USD Magazine, Spring 1993

Since 1986, when the Senior Outreach project was the only Associated Stu– dents-sponsored community service pro– gram, volunteer opportunities have exploded at USD. During 1991-92, stu– dents filled at least 1,396 volunteer positions totaling 16,833 volunteer hours. According to graduate exit sur– veys, approximately two-thirds of USD students volunteer during their years at the university. The majority of ongoing community service programs operate through Asso– ciated Students and are managed by two student directors and individual project coordinators. Students run every phase of project management, from inception to implementation through reflections and evaluations. AS currently has 16 ongoing programs, ranging from one– time projects such as a Special Olympics basketball tournament to yearlong pro– jects such as mentors for junior high school students. Other ongoing pro– grams operate through campus ministry, the English department and the School of Law, and independent projects are sponsored by residence halls, clubs and organizations, academic departments and more. Though the programs address differ– ent social issues, all are structured to include learning as part of the experi– ence, says Barbara Peterson, assistant director of volunteer resources. After evaluating their interests and signing up with a specific project, volunteers learn about the issue they will service, go through the actual project and, finally, reflect as a group. "To me, it's not appropriate to have service that is not linked to learning in higher education," says Judy Rauner, director of volunteer resources. "We're about education." The student volun– teers agree that it is empowering work that often changes their perspective of life and awareness of their community on many levels. Volunteering has empowered junior Jason Kelley by giving him the tools to change from an observer to a doer. "Now, if I see a problem, I can say, 'What can I do?"' he says. "If you need help or if you have a problem, come to me." This new attitude was put to the test one day as he was walking through Montgomery Junior High School and encountered a fight. Though he didn't know the students, he stepped in and broke it up. A few years ago, he admits,

Junior Jason Kelley w01-ks with local junior high students.

he probably would have walked away or, at best, tried to get someone else to break it up. The Office of Volunteer Resources was founded in 1986 for students like Jason, as well as for faculty, staff and alumni. The office supports the campus– wide volunteer effort by serving as a centralized information resource for vol– unteers, project coordinators and com– munity agencies. One of its missions is to help students, faculty, staff and alum– ni get involved in four approaches to community service: the ongoing pro– grams through AS or other academic/administrative departments; internships and field placements at one of 300 community agencies through USD faculty and the Experiential Edu– cation Committee; group projects for university clubs and organizations; and long-term placements for recent college graduates. The office also provides advice and direction in program development, sup– plies administrative help when neces– sary, coordinates or writes grant proposals and collects data. Often, the office is in the business of problem solv– ing. When students couldn't get to vol– unteer projects because they did not have transportation, for example, fund– ing was secured for a van. Volunteers now shuttle other students to projects five days a week. In short, volunteer resources exists to support success in community service. The seeds for USD's community ser– vice activities were planted almost a decade ago at a meeting in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. USD President Author E. Hughes and a handful of other uni– versity presidents and chancellors were discussing the value of altruism and the

need to give students an opportunity to volunteer. From that initial conversation sprang Campus Compact, a national organization of 360 colleges and univer– sities that fosters community service; California Compact, the statewide sub– sidiary; as well as USD's Office of Vol– unteer Resources. Though volunteering does enhance education by exposing students to the reality of social issues, Hughes says his motivations were centered around the values orientation in USD's mission statement. "I looked at it as giving an opportunity for our young people to see values that work," he says. "That to do something for somebody simply because it's a good thing to do is in itself reward– ing. It's learning about a value by prac– ticing that value." As Jason Kelley knows firsthand, that reward can be found in something as simple as playing a game of basketball. A project coordinator for after-school recreation at Montgomery Junior High,

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