idealist.org

1984-1989

1990-1995

1996-1999

2000-2004

As the wave of student service involvement began to take off, C.O.O.L. turned its attention toward deepening the quality and effectiveness of those efforts. Notably, C.O.O.L. helped introduce service learning to campuses through student leadership, with its Teaming Up Service and the Curriculum program. In 1991, C.O.O.L. also produced the Five Critical Elements of Community Service - orientation and training, community voice, meaningful action, reflection, and evaluation - which resonated with campuses as key indicators of quality for their programs.

During these years, Into the Streets really took off. C.O.O.L. also had a cutting-edge program called the Road Scholars which provided activist-oriented training to campuses around the nation, led by students and recent graduates. As service and service-learning experienced institutionalization, C.O.O.L. kept its focus on student leadership and innovation. In a paper completed in 1995 analyzing ten years of the student service movement, Goodwin Liu of the Feinstein Institute reported, "C.O.O.L. helped focus national attention on students who belied the 'me generation' stereotype, and stories about a new wave of student volunteerism began to appear in the press." Liu credits C.O.O.L. as a leader in creating the wave of institutionalization that occurred over those years.

Wanting to be closer to efforts on the Hill, in March of 1994, C.O.O.L. returned its headquarters to Washington, D.C.