Impact Beyond the Classroom: USD Shapes Students into Community Leaders
Students find their way to this office for many reasons—through a class assignment, a service requirement or simply a desire to get involved. No matter how they arrive, the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement provides students with a pathway to explore service in a way that aligns with their interests, academic goals and personal values.
“Many students have come to me and said that volunteering has helped them feel like they have a purpose,” said April Lee, assistant director of the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement. “It helps them discover new community resources, and once they’re connected, they come to me wondering how they can do more.”
Volunteering not only helps students feel more connected to their community; it also helps them feel more aligned with their future career path. Especially for students pursuing careers in social work, psychology or health care fields, volunteering offers ample opportunities to connect classroom learning with real-world applications.
“They’re learning things about their future career in real time while also learning theory in the classroom,” said Lee. “They learn about social issues, and then they get to work hands-on with nonprofits who provide resources to people in need. Anytime we can put an experience with academic information, we’ve solidified that they’ve actually learned something,” she continued.
Connecting textbook knowledge to real-world application is a priority for Lee, who also works with professors across campus to directly integrate service-learning opportunities into their curriculum.
“I’m able to work with these professors and help them customize the volunteer experience based on what learning outcomes they’d like to see in their students,” said Lee. “Professors also bring me into their classrooms to educate students on finding volunteering opportunities they’re passionate about and how to connect with community partners, no matter where they are.”
Together, these classroom partnerships and hands-on experiences reflect the full breadth of service-learning opportunities at USD. From student-led organizations to national days of service, the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement offers multiple ways for students to get involved and make an impact.
One example is Alternative Way of Learning, a co-curricular program that connects students to community service activities, including alternative breaks during the university’s winter and spring breaks, as well as monthly alternative weekends during the academic year.
These breaks offer participants the opportunity to travel locally and nationally in groups of 12 to serve communities and gain new perspectives on social issues, from mental health and well-being to child poverty and health care.
“AWOL is the epitome of what the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement is and does,” said Lee. “For any student, being exposed to working with and serving others who are completely different from them is life changing.”
Through AWOL, medical biology student Jacob DeGroot developed a passion for service while also building valuable leadership skills. After getting involved with the organization, DeGroot quickly stepped into executive roles—experience that has equipped him for success after college.
“The largest lesson I have received is the value of teamwork and the importance of communication, trust and effective conflict resolution,” said DeGroot. “These all arise from participating, planning and even leading events. Being in AWOL has really taught me how to work with others, which I believe is one of the greatest skills one can have for their future.”
Since Lee stepped into her role in 2023, student involvement in AWOL has nearly quadrupled, with 464 active members and seven executive board members.
“Watching the membership grow and watching students become leaders and share their passion for serving has been really, really rewarding,” said Lee.
The Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement also leads large-scale service events such as Feed the Funnel, a trademarked event created by The Pack Shack and supported by a grant from the AmeriCorps 9/11 Day federal grant program. The event brings together volunteers to address food insecurity in local communities.
USD held Feed the Funnel for the first time in October 2024 and brought together over 200 volunteers to package 25,000 meals. In 2025, it was scheduled during the week of Dakota Days and doubled in impact, bringing together 436 volunteers—including students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members—to package over 50,000 meals.
USD’s Feed the Funnel event was organized in part by the AWOL student organization. Katie Thompson, an AWOL ambassador who is studying kinesiology and sport management with a specialization in exercise science, shared that this event was a positive experience—both for its impact and for the environment it created.
“Those meals are now going out to support the local community,” said Thompson. “On top of that, we created a fun environment where people were singing and dancing while packing meals and enjoying themselves. Volunteering can seem intimidating, but I hope this event showed people that it’s fun and better when you’re working together to help others.”
Another recent service opportunity for students is Sleep in Heavenly Peace-USD, a student-led initiative connected to a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that no child sleeps on the floor. The organization brings students together to build and deliver beds to children in need, advocate for youth well-being and foster a culture of community service.
After seeing the impact of nearby chapters and identifying a need in the Vermillion community, Lee recruited students to start an SHP delivery hub at USD during the spring 2025 semester to service the Sioux City chapter.
One of those students was Madysen Seely, a junior majoring in health sciences who, like many students, initially connected with the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement to fulfill a class requirement but then discovered a genuine passion for serving her community.
“I needed volunteer hours for a class, and April invited me to join students who were meeting about a new organization,” said Seely. “The rest is history.”
Through SHP-USD, Seely found an outlet for her desire to serve others and quickly discovered a sense of purpose. The experience has also allowed her to grow as a leader, serving as both vice president and director of membership and recruitment.
“I’ve gained leadership and teamwork experience, but also a greater vision and heart for helping others wherever I can,” said Seely. “Working with SHP is absolutely life changing, and the perspectives I’ve gained are never ending. Each delivery has taught me something new about perspective, gratitude and community.”
These programs are just a few of the many ways students can get involved through the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement. Beyond AWOL, Feed the Funnel and SHP-USD, students can join organizations like Dakotathon and USD Serve, participate in national days of service, volunteer with community partners or support initiatives like USD’s move-out donations.
No matter their interests, each opportunity helps students build skills, confidence and real-world experience that prepares them for life after USD.
“Aside from volunteering, we also emphasize community engagement,” said Lee. “When students get out there, they’re interacting with professional staff, with other volunteers and with community partners. They’re making connections, which is a huge asset. We hope to create change agents, so by the time students graduate, they’re ready to continue serving in whatever new community they land in.”
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