Service-Learning and Management Education: The Bentley Experience

This article features the service learning program at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. Service-learning at Bentley plays a vital, ever-growing role in the education of our students–tomorrow's managers. Through service-learning experiences, students deepen their understanding of management concepts as they apply them to actual organizational and social problems. In addition, they develop the ability to reflect critically on these experiences under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Perhaps most important, service-learning provides students with an opportunity to develop an ethical compass and a fuller appreciation of the role and importance of civic involvement. Bentley's commitment to service-learning as core part of management education is reflected in the school's mission, which emphasizes the importance of lifelong civic engagement and community service. This institutionalization of service-learning, which we believe is a differentiating aspect of Bentley's program, is a key factor in its success. INSETS: Bentley College—FleetBoston Financial Foundation Partnership;Scholarship Students as Project Managers;Working in the For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Sectors: From….