employment and engage in the community, as well as recruit partners to offer social and community support to those individuals.
Targeting our People’s Priorities with Services (TOPPS), Pine Bluff
- This team will work with TOPPS, a full range youth services organization in Jefferson County, to determine the effectiveness of the organization’s programs. The students will evaluate programs related to education, recreation, job training, cultural awareness and physical fitness.
The STAND Foundation, North Little Rock
- This team will work with the STAND Foundation, a nonprofit youth leadership training organization based in North Little Rock. The students will evaluate the effectiveness of the foundation’s Edward Coleman Leadership Institute, which works to develop young adult leaders by promoting economic opportunities, social progress and community development.