Service  |  Academic Work  |  Education & Training  |  Capacity Building  |  Deliberative Democracy 

Types of Service   short-term  |  ongoing school year  |  summer

• Siena College Mentoring Program- Big Brothers/Big Sisters year-long mentoring program between Siena students and youth from the surrounding areas. Summer camp style program in the summer.
• Girl Scouts- Collaboration between Women's Center and North Albany. Three girl scout troops service N. Albany Academy with Siena students as troop leaders.
• Student Clubs- All student clubs are required to do 10 hours of communtity service per semester and most work with youth organizations.
• Boys and Girls Club of Albany- many of Siena's programs partner with the B&G Club including the Bonner Program, The VISTA  Program, Service Learning Projects and Halloween Extravaganza (fundraising craft fair for local children)
• Urban Scholars- Education department colloboration with local middle and high school students. Students hold various leaderships positions and come to campus weekly. Education students primarily run the program.
• Read for the Stars- Student-led club helps students with literacy and science in local elementary schools
• Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy- sends volunteers to many youth organizations, Giving Tree raises gifts for families in need during the Holiday season, backpack drive for runaway and homeless youth
• 4H Program- Students go to local elementary and middle schools on weekends to work with children in environmental education programs.

Athletics:

• Siena Athletics began a partnership with St. Casmir’s elementary school in 2001, providing an athletic facility for the Arbor Hill School which does not have a gym.  Over the years, the program has flourished.  Each Wednesday during the school year, students from St. Casmir visit the Marcelle Athletic Complex to play various recreational activities with Siena student-athletes
• Throughout the school year all of Siena’s athletic teams are involved in visiting either the Ronald McDonald House in Albany or the Ronald McDonald Family Room at the Albany Medical Center.  Student-athletes and coaches help lift the spirits of the sick children and their families by preparing meals at the House, assisting in spring cleanup efforts or simply signing autographs and playing games with the patients in the Family Room.  By creating, finding and supporting programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is working to better the lives of children and their families around the world.

• The newly redesigned Adopt-A-School program is a community initiative intended to motivate area elementary students through interaction with Siena’s student-athletes.  Members of Siena’s athletic teams interact with designated schools throughout the year.  In addition to providing guidance and leadership to area youths, Siena’s student-athletes learn first hand the value of volunteering in the community.  The elementary students can find that learning is fun as teachers incorporate Siena Athletics into class lesson plans (i.e. using statistics for math assignments, or writing the players for English).  Current Schools include:

         -Albany Public School #18

         -St. Gregory's School for Boys

         -Schnectady Middle School

         -Acadia Elemtary School

         -St. Pius

Academic Work   courses  |  service-learning  |  CBR and policy research   |  departments and institutes

• INSA 400, Seminar in Franciscan Service and Advocacy
• INSA 480, Internship in Franciscan Service and Advocacy
• SOCI 499, Internship in Community Building: Boys and Girls Clubs
• SOCI 410, Seminar in Sociology: Community Development 
• EDUC 481, Instructional Theory and Practice

Education & Training   forums  |  workshops  |  reflection activities

• All academic service learning courses contain training opportunities and reflection activities.
• Boys and Girls Club Staff have both provided and been participants in trainings.
• The Campus/Community Consortium of the Capital Region is a network of colleges, lead by Siena, focused on academic service learning, and funded by Learn and Serve grant funds, has provided several trainings in Academic Service Learning and has organized a community partner caucus to share training and development opportunities as well as provide a community voice to the consortium. 
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaker and Program with Public Schools.

Campus and Organizational Capacity-Building   training  |  fundraising  |  resource development

• AmeriCorps VISTA Program----9 VISTA positions, some on campus building capacity, some sub-granted to community partners to build their capacity.
• Campus/Community Consortium of the Capital Region (4CR)
• Bonner Program
• DEEP Service Strategic Planning Process
• Reorganization under way to more clearly articulate and integrate all service programs on and off campus. 

Research, Policy Analysis, Deliberative Democracy   evaluations  |  policy research  | issue forums  |  advocacy

• Policy Options
• Siena Research Institute
•  

Contacts   staff  |  faculty  |  students  |  community partners (local, regional, national)

• Mathew Johson, Ph. D., Departments of Sociology & Environmental Studies, Director of the Siena College AmeriCorps VISTA Fellows Program
• Kenneth Paulli, O.F.M., Ed. D., Chief of Staff, President's Cabinet, Associate Professor of Education
• Mathias Doyle, O.F.M., Ph. D., Director of the Franciscan Center for Service & Advocacy
• Shannon O'Neill, Ph. D., Director of the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women
• Albany Boys & Girls Club (Mr. Keyon Young)