Six independent study projects are offered to students in an introductory psychology course at the University of Houston. The projects include a term paper, book critique, independent research project, audio and/or visual demonstration, research assistance to a faculty member, and a community service option. The most popular of these projects is the community service option which is selected by 31% of the students. The project consists of working as a volunteer for 30 to 40 hours in a pre-authorized community service agency. Data are collected by students and faculty members about agencies in the Houston area such as churches, schools, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, and halfway houses. Fact sheets are compiled for each agency including address, telephone, contact person within the agency and at the University of Houston, status of the volunteer program, volunteer activities, and nature of the population which the agency serves. Student activities within the agency are supervised and evaluated by an agency representative. At the end of the course, students are asked to evaluate agency activities and goal achievement. Evaluations of the volunteer program indicate that it increases student understanding of the job market, links abstractions of the classroom with the reality of activity in a community agency, and offers significant volunteer services to agencies which are often in need of qualified volunteers. (DB)