Guide to Student Voting Rights
The Brennan Center for Justice recently released its updated Student Voter Guide which explains basic residency, registration, identification and absentee voting requirements for students who wish to either vote at their school or home addresses. It is intended to help students navigate the often confusing voting requirements. Please view the Brennan Center for Justice website for more information on student voting rights.
Volunteerism Increases at Highest Rate in 6 Years
The number of Americans who volunteer grew last year at the fastest rate in six years, according to a new report, defying the popular notion that hard economic times suppress civic participation. The report, released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service, says that 63.4 million adult Americans—nearly 27 percent of the population—volunteered to help charitable causes last year. That’s an increase from 2008 of roughly 1.6 million volunteers, the largest single-year jump since 2003… >> Read the Full Article at The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The Graduation Gap in Texas
For years, Texas universities have focused on getting more students, particularly low-income students, onto their campuses. The hard part, it turns out, is getting them to leave — with degrees. Of the 32 Texas state universities tracked by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, only five schools have self-reported graduation rates above 50 percent… >>Read the Full Article at: The Texas Tribune
Empathy: College students don’t have as much as they used to
(University of Michigan News Service) Today’s college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and ’90s, a University of Michigan study shows. The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.… »Read the entire article at the University of Michigan News Service.
Grant Making Resources
Resources for the technical aspects of grant making, including samples of RFPs, developed by classes, rubrics for evaluating proposals, and teaching assignments relating to the process.
Research and Evaluation Efforts
Data on demographics and on the impact of courses on philanthropic knowledge, skills, and behavior.
Mixed Picture One Year After Serve America Act
NPR: A year ago Wednesday, President Obama signed one of the few bipartisan bills enacted in his administration so far: the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The law creates more volunteer opportunities and triples the size of the AmeriCorps national service program. But a year after the legislation was signed, the money is just starting to trickle out. »Read entire story on NPR’s website.
Dr. Biden Discusses “One of the Best-Kept Secrets of Higher Education”
On April 23, The Chronicle of Higher Education will feature an article by Dr. Jill Biden about the significance of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 investments in community colleges. As a community college instructor and former teacher, Dr. Biden has “seen firsthand the power of community colleges to change lives.” She discusses the commitment of the Administration to shine a spotlight on community colleges, which she refers to as “the best-kept secrets of higher education.” »Read the entire blog entry at www.whitehouse.gov.
Community Colleges: Our Work Has Just Begun
I have been a teacher for almost three decades and a community-college instructor for the past 16 years. Last spring, President Obama asked me to increase awareness about one of the best-kept secrets of higher education: the very sizable and valuable contribution of community colleges.… »Read the entire article by Jill Biden in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Rural Alliance for Service Learning
The website for the Rural Alliance for Service Learning contains resources, including case studies, to encourage, enhance, and study the role of service learning in building a healthier and more vibrant rural America. In conjunction with community partners, service-learning practitioners will strive to build upon the positive attributes of the rural culture while mitigating the negative factors. Rural Service Learning can involve studies, service, co-operative programs and projects, and policy development. In the process, students will develop their potential as future engaged citizens.
To Get More Men to Volunteer, Colleges Must Make an Extra Effort
College men participate in campus activities at disproportionately low rates, but deliberate efforts to recruit them can help, according to the findings of a two-year study of 14 institutions that was presented here on Tuesday at the annual conference of Naspa—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education… …student-affairs officers packed a room to hear initial findings from the study, which was financed by a $600,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment. A full report, “Engaging College Men: Discovering What Works and Why,” including case studies from each of the 14 campuses, will be published this summer by Men’s Studies Press… >>Read the…
Honored to Serve: Patrick Corvington’s First Day
On his first day in office, Patrick Corvington, the new CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, speaks about his background in the nonprofit sector and the unprecedented opportunity to address the nation’s challenges by expanding service and volunteering in the United States. See the YouTube video.
Making Higher Education Civic Engagement Matter in the Community
While those who engage in service-learning and its associated forms of higher education civic engagement are surely concerned that their students make needed contributions to the communities in which they are involved, the primary interest of higher education has been, not surprisingly, on what students learn and not on what communities gain. Download PDF
Writing a Great Case Statement
Every fundraising campaign has the Case Statement at its center. It is the core document that sits at the center of your plan and strategy. The Case explains to your potential donors what you need the money for, and what the benefits will be if the donor gives to your cause. Case Statements can be used in any fundraising campaign, but they are particularly useful in major gift campaigns, capital campaigns, and endowment campaigns…. Read entire article at About.com
Brandeis to increase Waltham services this semester
This year…some faculty and staff say they are ramping up their efforts to reach out to the broader Waltham community and provide more organized support to local nonprofits….“I think that right now we are in the midst of building really good partnerships,” Grady said. »Read the full article in the Boston Globe.
Returning the favor: Pownal students check out SVC
This article first appeared in the Bennington Banner and is reprinted with permission. BENNINGTON, VT: About 30 elementary school students from Pownal visited Southern Vermont College Wednesday to get feel for a college campus, alongside 15 of their mentors and friends. The visit was a reversal of what has happened once a week for the semester in Professor Eric Despard’s Quest for Success freshmen class: The college students have visited Pownal elementary School, where they act as role models to children from grades kindergarten through sixth grade. “It’s a great project for both the college kids and the children because it allows two different age groups…
Does Service Learning Really Help?
…Stephanie Strom of The New York Times asked “Does service learning really help?” It’s a good question. Ms. Strom, whose beat for theTimes is philanthropy, focused mainly on the question of whether the students engaged in service learning are really benefitting the nonprofit service organizations they are trying to assist. Not surprisingly, some of her respondents who run the nonprofits were not so sure that their student volunteers were worth the effort that necessarily goes into supervising them. »Read the full article in The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Part-Time Impact
…Another of this year’s notable topics, CCSSE also found that 77 percent of community college students have never “participated in a community-based project as apart of a regular course,” despite other CCSSE data that show such programs drastically improve student performance…. Read entire article in Inside Higher Ed
Community service as a TV theme
Discerning television viewers may notice a recurrent theme on their favorite shows this week. The doctors on ABC’s “Private Practice” give homeless teenagers free checkups. On NBC’s “30 Rock,” page Kenneth Parcell tries to adopt all the dogs at an animal shelter. And two characters on CBS’ “Numb3rs” talk about joining Big Brothers Big Sisters.… Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times
‘Call of Service’ Harvard shines a spotlight on public service
At 13, Geoffrey Canada knew that he had to help save himself and that, if he could, his life would be about saving others. A product of the rough and tumble South Bronx in the 1950s, the Harvard alumnus grew up in “one of the most troubled communities in America.” From an early age, Canada knew that if he and his friends…were going to have a chance to thrive, they needed adults to intervene and help to rescue them. But eventually, he realized, “No one was coming.” Read full article in Harvard Gazette
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