Serving as the Community Service Programs Coordinator in the Campus Life Center (CLC) was my first professional position within higher education. My role was to coordinate annual community service programs including the Community Service Opportunity Fair, Carolina Cares, Service Saturdays, Alternative Break Programs, and MLK Jr. Days of Service. In addition, I advised the Community Service Interns and the Carolina Service Council.

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One initiative that I am particularly proud of was expanding the amount of student leadership opportunities available to students. This was due to expanding the Alternative Break Program from being 1 fall break trip and 3 spring break trips my first year to 3 fall break, 1 winter break, and 7 spring break trips by the time I left my position. This was only achievable by creating an Alternative Break Council of student leaders that were responsible for picking a social issue they were passionate about, planning the logistics for their particular trip, and then recruiting participants to fill all the trips. More than any other service program run out of the office I felt this program provided the necessary time and attention to the actual root causes of the social issues students were encountering in the community and provided students the opportunity to learn and question their own assumptions. Some of the most meaningful interactions I had with student leaders were regarding helping them plan and craft their particular Alternative Break trip. 

 

I also oversaw the expansion of the MLK Day service opportunity from 1 to 3 days of service and added social justice programming to the week-long event series, which required more site leaders and necessitated having the Interns create their own programs and facilitate them for their peers. The Community Service Interns in my second year with the CLC were troopers! They also took on a new initiative called Fill the Van, which provided weekly service opportunities for 7-15 students to local non-profit agencies. On any given day of the week, USC students could go volunteer for 2 hours with the goal that they would continue to volunteer with the same or a new agency each week. This initiative expanded participation in service exponentially and as an added benefit provided a new student worker role as a van driver.

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Finally, my last major achievement was working with the Assistant Director of Service Learning in the Office of Student Engagement to supervise Summer Associate VISTA's. This new initiative allowed us to provide intensive service experiences for four students during the summer while also meeting the needs of a local non-profit agency. We met with these students weekly discussing topics relevant to their internship sites, watched documentaries like Corridor of Shame and Waiting for Superman, and conducted site visits to see the students' in their work environment. Many of the VISTA's have gone on to serve and work locally in Columbia and credit their Summer VISTA experience for showcasing the vast possibilities available to them.

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Highlights:

-Advocated for hiring the Center's first AmeriCorps VISTA member

-Submitted the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in collaboration with partner offices earning Honor Roll with Distinction.

-Worked with my graduate assistant and VISTA to create a Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week series via a newly created student led committee