Background: Benefits of community-based learning for students in higher education are well documented. Comparatively less is known about the community partner experience. Purpose: The community partner perspective is explored to (a) confirm and expand recent findings regarding community partners’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of working with colleges and universities and (b) present community partners’ views on how faculty can help improve community–university collaborations. Methodology/Approach: Dual-rater axial and open coding qualitative analysis methods were used to identify key themes in community partners’ responses in an on-line survey. Participants ( n = 201) represented community partners from a broad range of fields, regions, and partnership types (e.g., volunteer, internship, service-learning). Findings/Conclusions: Although community partners identify a number of benefits to their collaborations with academic institutions, they also encounter critical challenges (e.g., faculty engagement, communication, student preparation). Partner recommendations include additional faculty attention to student knowledge of content, skills, and professionalism, as well as increased faculty engagement in all aspects of the collaboration. Implications: From a community perspective, faculty have an important role to play in facilitating true community–university partnerships that are equitable, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial.

Service-learning is increasingly becoming an avenue used in a variety of disciplines to provide students with real-life experience regarding aging and older adults. Developing and implementing meaningful service-learning experiences, however, requires consideration both of the discipline-specific content to be addressed, as well as the varied backgrounds (educational and personal) and levels (freshman to graduate) of the students who will be participating. Intergenerational service-learning is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Drawing on the experiences of intergenerational service-learning programs at three institutions (representing three disciplines-Gerontology, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy), this paper focuses on the discipline-specific challenges of building a quality intergenerational service-learning program, as well as the associated challenges of developing appropriate intergenerational service-learning experiences for a range of student levels with varied backgrounds.

Intergenerational service-learning has become an important practice in gerontology and geriatrics education. Although numerous benefits of service-learning have been documented, greater attention to critical reflection, a key component for harvesting the learning in service-learning, is needed to increase our understanding of what students really are learning from intergenerational service-learning and how we may best enhance the positive aspects of that learning. This article examines the elements necessary for effective service-learning reflection, as well as reports on the results of a survey of gerontology and geriatric educators (N = 142) regarding their experiences with intergenerational service-learning and their use of specific reflection practices. The findings suggest that the types and implementation of service-learning reflection activities used in aging courses vary considerably. The importance of service-learning reflection and its associated benefits and challenges are discussed.

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