The Office of Service-Learning, in conjunction with the Service-Learning Fellows Program, hosted a panel discussion for faculty members on how to successfully incorporate service-learning in the classroom.

“Service-learning is a model of experiential education applying knowledge from the classroom to real-world situations,” Paul Matthews, assistant director and outreach coordinator for the Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, said Friday.

The teaching method encourages students to provide a designated service for a community in need. Past students have been mentors, rehabilitated homes and interned.

The panelists emphasized the need for equilibrium between the two aspects.

“Service and learning should be balanced,” David Berle, associate professor of horticulture and senior service learning scholar, said.

“Simply just going and doing good work is not service-learning.”

A group of students from Berle’s landscape class joined forces with Hands On Athens, a non-profit organization that helps rebuild crumbling homes for the elderly in Athens.

They designed landscape plans for the houses in need.

Applications are available for faculty to apply for next fall’s fellows program.

Seven will be selected and awarded a $2,500 fellowship.

Established in 2006, the fellowship is a year-long process in which faculty can expand their knowledge and experience in the field of service-learning.

“Hopefully they get the motivation to integrate service-learning in the classroom,” Matthews said.