Community Service Grants Student Opportunity Co-operation between State Grant and Greenville College Yields Thriving Student Community Outreach

Program Advisors Dawn Mulholland and Dr. Rick Stephens

While sowing over 24,000 hours of community service throughout the state, students involved in the Illinois Cooperative Work-Study Program at Greenville College are reaping significant educational and financial rewards.

In this unique program, participants complete an internship for 2-12 hours of college credit working for a community service agency in a position related to their field of study. At the same time, they receive payment for work rendered and tuition discounts on each credit hour earned.

The program is funded this year by both a $52,000 grant from the State of Illinois Board of Higher Education and matching funds from Greenville College.

Program Objectives

The goals of this project are (1) to provide students from various academic disciplines paid learning experiences in positions of community service that are major related; (2) to provide tuition abatement thereby reducing reliance on student loans; (3) to increase major-related experiences for students from departments which have traditionally been inadequately represented in receiving compensation for internship experience; and, (4) to transition students from the classroom to employment.

Dawn Mulholland, Director of Career Services at Greenville College, and coordinator of this program, defines three specific objectives for the 1997-98 program. "We want to maintain and expand current opportunities for students to pursue paid cooperative work study experiences directly linked to their academic program, to continue social and community service, and to reduce student reliance on loans."

Program Growth

The work-study program, now in its fourth year, continues to experience exceptional growth since its introduction in 1994. Funded by the State of Illinois Board of Higher Education Cooperative Work-Study grant in association with Greenville College, the program recently reported increases in student involvement, as well as agency participation and financial support for the 1997-98 school year.

During the inaugural year, 1994-95, 23 students and 18 agencies invested in this work-study opportunity, then funded by a $30,000 grant. At the close of the 1996-97 school year the program employed 46 students in 35 community service agencies funded by a $45,000 grant. Currently 34 students are employed in 29 community service agencies with funding from a $52,000 grant.

Junior Alicia Fry assists John Knight '75 in the Bond County State's Attorney's Office.

Program Support

This grant, designated solely for student salaries, allows up to 60 Illinois residents from a variety of majors with community service potential to have valuable learning experiences. Greenville College matches grant funding through faculty and staff salaries involved with program direction and supervision and through tuition discounts.

Supportive participation from a wide variety of community service agencies and their roles in student supervision, a third key link, allows for a broader placement of students from multiple academic majors. Current and former organizations committed to this program include the Simple Room, the Wellness Link, Prairie Counseling Center, Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Fair Oaks Nursing Home, Kingsbury Park District and various Bond County service organizations.

Says Randy Alderman, Executive Director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, "The grant program you offer allows students to provide a valuable service in the community and at the same time, the student gets valuable hands-on experience and can make a little money on the side. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

"Working with Mr. Alderman through the program has allowed me to fine-tune my communication and artistic skills," adds student Lee Brinckley regarding his internship with the Chamber of Commerce. "The program was a big factor in my preparation for the real world."

In the Springfield area, Greenville College students have served as interns at both the Springfield AIDS Resource Association (SARA) Center and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Vickie Smith, Executive Director of the Coalition, emphasized the important role served by a recent intern, "The entire Domestic Violence Act book needed to be amended. This is a very important guide for various community service personnel in our city. Without this program and the work of our intern, we could not have done this project as we did not have the staff or the funds to do it."

Program Benefits

"There are several specifically academic benefits produced by the co-op work experience of students," explains Dr. Rick Stephens, faculty advisor to the program. "First, students are forced to integrate theory and practice. They learn more about the ideas as they attempt implementation. Second, students begin to understand the complexities and ambiguities of interest in work. This in turn has the value of producing a more informed and motivated student in subsequent in-class work. Third, the student's co-op provides a solid basis for advanced studies beyond that available to students without such experience."

Two-fold financial compensation encourages student participation and maximizes overall benefits of the experience. The students not only receive wages for their work, but also benefit financially through reduced tuition costs for each credit hour earned.

Reginald Box, Jr., a 1994 graduate of Greenville and probation officer in the Third Judicial Circuit, says, "It was extremely beneficial to me to have this experience provided for me in the field I wanted to go into and allowed me to obtain my current position. . . . it really helped me financially to do an internship and get paid."

After three full years of program funding and participation by a total of 116 students and 55 agencies, students at Greenville College have performed a considerable amount of community service within the state of Illinois. Also, as a result of this program, the cooperative work education trends at Greenville College have become a more substantial part of the school's curriculum and its approach to career development.

"Quality work is being accomplished in many more areas of community service which otherwise would not have been possible without this funding," contends Mulholland.

John Heston, Director and Chaplain of the Simple Room claims, "The various programs we offer at the Simple Room would be difficult to maintain were it not for Greenville College students. The service they perform as friends and role models to some of our troubled youths is invaluable."

Cooperation between state tax dollars and institutional investments have created opportunities which have not only proven beneficial academically and financially for participating college students, but have served to encourage and equip them for future community support careers in Illinois.