The service learning movement has gained new energy with the election of President Obama, who has made increasing service a central plank of his higher-education agenda. But across the board, colleges and universities struggle with service learning's twin goals of providing meaningful help to the community and academic rigor to students. The challenge is to focus not only on the quantity of volunteers but also on the quality of the work they are doing. At Wagner College, on Staten Island, Civic Innovations, connects entire academic departments with single agencies on the island, a setup that enables the college to draw up a financing proposal for a soup kitchen rather than just serve meals. Faculty members and their partner agencies meet several times before each semester to develop syllabi for courses together to ensure a clear connection between the soup line and the sociology theme on poverty. Like any partnership, comfort levels must be established on both sides. Wagner has hired a director for the college's Center for Leadership and Service, a go-to person for questions that may be less academic (Can you send a few extra volunteers to this one-day event? Could Wagner students help round up 30 turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner? Is there temporary storage space available on the campus?), but on which successful LONG-TERM relationships rely.