Plenary Panel

Plenary Panel: Wednesday, December 4, 2024

"Strengthening Service-Learning by Participating in Networks and Partnerships" chaired by Professor Robert Hollister

This panel explores strategies for enhancing service-learning at universities through participating in national and international networks and partnerships.  Key figures from leading networks will share their experiences, including the China Service-Learning Network, the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, UNISERVITATE – a global coalition of Catholic Universities, and the University Social Responsibility Network. Participants will gain insights into collaboration opportunities and the impact of network involvement on service-learning outcomes. This session will also explore ways for ongoing collaboration beyond the conference, fostering a community of practice that strengthens service-learning across institutions. 

Robert Hollister
Professor Emeritus, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University, United States 

Robert M. Hollister was Founding Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and is Professor Emeritus, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University. Since 2018 he has served as Senior Advisor to the University Social Responsibility Network, a coalition of institutions dedicated to strengthening the social responsibility policies and programs of universities around the world.  

A pioneer in the engaged university movement, Professor Hollister led the creation and development of Tufts University’s a uniquely comprehensive university-wide program to prepare students in all fields for lifetimes of active citizenship – to educate citizen engineers and citizen physicians, citizen humanists and citizen businesspeople.  Professor Hollister co-organized the convening of university heads in 2005 that launched the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities, a premier global alliance of institutions of higher education.  He then oversaw the coalition’s secretariat and later served as its Executive Director (2011-2016).    

Also in 2005, in partnership with Campus Compact, he initiated The Research University Civic Engagement Network, an alliance that today numbers over 40 major U.S. research universities.  

Professor Hollister served on the faculty of the M.I.T. Department of Urban Studies and Planning from 1970 – 1980.  He then became the first chair of the Tufts University Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University, where he later served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  

A specialist in citizen participation in public affairs and in higher education community engagement, Professor Hollister is co-author of The Engaged University:  International Perspectives on Civic Engagement and Development Politics, and Development Politics:  Private Development and the Public Interest.  He is co-editor and contributing author of University Social Responsibility and Quality of Life; Governing, Leading and Managing Nonprofit Organizations; Cities of the Mind; Neighborhood Policy and Planning; and Neighborhood Health Centers.

Jimi Caldea
Service-Learning Specialist, De La Salle University, Philippines
Asia and Oceania Regional Hub Coordinator, Uniservitate

Jimi Caldea is the Uniservitate Asia and Oceania Regional Hub Coordinator and a Service-Learning Specialist at the De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila, Philippines. Within this role, he is responsible for creating programs aligned and responsive to the logic model of the Uniservitate Programme for the institutionalization of Service-Learning among Catholic Higher Education institutions in the region. As a Service-Learning Specialist, he is responsible for overseeing courses with a Service-Learning Program under the DLSU – College of Business, School of Economics, and the College of Law, Clinical Legal Education Program. Jimi Caldea has served as the team leader of the DLSU Service-Learning Program. He has worked in different higher education institutions for over 20 years in various capacities, including Service-Learning specialist, student affairs practitioner, campus minister, and faculty member.