Workplace volunteer councils (WVC) are associations of representatives from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors working together to enhance grass-roots volunteerism. Volunteer administrators can play an integral role in supporting partnerships formulated through a WVC by providing opportunities and expertise to ensure that the experience is…

Study evaluated training program to train lay health volunteers in facilitating smoking cession for a low-income, African American community. Program applied constructs of the Social Cognitive Theory, namely self-efficacy and outcome expectations relating to the processes of behavioral change. Results highlighted changes in knowledge, outcome…

Four case studies of volunteer training focused on achievement of certification or other qualifications identified complex reasons why volunteers drop out or do not complete assessments: a vocation versus vocationalism view of volunteering, intrinsic versus extrinsic incentives, motivation for learning, and role conflict. (Contains 34 references.)…

Describes basic reasons why training programs for youth sport coaches are necessary and provides information germane to several of such certification programs. Notes that it is important to understand that opportunities exist to enhance professionalism entailed in coaching youth sports. Explains how private sector has seized opportunity to provide…

Summarizes a new synthesis from the National Center on Effective Secondary Schools, which shows that high school youth service programs are far from common. Models for school-based programs include special events and cocurricular activities, school credit or requirement, laboratory for an existing course, community service classes, and service as…

A program for episodic, or short-term, volunteers includes strategies to sustain and support the volunteer during his/her time of service. Efficient and effective training, formal and informal recognition, and brief evaluation can acknowledge volunteers' performance and reinforce the agency's mission. (JOW)

Five steps that can help ensure the success of workshops, conferences, or forums for extension volunteers: constructing the steering/planning committee; contracting facilities; planning the program; arranging for food, meals, and catering; and developing the budget. (SK)

Freshman honors students in a service-learning course tutored low-income English Language Learning kindergartners, first-, and second-graders in reading. We conducted two separate data collections, one assessing college students' attitudes and motives (Study 1) and one exploring the benefits for elementary school children (Study 2). We measured…

Many college administrators and researchers assert that diversity interactions are critical for preparing young adults for a diverse society, but very little research has examined the long-term impact of these experiences. This study examines a longitudinal sample of college students (n = 416) who were followed into their mid-30s. Structural…

This paper addresses a number of key challenges in current subjective well-being (SWB) research: A new wave of studies should take into account that different things may make different people happy, thus going beyond a unitary "happiness formula". Furthermore, empirical results need to be connected to broader theoretical narratives.…

Purpose: This study tested the hypothesis that volunteering in environmental organizations in midlife is associated with greater physical activity and improved mental and physical health over a 20-year period. Design and Methods: The study used data from two waves (1974 and 1994) of the Alameda County Study, a longitudinal study of health and…

Community choirs in America furnish the primary musical setting for adult amateur singers wishing to continue their choral experiences after formal public schooling or college. Nearly 1400 community choral organizations--or those meeting the established parameters--were catalogued by ACDA for its 2007 "National Registry of Community Choirs". A…

The study examines the relation of death experience to death attitudes and to autobiographical memory use. Participants (N = 52) completed standard death attitude measures and wrote narratives about a death-related autobiographical memory and (for comparison) a memory of a low point. Self-ratings of the memory narratives were used to assess their…

The author characterizes himself as an experienced corporate executive, an experienced corporate board member, an active volunteer, and a pretty active donor to a number of causes that he thinks are important. But he is not a terribly experienced charitable-board member, so he sees things from the perspective of a new philanthropist and found that…

In a student production of "Dracula" at Texas A&M University some years ago, the final scene was exceptionally dramatic. One actor stabbed another, who was playing the vampire, in the chest with a real knife. A volunteer director from the community, who was assisting the drama club, had decided that the scene required the actual weapon, not the…