From President Kennedy's first announcement of a non-military US volunteer corps in 1961, the Peace Corps has been one of the preeminent government grassroots volunteer development agency. This study explores the history of the ambiguities inherent in this contention, pressure primarily stemming from the organization's role as both a governmental…

"Voluntourism" refers to the use of "discretionary time and income to travel out of the sphere of regular activity to assist others in need" (McGehee & Santos, 2005, p. 760). These experiences have been shown to raise consciousness and increase interest in activism (McGehee, 2002; Wearing, 2001) and to build pro-social…

The proceedings include sections on: keynote addresses (Paul A. Miller, Jon Van Til); who volunteers and why, the impact of volunteerism; evaluation, research design, and methodology; preparing volunteers and those who manage volunteers (evaluation of recruiting and training procedures, the effect of the student volunteer experience, effectiveness…

This report examines the management of three areas related to the preparation of volunteers for Peace Corps service: staging, pre-service training, and attrition. The introduction summarizes the activities undertaken by the review. Chapter 2 focuses on staging, which is variously intended to provide country orientation, information about Peace…

This guide, prepared for a Nevada State literacy council, provides practical information and step-by-step planning for recruiting, training, using, retaining, documenting, and recognizing volunteers. The 11 sections of the guide cover the following topics: (1) establishing goals and objectives and writing a plan; (2) identifying jobs and writing…

This paper addresses issues important to maintaining a volunteer effort in research and evaluation studies. The Research Department of Child and Family Services, a private agency in Connecticut, conducted a statewide study of children and youth in long-term foster care. Eighty-seven volunteers, mainly from the Junior League, were recruited to…

The materials listed in this bibliography are intended to be of help to volunteer staffs in developing school programs and materials. The entries are cataloged under general subject listings, alphabetical by author under the subject, and an author index is included. Items are listed only once, though many are relevant to several areas. An attempt…

A survey questionnaire was mailed to all active Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the summer of 1975. Based on an internal analysis of the 3,479 respondents (a 66% return), the following findings represent the manner in which PCVs perceive their volunteer experience. Perceived volunteer accomplishments and morale are very high. Volunteers believe…

Situations and conditions in which Peace Corps volunteers who are ABG's (A.B. generalists, or individuals with a bachelor of arts in English, liberal arts, or social science) are effective in agriculture and the factors which contribute to the ABG's effectiveness were analyzed and assessed in the study. Methodology included an analysis of training…

The Boston Network for Better Education, with the primary aim of bringing together researchers and community groups seeking to improve schools, is described as to its approach in recruiting and utilizing volunteers. Volunteers were solicited from lists of educational researchers in the Boston metropolitan area, and an attempt was made to identify…

This manual is designed primarily to assist Education Peace Corps Volunteers undertake community projects in addition to their primary job assignment. Chapter 1 discusses the factors that determine the measure of success of the project. The process, not the product, is emphasized. Chapter 2 on situational analysis outlines areas of investigation…

Ghana first received Peace Corps assistance in 1961 (the first country in the world to receive volunteers) and since then volunteer strength has fluctuated from between 185 to 415 (presently 179). Secondary education has been the major thrust in programing until recently when Peace Corps/Ghana (PC/G) shifted its emphases to agriculture and rural…

Educational volunteer management in recent years has emerged as a highly skilled and specialized profession that is undergoing rapid expansion. Full time staff members have been employed by some boards of education to carry out the specialized management requirements of volunteer recruiting, training, evaluating, assigning, and supervising. A…

This manual, developed for training Peace Corps volunteers for service in developing countries, explains the process of agricultural extension and provides practical guidance on carrying out an agricultural extension program. The manual is organized into six chapters. The first chapter explains what agricultural extension is and how it is used in…

Women in Transition was conceived as an action project of the California Commission on the Status of Women. The purpose of the project was to test the effectiveness of community volunteers in providing much-needed services to women incarcerated in the county jail. Findings were varied. Community women were interested in the women in jail and did…