As Vanguard, we are driven to lead the charge by using our talent, energy and passion to positively impact our communities. Often, service starts in our own backyards, supporting our campus and community through volunteering. This webpage serves as a digital hub for all students, faculty and staff to find a cause that needs their time and effort.
You can discover new service opportunities and contribute to causes that matter to you. We encourage our faculty, staff and students to make volunteering a regular part of their life by reaching out and lending a helping hand through various community service projects and ongoing volunteerism.
The Vanguard Volunteer Program cultivates campus and community partnerships designed to give students and employees multiple pathways to community involvement, global awareness, and civic responsibility. As part of the college's #ASUBeConnected strategic goal, the Office of Student Life seeks to provide opportunities for shaping the development of students and employees by creating and implementing intentional co-curricular learning opportunities, professional development activities, service education, and reflection.
Educational Priorities
It is the mission of the Office of Student Life to foster a campus environment that cultivates student learning through developing innovative and inclusive co-curricular programming that supports student learning outcomes in leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. The discovery of a passion and personal commitment to service is a core attribute of extraordinary leadership and engaged citizenship. In an academic environment, service opportunities can provide co-curricular engagement through experiential learning opportunities that support classroom instruction.
Co-curricular Learning
The following provides functional learning outcomes from the Office of Student Life's A.R.C.H. Campus Life Co-curriculum:
Respect for Self & Others
- R.3 - Students will be able to recognize the importance of building and sustaining positive relationships with others.
- R.4 - Students will be able to apply self-advocacy skills in the management of life tasks.
Community & Leadership Engagement
- C.1 - Students will be able to recognize the importance of connecting to the residential, campus, and the greater community.
- C.2 - Students will be able to recognize ways to get involved on campus.
- C.4 - Students will be able to develop independent plans to enact positive change on campus and in their community.
Firsthand.co - 7 Volunteer Opportunities for College Students
A quick read on how to start thinking about service in college.
EngageAR – State-Wide Opportunities
A website service of the Arkansas Service Commission & Governor's Advisory Commission on National Service and Volunteerism.
Point of Light - Passion into Action Guide
This easy-to-read toolkit can help students organize their passion of a cause into action for change.
Presidential Speeches on Service
“There can be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others.” – President George H. W. Bush speaking on the power of volunteerism and highlights the importance of helping others through service.
“The need for action always exceeds the limits of government.” -- President Barack Obama speaking about taking action.
What Is The Vanguard Volunteer Program?
Whether volunteering to work Late Night Breakfast, participating in a Game Show Lunch event, or traveling to a theater performance off campus with students, the Office of Student Life wants to provide faculty/ staff the opportunity to engage and connect with students outside of the classroom and the business office setting. Vanguard Volunteer is a co-curricular program managed by the office of student life that provides opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage with one another and their communities outside of the traditional academic setting.
Why Volunteer To Engage With Students?
Volunteers make an important contribution to the success of the college. The full college experience is critically dependent on faculty and staff engagement with students outside of the classroom or office setting. The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science ( Griswold, 2021) reports that for students to be truly engaged in the classroom, faculty must engage in unique ways to sustain motivation and involvement through co-curricular activities. In his 2012 book, Completing College: Rethinking Institutional Action, Vincent Tinto highlighted that improving student retention is primarily a question of creating and supporting classroom (curricular) engagement outside of the classroom (co-curricular). Co-curricular experiences encourage students’ engagement in ways that directly and indirectly shape their degree completion and post-college success.
What Does Volunteering With Students Mean?
In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a volunteer is an individual who performs hours of service for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered.
What Learning Outcomes Can A Student Gain From Volunteering?
The following provides functional learning outcomes from the Office of Student Life's A.R.C.H. Campus Life Co-curriculum:
Respect for Self & Others
- R.3 - Students will be able to recognize the importance of building and sustaining positive relationships with others.
- R.4 - Students will be able to apply self-advocacy skills in the management of life tasks.
Community & Leadership Engagement
- C.1 - Students will be able to recognize the importance of connecting to the residential, campus, and the greater community.
- C.2 - Students will be able to recognize ways to get involved on campus.
- C.4 - Students will be able to develop independent plans to enact positive change on campus and in their community.
Service to your college and the greater community are key aspects of a vibrant and engaged student organization. Because serving others is an important part of being a Vanguard, the Office of Student Life rewards Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) with RSO Points for volunteerism
and philanthropy. The following points are designed to incentivize RSOs to serve the community and campus they are located in meaningful and rewarding ways.
Community Service Hours
As a community college, ASU-Beebe is called to be a college for the community. As a Vanguard student, “leading the way in all we think, say, and do” includes serving the communities our campuses call home.
0.25 points for each hour each member logs volunteering off campus with a licensed nonprofit or governmental organization between April 1st and March 31st of the following year
Campus Service Hours
Vanguard Volunteerism can happen on campus as well. RSOs should consider how and when they can serve the campus community to help make events, programming, and activities successful.
0.25 points for each hour each member logs volunteering on-campus with a department between April 1st and March 31st of the following year.
Philanthropy
Although volunteering our time is an important means to serve our community, often important causes also require monetary funds to support their services. ASU-Beebe does not ask its students to donate their limited funds to help causes on or off campus. However, helping causes raise funds is a great way to show support. More details about reporting service hours or fundraising efforts can be found in the RSO Handbook.
1 point for each $5.00 collected through an approved fundraiser for licensed nonprofit or governmental organization (not including the RSO itself, unless supporting scholarships) between April 1st and March 31st of the following year.
As a certifying organization with the Corporation of National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), ASU-Beebe’s Office of Student Life utilizes the online service SignUp.com to coordinate and track service hours within the college. Students and employees can find more information about Signup.com at https://www.asub.edu/vanguard-volunteers.
In addition to certifying service hours completed with ASU-Beebe, the Office of Student Life may certify volunteer service hours completed with a non-profit or governmental organization outside of service organized by the college. However, the Office of Student Life must be able to verify that reported service hours were completed in order to truthfully certify volunteer hours with AmeriCorps programs, like the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). Currently, the Office of Student Life will only certify volunteer hours completed by a current ASU-Beebe student or employee.
As a result, the Office of Student Life requests individuals seeking to log certified volunteer hours with ASU-Beebe to report the name of the organization the service was completed, the name and contact information and the signature of a verifying officer. A verifying officer is an individual in the organization with the authority to verify your service (e.g., executive director, pastor, volunteer coordinator, etc.).
STEP ONE: Download the following ASU Beebe's Volunteer Service Form (Link attached)
STEP TWO: Complete the service hours and have a verifying officer sign the form.
STEP THREE: Submit a scanned copy or picture of the signed form through the Non-ASUB Service Hours Log Form (link https://forms.office.com/r/FFQctCfMep).
At the end of each semester, the Office of Student Life will add the total number of qualifying hours reported during the respective semester via this form to the individual’s SignUp.com account associated with the college. Email Student Life@asub.edu with questions about the Vanguard Volunteer program.
