GW received a $375,000 grant from Mayor Adrian Fenty’s Serve D.C. program for service learning, according to a University news release sent out earlier this month.

The University will receive the money in $125,000 installments over the next three years, and GW will dedicate its own funding toward service learning initiatives, Jacqueline Hackett, a presidential administrative fellow for the Center of Civic Engagement and Public Service, said in an e-mail. Georgetown and the University of the District of Columbia are also grant recipients.

“The new grant partnership between the University and the District of Columbia through Serve D.C. encourages students to become more engaged in the D.C. community and more aware of the needs of local agencies while also increasing students’ ability to put their knowledge into action,” Paul Duff, associate dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, said in the release.

Hackett said the money is from Learn and Serve America, a program housed at the Corporation for National and Community Service, that supports service-learning programs in schools and community organizations throughout the United States.

“The Office of Community Service is thrilled about the Serve D.C./Learn and Serve America grant since funding will support service-learning efforts that OCS has been promoting for many years, as well as some exciting new service-learning initiatives,” said the director of the Office of Community Service, Timothy Kane.

The grant will help faculty create service-learning courses. Faculty whose course proposals are chosen will receive a stipend of $2,500. The course proposals are now under the review of a faculty selection committee.

“Creating a new class requires much time and effort, and creating a service-learning course can be even more time consuming because you need to coordinate with outside organizations/community partners to coordinate service opportunities for students,” Hackett said.

The money will also allow the University to hire up to eight students, “who will assist in the development, classroom conduct, reflection, and evaluation of service learning at the University,” Hackett said.

Hackett said the grant will also fund two new professional positions at the University: a part-time faculty mentor who will offer support to those working on the design of the service-learning course curriculum, and one full-time public service scholar coordinator.

Hackett said the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism approached GW to be one of three institutions to apply for this grant, and that they worked with representatives of GW to submit a proposal to Learn and Serve America.