PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Oregon Campus Compact’s Students in Service program supports and encourages higher education students to serve their communities by offering education awards (scholarships) to those who participate in community service, service-learning, or civic engagement activities.
Students can serve in many ways through service-learning courses, practicum programs, or stand alone service activities. Students can serve as: tutors, mentors, service-learning coordinators, or in a variety of other ways that help meet educational, human, environmental, and public safety needs. All student service must have a direct service component and must serve a non-profit, public school, or government agency.
Students who wish to participate can enroll in AmeriCorps and commit to the following terms of service:
- Student serves 300 hours within 12 months, and then receives a $1,000 education award.
The education award can be applied toward the cost of attendance or to outstanding student loans. The student has up to seven years to utilize the education award.
STUDENT ELIGIBILITY
1. Undergraduate and graduate students are both eligible.
Students must be:
- currently enrolled at an Oregon Campus Compact Member Institution
- a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident
- at least 17 years old
2. Qualifying student service
- Non-paid, academic internships with a service-focus (i.e. social work, counseling, doing environmental field work or an education practicum)
- Practicum hours, such as nursing, counseling, EMT, firefighting, etc.
- Federal or State-funded Community Service work study positions (the only eligible paid positions)
- Student Teachers who qualify. In order for a student teacher to participate in the SIS program, the school s/he is teaching in must meet one of the following criteria:
- Title 1 Status
- Free and Reduced Lunch percentage (greater than or equal to 50%)
- Student mobility percentage (greater than or equal to 40%)
- Minority student population percentage (greater than or equal to 50%)
- Student dropout rates (greater than 5%)
- Special Education
- ESL/Bilingual Education
- Math & Science Education
- Academic and co-curricular service-learning
- Community service in the areas of education, public safety, environmental initiatives, community development, and human services
- Most volunteer work, including tutoring, mentoring, stream restoration, volunteer recruitment, etc.
Prohibited Activities
- lobbying, political, religious, or other advocacy activities
- Time spent sleeping on overnights
- Travel time to and from a service site
- Service outside a program state (CA, AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, and HI including the US Territories of Guam, American Samoa, and Saipan (CNMI)) or outside the USA (however, disaster relief areas such as New Orleans can be an exception as well as institution sponsored service activities, internships, practicum, or student teaching outside the program states.)
- List of prohibited activities provided in the member agreement, page 3
PROGRAM COORDINATION
Outreach to students – Broad campus communication is suggested with identified champions to make presentations to classes, through advising, or at group activities.
Conduct orientation – 45 minutes to 1 hour with provided presentation curriculum.
Enrollment – Students must complete enrollment package to include providing identification and site agreement signed by a site supervisor. Enrollment information entered into an online system called WBRS by campus contact.
Service Phase – Students turn in monthly timelogs to campus contact. Campus contacts need to monitor progress of student participants and enter timelogs into WBRS.
Exit- Students complete exit paperwork, which is entered into WBRS by the campus contact. Students will be able to access their education awards within 2-3 weeks after exit.
CAS ALOTTED NINE SLOTS
Initial emails indicated that Gen Ag, BRR, CSS, FW, and HORT each have one or more students that qualify for these slots. We should endeavor to enroll students for all nine slots.