Successfully Working with College Student Volunteers

1. Successfully Working with College Student Volunteers Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association Conference 10.27.17 Mark A. Dochterman PhD Director UIS Volunteer & Civic Engagement Center

2. Overview • Research • Mission critical: • Know the school • Know the students • Know yourself • “How to” review

3. Research tells us: • More college students are volunteering than ever. Why? • Generational factors • Numbers • We raised them to • Technological factors • Post 9/11 worldview • It’s a part of their pre-college experience • They know they will be competing for jobs

4. Research tells us: • Service participation has a range of positive affects on college students • Persistence • GPA (within a curve) • Connections between school and life • Adult wellbeing • And many more…

5. Mission Critical: Know the School • Avenues to access volunteers • Individual/independent volunteers • Student groups • Service based organization • Fraternity • Academic based organization • Cause based organization • University Program • Program that requires service/engagement/observation • Sports team • Classes (Service Learning - SL) • For credit internship (Applied Study Term - AST) • Internship (paid or unpaid)

6. Mission Critical: Know the School • Accessing Students • Direct recruiting • Partner with an academic program • Partner with an office • Partner with a club • Tips • Host an “easy in” event in conjunction with any of the above • Get outside of the 9 to 5 • Start early in the semester

7. Mission Critical: Know the School • Know the calendars (plural!) • Semester • Campus Events • Weekly Calendar • Others? • Know the programs • What majors are popular? • What programs require service, observation, etc.? • Know the people

8. Mission Critical: Know the Student • Millennial, Y, IY • Huge • Diverse • Special = Expectant, not Entitled • High educational goals • Good economy; Bad economy • Spiritual vs. religious

9. Mission Critical: Know the Student • Millennial, Y, iY • “Post 9/11” • Parental involvement • Focus on safety = Conventionality • Technologically literate, yes; technical, maybe • Girl Power • Team oriented, yes; Team savvy, maybe • Working the system

10. Mission Critical: Know the Student • What motivates college students to serve? • Their friends • The good feeling they get • Religion • They have received service • They recognize privilege • It looks good on a resume • It’s a part of their upbringing

11. Mission Critical: Know the Student • Link your project to a major • Link your project to a specific skill • Make the service meaningful • Use your “sexy parts” as motivators • Create a title &upward mobility • Give them an opportunity to fail • Review what they have learned • Transportation

12. Mission Critical: Know Yourself To be successful in this venture you are going to have to be honest about your organization and ask yourself: • What do we want from college student volunteers? • What resources do we have to support this desire? • What is our sexiest component? • What are we willing to do to make this a success?

13. References Astin, A. W., & Sax L. J. (1998). How Undergraduates Are Affected by Service Participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39(3) 251-263. Chesbrough, R. J. (2011). College Students and Service: A Mixed Methods Exploration of Motivations, Choices, and Learning Outcomes. Journal of College Student Development, 52(6), 687-705. Coomes, M. D. DeBard, R. S. (Eds.). (2004). Serving the Millennial Generation. New Directions for Student Services (Vol. 106). New York, Wiley. Dugan, J. P., & Komives, S. R. (2010). Influences on College Students' Capacities for Socially Responsible Leadership. Journal of College Student Development, 51(5), 525-549. Evans, N.J., Forney, D.S., & Guido DiBrito, F. (1998). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. Jr. (1999). Where’s the learning in service-learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Griffith, J. (2012). A Decade of Helping: Community Service Among Recent High School Graduates Attending College. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(5) 786–801. Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J. (2005). Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ling Yeh, T. (2010). Service-Learning and Persistence of Low-Income, First-Generation College Students: An Exploratory Study. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 16(2), 50-65. Mayhew, M. J., & Engberg, M. E. (2011). Promoting the Development of Civic Responsibility: Infusing Service-Learning Practices in First-Year "Success" Courses. Journal of College Student Development, 52(1), 20-38. Nicholas Bowman, N., Brandenberger, J., Lapsley, D., Hill, P., & Quaranto, J. (2010). Serving in College, Flourishing in Adulthood: Does Community Engagement During the College Years Predict Adult Well-Being? Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing, 2(1), 14–34. Pascarella, E .T., and Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Reed, V. A, Jernstedt, G. C. Hawley, J. K., Reber, E. S., & DuBois, C. A. (2005). Effects of a small-scale, very short-term service-learning experience on college students. Journal of Adolescence, 28(3), 359–368.