How can I develop skills outside the classroom?

At Regis, your education doesn’t just take place in the classroom. Here, you learn by doing — and by doing good.  

We not only weave community-based service into your class requirements, we also provide many opportunities for you to work with our local community. We even offer faculty and staff “mission leave,” paid time off that provides them an opportunity to serve the community as well.  

“Service learning emphasizes critical thinking and reflection while encouraging personal growth, academic achievement and professional development,”

We do this because we are committed to developing each student, faculty instructor and staff member as a whole person. We do it, too, because as a Jesuit institution, it is our mission to serve the community with care and compassion for all.  

This service benefits the community, and it’s good for your personal development, too. By serving, you gain insight into social justice issues while developing professional skills like communication, leadership and cultural intelligence. These are skills for life, and they are skills employers value. 

“Service learning emphasizes critical thinking and reflection while encouraging personal growth, academic achievement and professional development,” says Cheryl Schwartz, Regis University’s director of service learning. 

For many, service means working directly with people or clients. It can also mean working behind-the-scenes to complete projects for an organization. Either way, students gain real-world leadership experience, opportunities to work with diverse populations and chances to leave a lasting impact on their community.  

For the 2018-2019 academic year, Regis students completed 63,312 service-learning hours University-wide. A few of the ways Regis is active in our community include: 

• Working with a local day shelter to coordinate an annual Gear Distribution and Wellness Fair for Denver’s homeless community
• Creating and teaching middle school health and prevention curricula for local public schools
• Hosting a voter registration drive
• Creating websites for small business startups
• Cleaning up local parks and community gardens
• Designing marketing materials for a non-profit that works to provide temporary housing
• Providing free tax advice

“Our goal is that students who participate in service will not only gain an understanding of their ability to make a recognizable difference, but also of their responsibility to use their gifts and talents to contribute to a more just world,” said Paul Burson, M.Div., director of student development and community partnerships. 

At Regis, you can make a difference! 

Learn more about how service learning and our Jesuit values are integrated into the Regis education by visiting our Jesuit Education page.