How Tulane University Changed the Student Experience After Hurricane Katrina – A Model Now?

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Global Career Compass

I thought to search for documents about what happened to see if there might be a useful template for campuses who will likely need to re-imagine parts of their curricula offerings in the next few years. I recalled there was a complete re-focus on the university’s role in the re-building of New Orleans.

I remembered there was a renewed effort to re-design all kinds of service-learning options for students –and here is one analysis of how the university’s curriculum changed: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/look-tulane-universitys-service-learning-post-katrina/

Tulane’s Center for Public Service (CPS)–transformed from a Center for Service-Learning in 2006–has been working aggressively over the last three years to ensure that all constituents- community partner, student and faculty – are favorably matched and successful. CPS’s work and the implementation of the two tiered service-learning requirement has created a constant, renewable and free work-force for almost 100 community organizations throughout the city.

There will be a host of emerging critical needs in campus communities as the country begins what I believe will be a period of years for full recovery from the pandemic. The mission of every college and university will need to embrace the critical needs of the communities in which they reside.