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By M.R.C. Greenwood

Undergraduates at UCSC aren't shy when it comes to telling me what they like about their educational experience: access to distinguished faculty, unparalleled research opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities. For many of our students, however, UCSC's commitment to undergraduate education is also defined by the campus's emphasis on service learning, or what I like to call "hands-on" education. UCSC has a strong track record of fostering field-study programs, internships, and independent-study placements that give our students a chance to apply what they are learning in the classroom to the "real world." More of our students than ever are taking advantage of these opportunities. Last year, UCSC students contributed more than 200,000 hours of service to the community through service-learning placements. Some of these students work far from Santa Cruz--either elsewhere in the state, in other parts of the country, or even overseas. But the majority devote hours of service right here in the Monterey Bay Area. Our schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies wouldn't be the same without the talent offered by UCSC students.	Photo: Don Harris	Students are pleased to get the kinds of hands-on work experience that service learning offers, and educational researchers have documented the ways in which high-quality programs benefit students: Service learning deepens students' understanding of theoretical material, increases retention, motivates students, and sharpens the focus of their studies. Janet Eyler, a Vanderbilt University education professor and a leading researcher in the field of service learning, recently compared the ways students learn about the legislative process. She found that students whose work included internships with their state legislature knew more about the real forces that shape public policy--including interest groups and the informal power structure of the legislature--than those whose studies were confined to the classroom. In other words, it is one thing to memorize the steps it takes to get a bill passed into law, and it is quite another to see the political process in action. In this issue of the Review, we make the case for this kind of "hands-on" education. Our cover story describes how UCSC's field-study, internship, and independent-study programs are integrated into the curriculum. Our students are the primary beneficiaries of this approach to education, but service learning is an outstanding example of an educational initiative that benefits everyone.
	Service learning deepens students' understanding of theoretical material, increases retention, motivates students, and sharpens the focus of their studies... Our students are the primary beneficiaries of this approach to education, but service learning is an outstanding example of an educational initiative that benefits everyone.