Find out about Engaged Learning!
Participants enjoy an opportunity to gain meaningful hands-on experience while making a positive impact in society. They develop valuable skills, discover new interests, and connect what is learned in the classroom with real-world experiences.
Hear more about the work that goes on!
Service and Justice Project (SJP)
This co-curricular program allows students to gain valuable volunteer experience, serve real community needs, and reflect on those experiences in a supportive environment. Every year, up to 30 students are able to participate.
Program Requirements
- Volunteer Placement
Students volunteer an average of two hours per week in the community (16 to 20 hours per term). At the beginning of the school year, interested students meet with a member of the Engaged Learning Office to select a community placement that is relevant to the student’s interests, and is also serving a real community need. The Engaged Learning Office has a variety of different placement options, but with the office’s approval, students can also choose to volunteer with other organization.
- Reflection Sessions
Students are required to attend two reflection sessions each term. These small group discussions, led by mentors, allow students to talk about their volunteer experiences in a supportive environment, think critically about their own assumptions, and connect those back to larger issues of community, solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good.
- Community Suppers
Students attend four community suppers throughout the year. These suppers are an opportunity to meaningfully connect with community partners, discuss pertinent social and moral issues, and get to know your fellow SJP-ers better.
Financial Support for Service & Justice Students
Les and Irene Dubé Service & Justice Scholarship
Each year there are up to 12 Dubé Scholars. These are first year students who have been selected by their own high schools due to their commitment to community service. These students are awarded $2,000 scholarships, endowed by the generous benefactors of STM's Community Service-Learning Program, Les and Irene Dubé.
Les and Irene Dubé Service & Justice Award
St. Thomas More College recognizes that many students have employment commitments which may limit their ability to spend time volunteering. To enable any interested student to participate in the SJP, STM offers a limited number of awards of varying amount. To be eligible for this award, students must be enrolled in at least 3 credit units at St. Thomas More College.
What students say about the SJP
Kasia Wicijowski
“I immediately knew this was the program for me. SJP ignited a passion in me for learning from those with different backgrounds than my own and I know the experiences I had in this program will enable me to be a caring and compassionate physician in my future career.”
Joshua Smith
“SJP played an important role in my university education. I was a member of the program for all four years of my undergrad. Through our monthly suppers, I felt part of a vibrant Catholic community and was inspired by a variety of speakers who spoke about their work for the common good.”
Joi Ines
“SJP was instrumental in helping me apply what I learned in the classroom to the world around me. Through my volunteer work and reflection sessions with my peers at SJP, I was challenged to critically and compassionately draw connections between the social structures governing our daily lives and their asymmetrical effects on different groups.”
Dr. Jessica Froehlich
“I am so grateful for the program — both what it taught me and the incredible people I connected with. The program not only included a volunteering requirement, but group discussions and reflections where I could meaningfully think about the work we were doing, why we cared, what impacts it might have, and critically question our intentions and impacts.”
Community Service-Learning (CSL) in STM Classes
Students can participate in Community Service-Learning as part of their academic program in a variety of courses.
Students are paired with a community organization relevant to the class they are taking, and are given an alternative set of assignments that engage with their volunteer experience. The Engaged Learning Office has many community partners that students can work with, but students are also able to work with a community partner of their choosing, as long as they have approval from the Engaged Learning Office and their professor.
For more information about which STM courses will have CSL options, please contact Tina Zheng, Term Program Coordinator, Engaged Learning Office at yzheng@stmcollege.ca
Find out more:
STM Classes with CSL
Courses offering CSL options in Fall 2026:
CPSJ 112 – Introduction to Peace Studies
CPSJ 203.3 – Cultivating Humanity
PSY 213.3 - Child Development
PSY 214.3 – Adolescent Development
RLST 362.3 – Monsters and Mischief Makers
SOC 112.3 – Foundations in Sociology: Social Construction of Everyday Life
SOC 260.3 – Social Change and Global Solidarity
Community Partners
The Engaged Learning Office partners with a variety of community-based organizations, locally, nationally, and internationally! Our students work with these groups in many ways, whether they are offering support to existing programs or developing new projects.
Local Partners
P.A.A.L. (Physical Activity for Active Living)
Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saskatoon
Are you interested in becoming a partner of the STM Engaged Learning Office?
We are always interested in exploring new partnerships with organizations who work with marginalized communities. If you are interested in finding volunteers through STM programs, we’d like to hear from you! There are a couple of things we would like you to know:
Most of our local programming requires that students volunteer an average of two hours per week in the community. This does not have to be an exact two hour shift every week, but we would like students to have a regular volunteering commitment throughout the term that adds up to roughly 20 hours. We find generally that it is best for both students and community partners if students have a regular weekly commitment.
With some exceptions, our programs run for an average of two and a half months: from late September to early December, and from late January to early April. Though some students do stay on to volunteer past this commitment, we can’t guarantee it. Because we do volunteer intake in September and January, the best times to get in touch with us to explore a prospective partnership are August and November.
If you are interested in partnering with the Engaged Learning Office, please contact csl@stmcollege.ca.
HEART
Healthcare Education & Research Training
Engaged Learning Project - Skill Development for Research in Health Systems
Are you a highly motivated student who cares about improving patient experience in the Saskatchewan healthcare system?
HEART is an Engaged Learning project designed to provide students with meaningful, hands-on experience in healthcare research - particularly in collecting data from patients and their families. There is no cost to participate.
Time commitment
- Sept 25, 2026 – April 2, 2027
- Fridays 2:30 – 4:00 PM
In-person attendance is required.
Eligibility
The project is open to third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. Preference will be given to self-declared STM students. Students must have completed a research methods course.
By the end of the project, students will:
- Understand and apply core concepts of patient-oriented health research in healthcare settings
- Demonstrate competency in human research ethics, sex and gender considerations, and equity in healthcare
- Collect patient-reported measures that contribute to health policy and system improvement
- Collaborate effectively within the healthcare system
- Engage in reflective learning with community partners
- Receive a letter of completion outlining undertaken projects and learned skills
Who will lead this initiative?
Students will be supervised by Dr. Tracey Carr (PhD). Dr. Carr has 15 years of experience conducting research and evaluations of health systems. Patient-oriented research mentorship will be provided by Dr. Christine Stobart (EdD). Dr. Stobart is the Director of Training & Capacity Development at the Saskatchewan Center for Patient Oriented Research (SCPOR).
Additional guidance, and feedback on reflection activities will be provided by Engaged Learning Office at St. Thomas More College.
How do I apply? HEART Application Form Fall 2026 – Fill out form
Application deadline: September 14, 2026
If you have any questions, please send email to carson.squair@usask.ca.
Engaged Learning Fund
St. Thomas More College is committed to providing its students with opportunities for community engagement throughout their undergraduate experience. The Engaged Learning Office manages academic community service-learning, the extracurricular Service & Justice Project, and various study abroad programs.
In addition to these programs administered through STM, students have a variety of opportunities to participate in extracurricular community engagement projects and events, such as solidarity trips, UN Study Sessions on social justice issues, or Saskatoon events with a social justice theme. With that in mind, the Engaged Learning Office established the Engaged Learning Fund to help offset the cost of non-college specific CSL-related experiences.
St. Thomas More College students are invited to apply to the Engaged Learning Fund at any time throughout the year. We consider the following criteria in deliberating over applications:
- The event/project has a clearly defined social justice and/or service-learning component.
- The event/project must harmonize with if not implicitly promote STM’s Catholic mission.
- The event/project will be beneficial to the student, to STM, and/or to the larger community.
Engaged Learning Fund Application
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Caitlin Ward, Manager of Engaged Learning Office at cward@stmcollege.ca.