*Events
*Volunteer Opportunities
*Internships, Jobs, and Beyond...
*In the Spotlight, The 2008 Public and Social Service Immersion Camp
EVENTS
Men In Service: Parents Weekend Activity Coordination
Saturday, October 25
8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Ratner Athletics Center
Men In Service is playing games and running arts and crafts activities for the Mini Maroons event.
Men In Service: Living Room Cafe Halloween Party
Friday, October 31
4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
The Living Room Cafe
Men in Service will be heading to the Living Room Cafe on Halloween for a party they are having during the Sober Living Hours event.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Haunted House and Family Festival
Friday-Sunday October 24th-26th, 2008
Wicker Park
Volunteer to help out at a fun-filled festival run by UofC alums! Volunteer to do face painting, ticket-taking, magic tricks, game supervising, and much more. For more info contact Dana Kroop.
INTERNSHIPS, JOBS, AND BEYOND...
Public and Social Service Immersion Camp (PASS)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Ida Noyes Hall
Interested in a career in public or social service? UCSC partners with Career Advising & Planning Services (CAPS) to offer PASS - a one day program that introduces students interested in public service, social service and non-profit careers to alumni and organization representatives working in these fields. Come have your questions answered and learn more about internship, career or graduate school options relating to the fields of public and social service in this all day immersion camp. Students are required to sign up for this event before it occurs. For questions, contact Max Brooks.
Federal Work Study (Off-Campus)
UCSC seeks out and posts part-time and summer work-study positions with Chicago area nonprofit and public sector organizations. Opportunities are geared toward identified interests and skills of our College, graduate and professional school students. View this list for the most current off-campus works study positions.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The 2008 Public and Social Service Immersion Camp
Mutisya Leonard, Staff Writer
The University of Chicago’s Career Advising and Planning Services (CAPS) and the University Community Service Center will host the annual Public and Social Service Immersion Camp (PASS) Saturday, October 25th, 10.00am through 4.00pm, at the Ida Noyes Third Floor Theatre. “It’s a one day intensive career explorative activity… collecting a broad range of representatives from what we call public interest and social service work,” said Shayna Plaut, Assistant Director, Employer Relations at CAPS. “And these are huge categories, encompassing direct service, advocacy, community organizing and government policy work, even to the municipal level. PASS showcases this variety to hone in on the particular skills needed in a career industry whose central motive is change – working to negotiate a better social environment.”
Max Brooks, Assistant Director for Undergraduate Preparation at CAPS says that, “domestic and international nonprofits, and government agencies don't frequent campuses to recruit the way that banks and consulting firms do and students seeking these careers need to engage in a more independent job search. CAPS and UCSC recognize that, and we know that it's critical to provide students tools to navigate that search process. PASS is a big part of those educational efforts. Even for students not clear about their public service interests, PASS is a great way to be familiar with the protocol of non-profit work, and to take the first steps towards deciding whether or not public interest work is a good fit.”
A special highlight for the event is the keynote address from Prexy Nesbitt. Nesbitt, who coincidentally shares a College alma mater with Plaut and grew up in the South Side, brings to his address a long history of global activism, academia, and thought. “He’s an authority in the anti-apartheid process, PanAfrican social movements and has, as an academic, frequently brought his transnational involvements to classrooms, creating new leaders in public interest work,” Plaut explained.
PASS also features break-out sessions that have small working groups examine community organizing, policy and advocacy, development and fundraising, outreach and training, direct service and non-profit consulting. Groups will include professionals in their respective areas facilitating discussions that reveal the skills needed to excel in public interest work. There will also be networking opportunities and an informational interviewing component. Altogether, this should work to have students realize “the network they already have here, and how they could best utilize it”.
At least fifty students RSVPed to the event. Udodi Okoh, a third year in the College, majoring in History and Public Policy Studies, and the CSRSO Program Manager at UCSC, says of her RSVP: “I am interested in attending the PASS because it provides a space to interact with influential leaders in public and non-profit work. Oftentimes, it is not clear how one interested in civic engagement can apply their U of C education in improving society, and make money while at it. Saturday though, offers such an opportunity.”
Brooks expects “students to leave with more questions than they arrived with, but with a better understanding of where to find the answers.” “Some participants will walk in the door knowing exactly what they want to do with their careers, and this will be an opportunity for them to get closer to that goal,” he says. “But for most, this is a chance to expand their horizons, realize new ways of accomplishing their professional aspirations, and get energized about the job and internship search process.” At a conclusion of a phone interview Plaut said “the humanitarian qualities of public interest work demand a unique kind of creativity, and abilities of multiple reinventedness. PASS is a great opportunity to engage this idea. It’s not a career fair – let me make it clear – it’s not a career fair at all.”
The University Community Service Center (UCSC) fosters the development of civic-minded students by providing substantive community service opportunities through community partnerships based on mutual trust and respect. If you have questions - how to get involved as a student or how to connect to students as a community organization - please contact us.
University Community Service Center
5525 S. Ellis Ave., Suite 160
Chicago IL, 60637
Tel: 773.753.4483
Fax: 773.834.1160
ucsc.uchicago.edu
