Double Bull’s-Eye: Serving Students and Communities Lisa Weiss The Ohio State University
Introductions ► Name ► Your university ► Role on campus ► Reason you came to this session
What You Can Expect ► Goals ► Needs of today’s students ► Who are our neighbors? ► Effective community partnerships ► How to create meaningful experiences ► Making it happen ► Questions and answers
Goals of Session ► To engage participants in a discussion about how student affairs professionals can meet the needs of both today’s students and the community partners near their campuses ► To provide techniques for creating appropriate and meaningful volunteer experiences for our students ► To allow participants to work together to design volunteer experiences and to write job descriptions for these experiences that will work on their campuses
Discussion: Who are today’s students? ► Who are the students with whom we are working today? Where are they from? What are some of their past volunteer experiences? ► What are some of the challenges of having students volunteer in our communities? What are some of your techniques for overcoming those challenges?
Who Are Today’s Students: Some Facts About Millennial Students ► Group oriented ► Not used to doing much work, high grades come easily but pressured to do well ► Overly involved with very involved parents Kids who grew up playing multiple sports and playing 2 instruments with “helicopter parents” ► Political views are more conservative and more liberal ► More likely to want to do service and to have had past service experiences
Campus Neighbors – What’s Happening in Ohio ► School district's budget woes may dictate shorter day Columbus Dispatch, Thurs. 1/26/06 ► Funding, staffing woes predicted Columbus Dispatch, Sun. 1/29/06 ► Norwood's fight for survival Cincinnati Enquirer, Sun. 1/29/06 ► Neglect persists for North Toledoans Toledo Blade, Sun. 1/29/06 ► Mastering the juggling act: Working mothers develop strategies for balance in their lives Cincinnati Enquirer, Sun. 1/29/06 ► Clevelanders express discontent, worry about neighborhoods Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sun. 1/29/06
Characteristics of Successful Campus/Community Partnerships ► Founded on a shared vision and clearly articulated values ► Beneficial to partnering institutions ► Composed of interpersonal relationships based on trust and mutual respect ► Multidimensional: they involve the participation of multiple sectors that act in service of a complex problem
Successful Partnerships (continued) ► Clearly organized and led with dynamism ► Integrated into the mission and support systems of the partnering institutions ► Sustained by a “partnering process” for communication, decision making, and the initiation of change ► Evaluated regularly with a focus on both methods and outcomes
Creating a Meaningful Experience ► Be cognizant of student schedules – how much is too much? ► Is transportation an issue? ► Where are students developmentally? ► What kind of support can you or your colleagues provide? ► Which campus partners work best with students?
Job Descriptions ► Make them fun! ► List special qualifications ► Include time commitment required ► Give motivating reasons to volunteer ► Offer to hold information sessions ► Do not forget contact info
Key Words in Creating Volunteer Job Descriptions ► Achieve ► Elevate ► Believe ► Inspire ► Become ► Creativity ► Illuminate ► Reveal ► Teach ► Provide ► Ideas ► Lead ► Choose ► Challenge ► Excel ► Energy ► Grow ► Justice
Make It Happen! Think of a community organization or local school and write a job description that would work for your students. Think about developmental issues, time commitments, transportation and why students would want to volunteer at this site.
Meet Them Where They Are ► ► Word of mouth ► Hang flyers in places where students wait in line ► Contact different types of student organizations
Conclusion ► Questions and Answers? ► Thank you!
References ► DeBard, R. (2004). Millennials coming to college. New Directions for Student Services, Number 106, Summer ► Jacoby, B. et al. (2003). Building partnerships for service-learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.