"Campus Compact – a Sister in Service" November 1995
What is Campus Compact and its Relationship with AmeriCorps?
Campus Compact: The Project for Public and Community Service began in 1985. Four college presidents formed the Campus Compact in response to criticism that colleges were too focused on preparing students for lucrative careers. These founders believed that educational leaders were responsible for ensuring that students engaged in service to their communities while pursuing educational goals. Founding members dedicated themselves to making service an integral element of undergraduate education. They proposed a national effort to expand service opportunities for all college students.
Today, the Compact has evolved from simply encouraging students' service activities to actively promoting the integration of service into curriculum at all levels of education. The Compact is nationwide, with 400 member institutions, 13 state-level Campus Compacts, a Campus Compact Center for Community Colleges and a Historically Black Colleges and Universities Network. In the Northwest, Montana and Washington have active Campus Compacts that operate statewide. Oregon recently received a grant for $5,000 to foster the development of a statewide compact.
Montana Campus Corps
In the last decade, Campus Compact's activities have complemented other state and national service programs such as AmeriCorps. One example of this synergy is the Montana Campus Corps, an AmeriCorps program spun off Montana Campus Compact.
New this fall, the Campus Corps is recruiting 20 part-time Members from 13 campuses throughout Montana. Members' work will be two pronged:
- Members will canvass the community and K–12 schools to determine local needs. After they have focused on one or two service projects, Members will recruit fellow students from their campuses to work on the projects. Andrea Vernon, project director, encourages members to concentrate on service projects that will further their own academic goals and personal interests, in order to maintain their motivation and to maximize their AmeriCorps experience.
- Members will assist in the larger Campus Compact goal of integrating service into college-level curricula by assisting faculty members in implementing service into coursework. Members will assist instructors by locating agencies that need interns, and will assist students whose courses require service find a placement.
Problem for Part-time Members
Vernon posed a problem she is confronting currently. Because all AmeriCorps Members in Campus Corps are part time, they are not eligible for medical benefits, the childcare stipend or the hourly wage. They receive only the educational award after their service hours are completed. This lack of ongoing monetary compensation combined with the fact that Members are students—many with families to support—leads to challenges with recruiting and maintaining motivation. Next semester, Vernon hopes to link Members with work-study positions to provide some ongoing compensation.
If you have experienced this problem with your AmeriCorps Members, how have you dealt with it? Call Andrea Vernon at 406-243-5177.
Oregon Campus Compact
The Oregon Commission for National and Community Service recently received a $5,000 planning grant from the National Campus Compact in Rhode Island. The money is being used to convene Oregon colleges and universities interested in bringing the Compact to Oregon. This planning group first met November 16, and will meet bi-weekly through January 1996. Public and private universities and community colleges are represented at the planning sessions.
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