The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how individuals describe their initial and continued motivation to volunteer at a Texas Veterans Service Organization (VSO). The literature review indicated a gap in understanding the motivations of those who volunteer to support VSOs. The ABCE model of volunteer motivation was used…

This article presents a model that is based on Eyler and Giles' Five Elements of Citizenship, where students learn about Volunteer UCF through marketing strategies, participate in one-time service or educational events, and then pursue continuous involvement based on their positive experiences. Students transition to leadership roles by serving on…

This study is centered on first-generation Latinx students at Sacramento State and their academic journey. The research explores the impact of community engagement through service learning, community-based learning, volunteerism, and civic engagement on these students and their degree completion. The undergraduate experience in higher education is…

High-impact practices (HIPs) are educationally purposeful activities that college students experience in and out of the classroom which are found to be positively related to several learning outcomes including: better gain of academic knowledge and artistic skills, recognition of community issues and real-world problems, career success and…

Alternative Breaks are service trips that occur at colleges and universities all around the United States, but little is known of their long-term impact on the participants. This study explored how alumni of Alternative Break programs were civically engaged in their communities post-graduation. The survey instrument, modeled on the Life After…

Service-learning opportunities provide students with valuable professional experience beyond training and practical skills. In a pilot study of Criminal Justice students enrolled in an undergraduate Homeland Security class, student volunteers report opportunities for practicing leadership at an after-school program. Responses were also compared to…

The Volunteer Program Assessment at UNO (VPA-UNO), a faculty-led student group, partners with nonprofit and governmental agencies to provide free assessments and consultations to enhance volunteer engagement, organizational commitment and retention. Three recent initiatives are discussed representing an intentional effort of a metropolitan…

Offering examples from her own experiences, the author advises community-engaged scholars (and those mentors and institutions that support them) to always question assumptions with respect to the communities in which they are engaged. She notes that as they work to unfold research programs, they should be sure to listen carefully to the…

The existing literature has much to offer regarding the adjustment issues of international students. English proficiency and social support appear to be the biggest factors affecting the social, academic, and cultural adjustment of international students. Psychology graduate programs can exacerbate these challenges due to strenuous workload,…

The Volunteer UCF Community Connectors and Community Builders Program provides a connection between students and their community. The goal is to develop meaningful service opportunities for UCF students that contribute measurable results and systemic change through capacity building among adult learners. The ongoing, sustainable service experience…

This narrative synthesis based on a literature review undertaken for the project "Creating Citizenship Communities" (funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) includes discussion, principally, about what research evidence tells us about young people's definitions of community, of types of engagement by different groups of young…

Universities increasingly see community engagement as a means to achieve their mission. In order to assess the impact of these efforts, it is necessary to gather and analyze data from across the institution on community-engaged activities. This article presents a case study of Virginia Commonwealth University's efforts in developing enterprise…

Research on service-learning offers compelling evidence of the advances student learners make in moral development, orientation to prosocial behavior, and curricular content retention. But who are those student learners? Most studies focus on native, dominant-culture, dominant-language students serving marginalized populations. Studies of the…

Despite the increasing popularity and appeal of youth volunteer abroad (YVA) programmes, powerful critiques are emerging. While these programmes tend to promise much in the way of global ethics and global citizenship in youth participants, they often neglect to seriously interrogate the one-way movement of people from the centre to the periphery…

The historic 2008 presidential election provided unprecedented opportunities to engage young people in civic education--including heated classroom debates on contentious issues, social studies lessons on the electoral process, and opportunities to volunteer for national and local campaigns. Civic engagement can take many forms, including…