Enhance Your Education

Distinctive Programs in Social Service

There are ample opportunities to enhance your studies in social service through independent research, off-campus study, and internships. These programs are integral to a Knox education, teaching you how to apply your skills in real world situations.

Student Research and Creative Projects
Knox is a leader in promoting top-notch undergraduate research. In fact, more than 90% of all Knox students complete an independent research or creative project by the time they graduate. Many students' projects are supported by an unusually rich array of Knox College funding programs that together provide students more than $200,000 each year in support of their work. These sources include: Richter Memorial Scholars Program, Ford Foundation Research Fellows Program, Ronald E. McNair Fellows Program and departmentally supported independent studies. In addition, special fellowships awarded to Knox through national competitions and through the research grants of Knox faculty make Knox a leader in promoting undergraduate research.

College Honors
Outstanding students may elect to undertake College Honors in their senior year, carrying out an advanced research project presented and defended to a faculty committee that includes a distinguished outside examiner.

Off-campus Study
Knox offers you plenty of opportunities to begin exploring the world while still a student. Almost 50% of Knox students participate in off-campus study and consider their studies abroad to be the highlight of their college experiences. Knox offers several off-campus programs of particular interest to social service students:

The Chicago Urban Studies Program (ACM)
The social, cultural, and economic forces that shape American cities -- urban renewal, political machines, welfare, pollution, the daily press, high culture and mass culture -- are all present in Chicago. In the Urban Studies Program, students immerse themselves in the city and these forces and begin to understand the magnitude and complexity of an urban center by studying, working, and living in Chicago. The program includes seminars on urban issues, a core course focusing on current problems in public policy, an independent study project, and a supervised internship.

Internships
As a student of social service at Knox, you'll have the opportunity to expand your education -- to get that valuable experience you hear so much about -- by completing an internship. Internships provide an opportunity to explore and test career options, to gain experiences and skills needed to succeed as a professional, to build a resume, to network and make critical connections, and to experience a work environment. More and more employers are looking for college graduates with career-related experience. Knox's Center for Career and Pre-Professional Development specializes in helping you find an internship that best matches your goals and interests. A recent internship in social service by a Knox student was:

Intern at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Przemyslaw "Sam" Kania '07, elementary education major.

Resources
Aside from the minor in social service, a great majority of Knox students get involved in giving back to the Galesburg community and to their hometown communities. The resources that are greatly beneficial to Social Service minors are also available to students campus-wide.

At Knox, students have a number of clubs and organizations that revolve around social service:

Knox also has a Center for Community Service to coordinate on- and off-campus volunteer opportunities for students.

In addition to campus-wide resources -- such as libraries and technology -- that are available to all students and faculty, students in the Social Service program are provided with equipment and work spaces for transcribing social interviews, extensive reading material on career planning, and files of information on opportunities for graduate study, field schools, off-campus programs, internships and the like.