Showing posts with label volunteer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volunteer. Show all posts

Friday, December 9, 2011

Students get experience serving the nonprofit sector at CCSR

Students gain real-world experience volunteering at WSU Center for Community Support and Research on a variety of projects in the fall semester.

Four students are from the Emory Lindquist Honors Program:
Victoria Eck at her desk
  • Victoria Eck, a junior majoring in Pre-law and Political Science/History,  researched sources of resilience to help in building a model of trauma healing for CCSR’s work on Trauma-Informed Care.
  • Emily Lancaster, a sophomore majoring in pre-medicine, created a logo and handouts to help people with mental illness keep track of their medical information so they can advocate for their own medical treatment.
  • Janet Nghiem Phy, a freshman with an undeclared major, assisted leadership evaluation activities and reviewed literature related to leadership development and leadership programs.
  • Shahla Pourkaram, a junior majoring in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Pre-medicine, made phone calls for a survey for the Kansas Department on Aging and conducted a phone survey of daycare providers for the Riley County Early Head Start program.
About her experiences at CCSR, Shahla says, “Medical school is very competitive and to have undergraduate research experience is very beneficial. I have been able to gain skills such as survey administration and database construction at CCSR.” Pourkaram is also president of Wichita State Society of Women Engineers.

Three graduate students are expanding their career opportunities at CCSR:
  • Kaitlin Boger is a second year Master’s Social Work student who designed and facilitated leadership development sessions, supported a trauma-informed organizational process for a community partner in Topeka, and researched trauma-informed care models.
  • Jennifer Comes is in her first year of the MSW program, contributing to CCSR’s mental health consumer initiative by creating a media kit for Self-Help Group services and writing the history of consumer run organizations in Kansas.
  • Bailey Blair has earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Teacher’s License in English Literature and Psychology. She plans to pursue a Master’s of Social Work. Bailey is preparing a proposal to create a comprehensive network of care for transition age youth.
About her work at CCSR, Bailey says, “What I’m working on at CCSR is the same type of work as the other incredibly talented staff here. The work I’m doing now is what I plan to build my career on.” Jennifer adds, “Working at CCSR has been a terrific learning opportunity for me. Students here are encouraged to contribute in a variety of ways that I've been surprised to discover are actually closely related to our coursework. CCSR staff enjoys working with students and though most of them have advanced degrees, they seek out our opinions and consider us peers in an ongoing process of community building that we are engaged in together.”

Based in downtown Wichita, WSU Center for Community Support and Research is proud to be a place where WSU students can immerse themselves in learning about and serving the nonprofit and public sectors while building their professional contacts and career opportunities.

Monday, September 12, 2011

CCSR Welcomes New Volunteers | By Angela Gaughan

We are excited to have seven students volunteering at CCSR on a variety of projects this semester.

Four students are from the Emory Lindquist Honors Program, two are in the Master of Social Work Program and one has earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Each volunteer is working on a specific project – one that she expressed interest in. Our hope is that the volunteers will learn more about how we build capacity for individuals, organizations and communities. We are also looking forward to seeing what they contribute as well as hearing the questions they have about our work.

The students from the Honors program are Victoria Eck, a junior majoring in Pre-law and Political Science/History; Emily Lancaster, a sophomore majoring in pre-medicine; Janet Nghiem Phy, a freshman with an undeclared major; and Shahla Pourkaram, a junior majoring in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Pre-medicine.

Kaitlin Boger is a second year master’s student and Jennifer Comes is in her first year of studying in the Master of Social Work Program. Bailey Blair has earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Teacher’s License in English Literature and Psychology. She plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.

When I asked a couple of students what they were working on today, one said that she is gathering information for an upcoming presentation at a health fair. She is also creating a logo and handouts to help people with mental illness keep track of their medical information so they can advocate for their own medical treatment. Another student said that she is researching sources of resilience to help in building a model of trauma healing for CCSR’s work on Trauma-Informed Care.

Graduate student Kaitlin added, “Right now, I'm currently working on a Trauma-Informed Care blog post, helping design and facilitate leadership development sessions, and designing and supporting a trauma-informed organizational process for a community partner in Topeka. I have been conducting website searches to gather information on Trauma-Informed Care models and Trauma-Informed treatment. I have also been working on various teams to help design presentations in trauma-informed care.”

It has been great to get to know these students, the next generation of leaders in the work place. Please help us welcome these new volunteers!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Managing Volunteers by Amy Delamaide: Part Two

Picture courtesy of Sanberdoo
Organizations responsible for managing volunteers should think about the experience from the volunteer’s perspective. These are questions I have before volunteering for an event or organization for the first time:

  • Where should I go? At what time should I be there?
  • What will I be doing?
  • Who will give me instructions about what I am doing?
  • Who do I call if I can’t be there?
  • What information are event participants receiving? Will I have a copy of that same information?
  • What do I need to bring with me?
  • Will there be food and drink available if my shift is over a meal time?
  • What should I wear? Do I need to bring or have any special materials, clothing, or equipment?

Preparing a volunteer packet with the answers to these questions inside, along with the information that event participants receive, will help your organization have well-prepared volunteers who contribute to the success of your event.

What else does your organization do to prepare volunteers for service? We’re interested in your thoughts.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Managing Volunteers by Amy Delamaide: Part One

A Tale of Two Volunteer Opportunities…

In October, I volunteered for two different community events. The people running these events had several things in common: both organizations depended on a few staff people and hundreds of volunteers to make a large, annual event possible. They had a few differences: one had seven years’ experience gathering and organizing the volunteers they relied on; the other was running its inaugural event and learning for the first time how to manage volunteers.

Nonprofits thinking about how to manage volunteers can learn from what both organizations did well.

The two organizations both did several things well:

  • They held a pre-event informational meeting for volunteers.
  • They assigned volunteers to particular staff person for supervision of the volunteers’ activities during the event.
  • They held “thank you” parties for the volunteers, with food, drinks, and celebration of the volunteers’ contributions to the event.

The organization with years of experience in managing volunteers did a few more things well:
  • They respected my time – The informational meeting in advance of the event wasn’t too long, there was food available, I met and got to know other volunteers, and I met the volunteer coordinator and the staff person to whom I was assigned.
  • They had several points of contact - They built “supervisory redundancy” into their system of volunteer oversight. There was one primary volunteer coordinator. Then each different type of volunteer reported to the staff person who oversaw that function. If I had a question, there were at least two people I could call for help.
  • They had a central Volunteer Spot – During the event, the volunteer coordinator was available at a central location. I could access information about the event, instructions on how to help, and food or drink at that location.
  • They had info available - Printed information about the event was available to all volunteers at several locations. This helped me feel equipped to answer the questions of event-goers.
  • They gave me meaningful work - The activities I volunteered to do were clearly vital to making sure the event went well. I felt that my service was necessary—if I hadn’t been there, the event would not have gone as well.

What does your organization do well in its management of volunteers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Picture courtesy of Mike Baird