Service Scholar Program

The Service Scholars program is a four-year initiative connecting scholarship, curriculum, and service learning. Students enter as a cohort, learning to serve communities effectively by understanding their needs and becoming engaged citizens. It integrates service, scholarship, and leadership, empowering students to be lifelong active citizens.

Ten students are selected annually through a three-phase review process, open only to first-time college students. The program aims to help students understand themselves, how they want to change the world, and develop the skills to do so. It is interdisciplinary, seeking students passionate about social change in any field.

The program's depth depends on student engagement, with active service or preparation being key. Students explore diverse service learning areas like education and curriculum building, encouraged to explore in their first two years and then commit to a service area. The program focuses on helping academically gifted and service-minded students create social change and navigate various spaces.

Students interact with and build relationships with peers from various backgrounds and disciplines, all interested in public service. The program offers flexible pathways, allowing students to shape their experience, whether through long-term non-profit engagement or national/international achievements like the Princess Diana Award or Rhodes Fellowship.

The program uses a cohort model with a different theme each year. First-year scholars explore service interests and community issues. Second and third years focus on the monetary impact of service (equating to about $30/hour), supporting non-profits through embedded experiences. Students learn about NGO structures, public sector navigation, and apply academic knowledge to create social change.

In their fourth year, scholars develop their service identity and philosophy, applying a theory-to-practice model. They learn literature and research in service learning and leadership, culminating in community-based participatory research to offer suggestions for change in non-profit spaces. The program is continually evolving to resonate with new generations while maintaining its core philosophy.

The program helps students fulfill FSU graduation requirements like service hours, formative experience, and Engage 100, and seeks to partner with academic units for more codified intersections. Future plans include micro-grants for professional development, certifications, and direct support for non-profits. The program aims to develop the 'whole human'.

A fund has been established to honor deceased Service Scholar alums Funmi Bamiro, Richard Olexa, and Sebastian Mejia. This fund provides emergency relief grants to current undergraduate Service Scholars facing significant or unexpected hardships, recognizing and supporting the scholar family.

Service Scholars are prominent representatives of the Center for Leadership and Service, serving as role models and liaisons for other programs like Engage TLH. Their deep involvement in the Tallahassee area strengthens community connections. The program fosters a strong sense of family, with alumni developing lasting relationships across different cohorts, united by a shared commitment to service.