Community Service
Student
interest in community service is high and has become a distinctive
part of student life at Rochester. Seventy per cent (70%) of undergraduates
at Rochester are involved in community service, and Rochester graduates
choose careers in public service in disproportionate numbers (11%)
when compared to graduates at their counterpart schools. Because of
this tradition, Rochester has been ranked among the top 15 colleges
in service activity by Who Cares magazine. Other guides and books as
well, have acknowledged this distinctive part of the Rochester education.
Unique Rochester Service Traditions include:
Tiernan Project
Tiernan Project was founded in 1978 as the first community service special interest living center in the country.
- Contacts:
- Dan Watts (585-275-5685)
Wilson Day
Wilson Day was a first of its kind orientation activity which sends new students out into the community during their first days at college. Over its ten year history, it has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and last year won the prestigious Georgen award for its distinctive contributions to learning.
- Contact:
- Gail Fanale (585-275-4085)
Community Service Network
Community Service Network (CSN) located in the Community Living Center, is the student run volunteer coordinating group which places over 400 students each year in community service sites. Interested students can stop by the office or check the CSN web site at www.cif.rochester.edu/sa-org/CSN/index.html. It runs 16 different programs each year, as well as six Alternative Spring Break programs which are week long immersion programs. Typically, these programs are located in an upstate New York village, a children’s organization in Mexico and Habitat for Humanity sites in Rochester, Florida and Puerto Rico.
- Contact:
- John Borek, CSN Coordinator (585-275-2195)
Community Learning Center
Community Learning Center (CLC), located at the end of the Fraternity Quad, is a unique living/learning center whose mission is to: (1) cultivate the social service experience of students with the combined opportunity for more formal, as well as informal learning; (2) enhance the education of students through a multi-cultural living experience; (3) provide a more accessible and visible identity for multi-cultural service on campus, and (4) instill leadership in students as preparation for their civic roles in a pluralistic world. Housed in CLC are UR Peace, a student group that offers peer led mediation, as well as the offices for Alpha Phi Omega and the Community Service Network. If you are interested in issues of community or public service, this is a place to check out.
- Contact:
- TBA - President
- Advisers:
- Mark Rogers, ANT
Jody Asbury, Community Service Programs, 510 Wilson Commons - Faculty Advisory Committee:
- Norm Burnett (MSA)
Prof. Niemi (PSC)
Prof. Brown (HIS)
Prof. Trafton (Preventative Medicine)
Prof. Cadorette (Rel.)
Prof. Foster (ANT)
Prof. Emmett (ANT)
Prof. Kirshenbaum (Warner)
Prof. Ebenhack (Chm E.)
Additional Service Opportunities:
While CSN has served as a referral point for community service activity among undergraduates, many other groups and organizations run service activities as well. For example, there is a rich tradition of service among fraternities and sororities. The faith communities at the Interfaith Chapel also are deeply rooted in service. The Protestant Chapel Community chaplain founded Habitat for Humanity with students, and leads students on an Alternative Spring Break program each year. The Newman Community regularly takes students to Sojourner Place and Tzcdek Hillel has run such programs as the Russian Family Program and Adopt a Bubbe or Zaide. Sports teams and other groups all are active in the Rochester community as well. If you want to get involved ask around your organization or stop by the CSN in the Community Living Center. The Community Service Network is the clearinghouse for students with an interest in service.
Service-Learning and Social Justice
Many students become interested in social justice issues as a result of their service experience. As one becomes involved in the community, they often want to know more about the issues they confront through outreach. They want to learn more about such issues as poverty, homelessness and the prison system. There are a number of ways that students can pursue these interests. One way is to offer programs on campus. For example, the Chapel staff has worked with student groups, such as UR Peace and National Ghandhi Day, to bring speakers to campus about such topics as prison reform, aids and racism. But many students pursue this interest through course work or through internships and independent studies. Still others do it through some specially designated service-learning courses. If you have an interest in courses that will allow you to explore some particular social issue or if you are just interested in learning through active participation in some thoughtfully organized community service, you should consult the booklet “The Great Out There”, which was written by students to help other students pursue these interests. “The Great Out There” is available through CSN, the Interfaith Chapel, the Center for Academic Support, and as a part of this web site. Some of the service-learning courses held in the Interfaith Chapel have been developed working closely with the Community Service Network programs. (See list below)
Fall Semester
- Contemporary Issues Through Service & Learning: History 202 (2 credits)
- Through direct service and extensive reading and discussion, this course will introduce students to three contemporary social issues: homelessness, the AIDS epidemic and rehabilitation of criminals. Readings are drawn from a variety of perspectives and community activists/experts will help lead our discussions. Students will, in turn, be expected to spend service time in relevant community agencies.
- Contact:
- Jody Asbury
Dean of Students (585-275-4085)
Spring Semester
- Rural Poverty: America’s Invisible Poor (2 credits)
- Planned in coordination with the Keesville, New York Alternative Spring Break Program, this course will explore the perceptions and realities of rural poverty. It will also look at the strategies that individuals and communities have developed in response to poverty, a growing phenomenon in such regions as upstate New York. Finally, we will look at policy considerations related to rural poverty, as they shape the future. This 4 week course will culminate in a week of service in the small town of Keesville, N.Y. during Spring Break.
- Contact:
- Jody Asbury
Dean of Students (585) 275-4085