(1) Food Insecurity. This is the multimedia, multi-journalist project we've undertaken in partnership with NewsHour, PRI/The World, The Washington Post and other outlets. The lead reporter is NewsHour/WideAngle veteran Fred de Sam Lazaro, and we've commissioned several other journalists as well. Field work so far in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, with additional reporting forthcoming from India, Tajikistan and Guatemala. We are able to build a program around Fred and two of the print journalists, assessing the growing global food crisis from multiple perspectives. The online portal is in development.

 

 

 

Washington D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the most significant overhaul and expansion of national service programs in 16 years, acting on President Obama’s call to increase service opportunities for Americans of all ages to help address the economic crisis and usher in a new era of service and responsibility for our nation.

 

The House passed H.R. 1388, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act bill by strong bipartisan vote of 321 to 105.  The vote came after a floor discussion that featured a series of Members of Congress from both parties who saluted America’s long tradition of service and cited numerous examples of volunteers and national service participants helping Americans in need through mentoring at-risk youth, building homes, teaching in underserved schools, caring for veterans and seniors, and helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

 

The GIVE Act would update and strengthen national service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency created in 1993.  The Corporation engages more than four million Americans in result-driven service each year, including 75,000 AmeriCorps members, 492,000 Senior Corps volunteers, 1.1 million Learn and Serve America students, and 2.2 million additional community volunteers mobilized and managed through the agency’s programs.

 

“Service is a fundamental American value, in every neighborhood and every community,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill. “With President Obama’s leadership and support, today the House took a key step toward launching a new era of service that will rebuild and strengthen our country for years to come.”

 

“The American spirit is one of giving back – to our neighbors, our communities, and our nation. All across this country, citizens are devoting their time, skills, and resources to make our country a better place. And through the GIVE Act, we can nurture that spirit of selflessness, leveraging both individuals and organizations to achieve national goals,” said Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, the House Education Committee’s Ranking Republican member.

 

The White House expressed its support for the legislation in a Statement of Administration Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget yesterday.  “The President is committed to promoting civic participation and service across the country, and has called on Congress to send him bipartisan legislation to encourage a renewed spirit of national service. The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 1388, which will expand national service programs and strengthen the capacity of the Corporation to manage a dramatic increase in service opportunities.”

 

“At this time of economic crisis, there is a convergence of a great need to help our neighbors and a great appetite by Americans to serve," said the Corporation’s Board Chair Alan Solomont.  “Service can be a solution to many of our nation’s toughest challenges.  We are grateful to the House for passing this bipartisan legislation to expand high-quality service opportunities for Americans of all ages.”

 

Solomont recognized the many provisions in the bill that would strengthen accountability and effectiveness of national service programs, give the Corporation more flexibility to support the best programs, consolidate funding streams, and expand authority for fixed price grants to simplify application and reporting requirements while strengthening accountability for performance.

 

The House approved several floor amendments, including provisions to create a Volunteer Generation Fund;  authorize a National Service Reserve Corps for trained AmeriCorps alumni to be deployed in case of emergency; and remove veteran’s educational benefits from being taken into account when calculating the maximum award an individual could receive for participating in AmeriCorps.

 

The bill contains a wide range of provisions to expand service opportunities and strengthen program management.  Among other provisions, the bill:

·         Puts AmeriCorps on a growth path from its current level of 75,000 to 250,000 members per year, with focus on priority needs including energy efficiency and conservation, advancing student achievement and graduation, improving health care access, and enhancing service opportunities for veterans.

·         Increases the amount of the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award that AmeriCorps members receive after their completing their term of service and linking the future amount of the award to Pell Grants.

·         Provides incentives for middle and high school students to engage in service through a Summer of Service program and authorizes up to 25 institutions of higher education to be designated as “Campuses of Service” to eligible for grants to encourage students to engage in service during school and in their future careers.

·         Strengthens the nation’s civic infrastructure through creation of a Social Innovation Fund to provide seed money and scale up innovative and evidence-based efforts in the nonprofit sector.

·         Expands service opportunities for older Americans by expanding eligibility for the Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent programs, introducing competition into the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to better position the program for expansion, and creating other opportunities that offer Baby Boomers and other older Americans to transition into post-career service opportunities.

·         Encourages coordination and service partnerships with other federal agencies.

 

On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate also took action on national service, as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved S. 277, the Serve America Act, on a voice vote.  Like the GIVE Act, the Serve America Act, introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), would also provide a significant expansion of national service opportunities for Americans of all ages, strengthen accountability and performance, support social innovation, strengthen our volunteer infrastructure, and usher in a new generation of service programs.

 

The early focus on bipartisan national service legislation comes as the economic downturn increases demands on the nonprofit sector and as AmeriCorps experiences a spike in applications and interest.  Last month there were 9,731 applications submitted to the AmeriCorps online application system, more than triple the 3,159 submitted in February 2008.  While these figures don't represent all AmeriCorps applications because many members apply directly to grantee organizations, they are an indication of a trend also observed by the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and other AmeriCorps grantees.

 

“We are at an unprecedented moment of need and opportunity for national service,” said Acting Corporation CEO Nicola Goren.  “The GIVE Act and Serve America Act will expand and improve national service programs to help our nation get through the economic crisis and encourage Americans of all ages to be part of the solution to the many challenges we face.”

 

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation engages four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.

 

 

Devorah Lieberman, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Wagner College

Cass Freedland, Director, Center for Leadership and Service, Wagner College

Laura Martocci, Associate Dean, Learning Communities and Experiential Learning

Hosted by Barbara Holland, Director, Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

 

                11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (PST)

                2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (EST)

 

Registration: https://etr.webex.com/etr/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=929952466 (Register soon, size is limited)

 

Information:

Institutions of Higher Education often focus on service learning and civic engagement initiatives that send students into the community in ways that are robust for a semester (or a quarter) but may not continue after the semester.  These may be successful for the moment , often episodic,  depending on a faculty member’s commitment to the community, the community organization’s commitment to the institution, or student desire to continue with the agency after the grading period ended.  

Three major elements may serve to inhibit the sustainability of service learning partnerships:

1)      It is hard for faculty members to have ongoing commitment to  a community partner if they are not consistently teaching particular courses;

2)      It is hard for community organizations to know the developmental level of students who come to assist with an agency, the numbers of students, or the student expectations of the collaboration;

Wagner College, through a grant supported by Learn and Serve of the Corporation for National and Community Service, created Civic Innovations: a model that fosters sustainable and successful  community-university service learning collaborations.   The model resulted in:

1)      “Community Connected Departments” and “Department Connected Agencies. “

2)      Students placed in Department Connected Agencies based on developmental skills and agency needs

3)      On-going consistent student placement with agencies

4)      Deeper student commitment to civic engagement and civic leadership

Institutional commitment to this model is a combination of leadership and commitment between and among upper administration, Academic Deans, Department Chairs, and Department faculty.  A critical element of this model includes broad based leadership and commitment from each level within the institution.

 

Youth Service America is excited to announce a new Global Youth Service Grants program to support youth ages 12-25 in implementing semester-long service-learning projects during summer or fall 2009.

 

Dollars for Change Grants (Applicants in USA and selected provinces in Canada)

 

Youth Service America’s (YSA), YSA’s National Youth Council (NYC) and State Farm Companies Foundation are excited to offer Dollars for Change Grants, as part of YSA’s Global Youth Service Grants.  YSA’s NYC will select the grantees: youth ages 12-25 who will collaborate with a teacher or service-learning coordinator.  The awards are up to $2,000, and will support high-impact, semester-long service-learning projects.  The selected youth-led projects will engage a minimum of 100 young people in service, demonstrate Youth Voice and youth leadership in all aspects of the decision-making process, and address compelling issues across the United States and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Upon successful completion of projects and evaluations, grantees will become eligible to compete for the prestigious Harris Wofford Youth Award in 2010, and be recognized as a YSA Service Star. 

 

To learn more, download an application and grant guidelines at www.YSA.org/awards 

 

 

Questions?  Email dollarsforchange@ysa.org

 

 

 

 

 

Rider University’s Office of Campus Life is seeking an energetic individual to serve as Coordinator of 

Community Service.  The coordinator will have duties including, but not limited to, the following: 

 

The Coordinator will also have responsibilities as a House Director who is the primary live-in staff member in one of six fraternity/sorority houses on campus.  Responsibilities include managing the daily administrative functions of a house of 45-50 residents, supervising the undergraduate House Manager, and participating in the On-Call Residence Staff support system.  The House Director will work closely to support the chapter leadership by providing assistance with advisement, leadership development, policy education, enforcement and co-curricular programming that supports the organization's mission.  Throughout this process the House Directors will help the chapters to fully engage faculty, staff, and alumni advisors in the academic, social, and personal development of their membership.   

 

Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited university, as well as advising, event planning, judicial interventions, fraternities and sororities, and/or providing training and development. Candidates should have a desire to engage in student development practices and demonstrated capacity to work independently and to support a team.  Additionally, the successful candidate will value a high degree of student contact, have excellent interpersonal skills, communicate well in written and verbal form, manage multiple tasks in a dynamic work environment and desire to play an active role in the fraternal relevance movement.  Flexibility with work schedule is necessary, as weekend and evening work is frequent.   

 

Preferred Qualifications: Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration or related field or two years experience working with college student populations.  Affiliation with NPC, NIC, NPHC, or NALFO organization is also ideal. 

 

Compensation: This 10-month position includes a full benefits package, a furnished apartment and a full meal plan.  Salary is competitive with similar positions in the area. Start date is August 1, 2009. 

 

All interested candidates must complete an online application at www.rider.edu/hr, ‘Employment Opportunities’, position #711013.  Review of applications will begin April 3, 2009.  

 

Rider University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer dedicated to excellence through diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, handicap/disability, Vietnam-era/disabled veteran status, or any other non-job related criteria.   

 

 

Perhaps the most meaningful moment where the Bonner Foundation and my dad intersected was on the streets of Selma, Alabama.  Four years ago, the Morehouse community invited my dad to be a part of their trip to the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's crossing of the Edmond Pettis Bridge, knowing that my father had marched with Dr. King at that historic moment in American history. I will never forget the image of my father describing to a group of Morehouse students and my own boys (who I brought along) his recollection of the events that day.  What amazed me was not only the detail in which he remembered the experience, but also the bond that I could feel between all of us there.   

 

On March 21, 2009, at 2:00 PM, there will be a memorial service for my dad at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey.  Many people have asked for information regarding this event.  Please know that anyone is welcome to join us, and I appreciate that some have already made plans to attend.  Having said this, I hope that people will not go out of their way to make a long journey to Princeton.  There are other ways to support me and affirm my dad, including spending time with your family, working together on your community placement or by breaking together in fellowship and friendship. Other ways you might honor my dad are by reading Dr. King's Letter from the Birmingham Jail, anything by C.S Lewis, or any of the Psalms.  I am grateful for all that people have already done.  So many people have sent cards and emails, and even flowers.  After all that, if you still feel like you would like to do something, go plant a tree or till your garden or plant some sunflowers and tomatoes and be inspired by the promise of spring and take delight in the fruit of the spirit.

"May the sound of Dad's laughter bring joy to your ears.

May the boldness of Dad’s vision for community continue to bring us together, again and again.

And may the warmth of Mom and Dad's friendship inspire us to love ourselves, to love each other and to love God.”

• Our staff are in process of nationally reviewing your Spring 2009 position descriptions, CLAs, and T&E opportunities. Please be sure that you've entered in all Spring 2009 opportunities so that we can review them. Remember that hard work on cleaning up these descriptions will pay off in the long run!

•  
• The Bonner Foundation encourages the integration of social media and web based tools into service placements. However, because AmeriCorps emphasizes direct service and not capacity building/administrative service, it is necessary that all Bonner AmeriCorps service placements allow web-based activities during service hours only if they directly enhance the direct service that members perform. Members should also be doing direct service (ie. tutoring children, serving patrons, etc.) at the community partner at which they are doing web-based work. Members may spend time creating/refining web-based tools for their organization if and only if this directly enhances:

•  
  • Client/patron recruitment
  • Volunteer recruitment
  • Community Awareness about a specific issue/program
  • Fundraising up to 10% of hours served
• The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) requires AmeriCorps programs to have proof of liability insurance. This means that we need to know the extent of liability insurance your schools have for students involved in programs like Bonner AmeriCorps. Look for a memo soon with the details of what exactly we need to have on file at Bonner.

Projects for Events: Our very near-term prospect is Jason Motlagh, a free-lance journalist we've funded on South Asia projects over the past 18 months. He has written for half a dozen newspapers and magazines, shot photographs for same, and produced video pieces for public television -- from India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The biggest project for us was his work on unresolved internal conflicts -- economic, religious/ethnic and environmental -- that threaten India's emergence as a global power. We've just completed a web portal that incorporates much of Jason's reporting, in an interactive format that gives students and others the opportunity to engage with the material, with each other, and with Jason. He presented the project last month at Washington University and half a dozen St. Louis-area high schools. We would love to send him out to your campus and have him talk, either on the India project generally or on the full range of his reporting. He's available the first couple of weeks in March. URL: http://pulitzergateway.org

Several other projects top the list for likely presentation later this spring: 

            (1) Food security. This is the multimedia, multi-journalist project we've undertaken in partnership with NewsHour, PRI/The World, The Washington Post and other outlets. The lead reporter is NewsHour/WideAngle veteran Fred de Sam Lazaro, and we've commissioned several other journalists as well. Field work so far in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, with additional reporting forthcoming from India, Tajikistan and Guatemala. What we propose is to build a program around Fred and two of the print journalists, assessing the growing global food crisis from multiple perspectives.

             (2) Women/children in crisis. This draws on the experience of three women journalists representing different media and covering different zones of conflict. Alaa Majeed is the Iraqi journalist (winner of the 2007 Courage in Journalism award from the International Women’s Media Foundation) who has worked on projects for us with husband David Enders and videographer Rick Rowley. Meredith May is a feature writer at the San Francisco Chronicle; her project for us on child indentured servitude in western Nepal was featured on the Chronicle’s front page and website this past Sunday. Jessica Partnow is the radio journalist (NPR, World Vision Report, Living on Earth) from our project on water issues in East Africa. 

            (3) Renewed conflict eastern Congo. We've just sent Michael Kavanagh to the eastern Congo, for the third time in the past year, to report on conflict that is once again drawing in armies and militias from Congo's neighbors. Michael has reported for NPR, Slate, PRI/The World, WorldFocus and other outlets. He has a master's from Yale where he focused his research on the Great Lakes ethnic conflicts he is now reporting on. 

            (4) Water wars, continued. We've commissioned additional reporting on water conflict issues from Kenyan journalist Ernest Waititu, a member of the reporting team we funded last year. Ernest is a graduate of the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and we're working with Greg Shepherd at Ohio to bring him there to speak later this spring or early fall. We're eager to schedule other campus appearances while Ernest is in the country. http://waterwars.pulitzergateway.org

             (5) HIV/AIDS, in Jamaica and beyond. Our award-winning HOPE website combines video, photography, original music and poetry to capture the human impact of HIV/AIDS. The lead journalist is Kwame Dawes, a native of Jamaica and poet in residence at the University of South Carolina. HOPE is being distributed now as an hour-long radio documentary and we have submitted a proposal to present a performance version of this work next August at the National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem. We are currently preparing a follow-on reporting trip to Jamaica by videographer Micah Fink.URL is: http://livehopelove.com

Building Community Resiliency: Role of University Leadership

The 15th annual CUMU conference, hosted by Widener University from October 11-13, 2009 will focus on “Building community resiliency: The role of university leadership.”

The term “distressed” is frequently used in describing the urban environments in which many metropolitan universities are situated.  This conference will explore how universities can promote a strengths-based approach to partnering with their communities to nurture community resiliency.  Defined by Rolfe as the capacity “to respond effectively to significant adversity and risk,” community resiliency depends on social capital, as well as the interactions and engagement among community members to achieve common goals.  This conference will provide a forum for faculty, students and administrators to share ideas, experiences and recommendations about the leadership role that metropolitan universities can assume in promoting community resiliency.

Please join us for this stimulating meeting that will include plenary sessions, paper presentations, special topic panels, roundtables, poster sessions and student presentations.

Suggested Topics

·         Strengths-based approaches

·         Educational infrastructure

·         Environmental threats and remediation

·         Wellness and public health

·         Social capital

·         Economic/business development

·         Impact assessment

Proposal Submission Guidelines

Individuals may submit proposals for paper presentations, panel discussions, or poster displays. Consistent with the conference theme, the content should relate to institutional commitments by urban and metropolitan universities to drive progress in their regional communities.  Complete information about proposal submissions can be viewed at:

http://www.cumuonline.org/conference

Proposals must be submitted electronically at http://www.widenerconferences.com/cumu.html

Submission deadline: April 17, 2009

Selection and Notification

The committee will evaluate your proposal for content, appropriateness, and interest. Notification will be sent by June 1, 2009. Conference presenters will be invited to submit papers to the editor of Metropolitan Universities journal for possible publication in a future journal issue.

(2) AmeriCorps VISTA positions in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Campus Compact host campuses are currently recruiting AmeriCorps*VISTA Members for the 2009-2010 PACC*VISTA Program! To apply, contact the host campus directly.

For host campus information, visit: http://www.paccompact.org/JoinPACCVISTA.htm

Pennsylvania Campus Compact VISTA (PACC*VISTA) members serve directly at host campuses across Pennsylvania to support programming in the areas of children & youth, education, health, environment, community outreach, food security & nutrition, and other poverty-related issues. PACC*VISTA members act as volunteer recruiters, trainers, and special projects consultants, increasing the capacity of both the community and the campus to identify and address pressing community needs. At the current time, there are 24 PACC*VISTA members placed at campuses across Pennsylvania.

Young Harris College is a selective liberal arts institution serving students who demonstrate strong academic commitment.  One of the premier private two-year colleges in the country, Young Harris College enjoys a strong endowment and is in the process of transitioning to four year status during the fall of 2009. Founded in 1886 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the college enrolls more than 600 students and has a student to faculty ratio of 12:1.  Young Harris College is located two hours north of Atlanta in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains.

The Academic Service Learning Specialist develops and implements academic service learning (ASL) programs and processes that support service learning college wide by working directly with faculty, students, and community agencies to create relationships leading to increased opportunities for academic service learning.  The position manages overall program evaluation and data-gathering processes and strategic planning related to ASL development and external fundraising.  It also conducts in-progress assessment of student success in experiential activities and participates in the development of the ASL academic programs.   It also coordinates the Bonner Leaders Program and assists with overall planning and operational activities of the Experiential Education Office.  It contributes to program development and growth in support of the College’s strategic plan.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree with a Master’s degree preferred.  Most desired is education in public service, community organizing, education administration, student development or cognate field related to duties.  Strong preference will be given to individuals with previous experience in establishing agency relationships.  Experience in service learning and successful grant writing is also desired. Position requires familiarity with office management software (e.g., Microsoft Office suite). Frequent local and regional travel expected. Work schedule includes nights and weekends and candidate must have valid driver’s license and insurable driving record in order to transport students in 15 passenger vans. The candidate must have demonstrable skills in teamwork, communication, public presentations, and student development.

Applications should be sent to Human Resources Director, Young Harris College, P.O. Box 68, Young Harris, GA  30582.  Electronic applications are preferred (Word format) and should be sent to HumanResources@yhc.edu.  Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and three personal references. In addition, include a 1-page personal philosophy statement addressing the role of service learning in support of the civic mission of higher education.  The selected candidate must successfully pass a background check. Review of applications will continue until position is filled. 

Applicants who would enrich the diversity of the campus community are strongly encouraged to apply.