Volunteers at the ready
Concordia’s strong commitment to community engagement was further solidified with the recent unveiling of two brand new initiatives.
For students, staff and faculty who want to get involved as volunteers at home or abroad, the Leadership, Initiative, and Volunteer Engagement (LIVE) Centre offers information, advice and opportunities. The LIVE Centre is a service offered by Counselling and Development.
The university is also paving the way as the first post-secondary institution in Quebec to implement an online co-curricular record, a transcript of on-campus Concordia-generated activities, which will complement existing academic transcripts.
“These projects really show how the university is establishing community engagement as a priority,” says Dean of Students Elizabeth Morey, whose office has overseen the creation of both (see [Journal, April 29, 2010](http://cjournal.concordia.ca/archives/20100429/centre_to_open_in_hall_building.php), for background). “We are helping to make that verbal commitment into a reality.”
LIVE Centre Coordinator Valerie Millette says misconceptions about getting involved abound.
“People think all volunteering requires a commitment of several hours a week. While volunteers may get more from longer engagements, there are many onetime events which can fit into almost everyone’s schedule,” she says, pointing to group volunteering events planned for the fall, which take half a day.
Millette and a team of volunteer ambassadors working in H-608-2 will act as a resource for members of the Concordia community who need help finding the right opportunity or who have questions or concerns about the process.
Students who want to tailor their experience can set up an appointment to discuss strategic volunteering and how they can gain valuable skills by approaching an organization with a specific project in mind.
For those who want to get involved on campus, the co-curricular record will keep a tally of their leadership and volunteer experiences in an online database created by Orbis software. Each entry will be approved by a validator (often a club executive or staff member) and students will be required to identify learning outcomes, such as collaboration, planning, communication or multicultural awareness.
“It can be tough to get the reference you need for your on-campus experience when you’re applying for a job,” says Jasmine Stuart, who coordinates the project.
Students will be able to print off their co-curricular record from their MyConcordia Portal with the option of selecting only certain activities if needed.
With widespread success at schools across the United States, the co-curricular record is slowly seeping into Canadian universities.
Stuart predicts that it will soon be standard nationwide. “It’s going to become one of those things that students expect to have,” she says. “People are excited about it, saying, ‘Oh I wish we had this sooner.’ We have such vibrant student life on campus. Our students are very involved and they’re learning a lot.”
For those who are raring to go, October’s Volunteer Awareness Month is sure to get you started. For information about introductory workshops and the Volunteer and Leadership Fair on Oct. 7, visit the volunteer site. To get involved with the LIVE Centre as a volunteer ambassador, send them an email. For more about the co-curricular record, information will be available soon at ccr.concordia.ca.